INDIANAPOLIS – Some of the stalwarts on the nation’s top-ranked defense were among the best players at their position last season.But if NFL teams want Courtney Upshaw, Dont’a Hightower and/or Josh Chapman to change positions, the former Alabama stars are in a good position – and a good mood – to accommodate.
Upshaw starred at outside linebacker for the Crimson Tide, and he’s likely to play there in the NFL. But if a team wants to move him to defensive end, he’s willing to go there.”Nobody told me exactly, ‘I want you to play end,’ or, ‘I want you to play outside linebacker,’” Upshaw said Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, where he is participating in the NFL Scouting Combine. “If I meet with a team, they ask me where I feel comfortable. I feel I can play both positions.”Hightower manned the middle linebacker spot for Alabama, but what if an NFL team wants to take advantage of his speed and move him to the outside? No problem, he says.”
Whatever I’ve got to do to get on the field and contribute to the team to win the Super Bowl, that’s what I’m looking forward to,” he said Saturday.Chapman was the run-stopping nose guard in a 3-4 defense, but if he’s drafted by a team that runs a 4-3, he said playing defensive tackle would be no big deal. He credits Alabama coach Nick Saban for developing versatility on the Tide’s
via Former Crimson Tide stalwarts versed in versatility | al.com.
