Tennessee DE Corey Vereen was a productive player during his career in Knoxville, totaling 112 tackles, 26 TFL, and 13 sacks. The NFL may bring change to one of the SEC’s more consistent players, however, as several teams are scouting him as an outside linebacker.
“Some teams see me strictly as a 4-3 defensive end,” Vereen said at Tennessee’s Pro Day on Friday (via Rocky Top Insider). “Other teams (see me as) a 3-4 outside linebacker. Depends on where you go, that’s going to dictate where you’ll be. It just depends on where I end up.”
While at the Pro Day, Vereen gave his new position a whirl in front of NFL scouts, and he was pleased with the results.
“I feel a lot, a lot more comfortable, especially in those (linebacker) drills, with dropping (into coverage) and everything,” Vereen said. “I feel like it would be a pretty good position for me.”
Usually, linemen that are used to playing with their hands in the dirt are timid when it comes to coverage and ball skills, but Vereen said that he liked “the linebacker drills especially,” and added that he “didn’t drop any balls.”
This is one constant that remains with both positions, however.
“Pass rushing, that’s kind of what me and Derek (Barnett) do,” Vereen stated. “That’s why we’re on the field.”
NFLDraftScout.com has Vereen projected to go undrafted, but this utility will be a huge asset to helping him stick on an NFL roster. Vereen certainly thinks so too.
“The dropping stuff gives you versatility and adds to why they’d want you over another guy,” Vereen said. “You always want to be versatile so people can do whatever they need to do with you.”
A former resident of both Baton Rouge and the heart of Crimson Tide country, Will Ogburn handles multimedia content and news coverage for Saturday Down South.
