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Passing preference Wallace seeks chance to prove he's NFL material -- at QBPosted: Friday March 14, 2003 6:14 PMUpdated: Friday March 14, 2003 7:13 PM
When we last checked in on Seneca Wallace, the Iowa State quarterback was at last month's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, where respected Houston general manager Charley Casserly stood up before the national media and basically banished him to a career in Canada. Gulp. Most roller-coaster rides don't have dips that dramatic. Just four months earlier, Wallace was the midseason favorite for the Heisman Trophy, his plucky Cyclones were one of the hottest stories of the season and he was being hailed as one of the college game's most exciting, play-making quarterbacks. His future looked so bright he probably had boosters offering to buy him shades. But in Indy, on the biggest stage of his prospective NFL career, Wallace was being bluntly told that his game was built for Saskatchewan, rather than San Diego, Seattle or St. Louis. Casserly's less-than-subtle message was this: Want to play quarterback, kid? Bundle up and head north. Want to play in the NFL? Wise up and start working out with the receivers. "I think the young man is missing something here," Casserly said on Sunday of the Combine weekend. "I think either he should go to Canada or he should realize he should look to play another position and be a dual-position player in the NFL. Clearly he's fighting that right now." Boiled down, it's a short story, really. Wallace, at 5-foot-11 1/2 and 196 pounds, is deemed lacking in sufficient stature to play quarterback in the NFL. Not big enough to make the big jump. In a league that worships the almighty measurables -- Doug Flutie be damned -- it's a sizable problem. "It kind of hurt a little bit," said Wallace on Friday from Sacramento, where he's visiting his brother during Iowa State's spring break. "When I first heard it, it made me a little upset to hear [Casserly] speak out like that, saying I messed up my chances and it looks like I should go straight to Canada. "But if you're black and you're fast and you aren't taller than 6-foot, they're going to tell you you better try and play something else. That's just the way things are. But I've been proving to people I can play quarterback my whole life, and I've been pretty successful at it. I believe I will be again." As I see it, here are the two words (or maybe three) that are going to provide the biggest obstacle blocking Wallace from his dream: Antwaan Randle El. In a copy-cat league where teams always knows a good idea when they steal one, the success that Randle El -- the former Indiana University quarterback -- had as a rookie last season in Pittsburgh, where he was a receiver and multi-purpose weapon, is fresh in every coach's and general manager's mind. Drafted by the Steelers in the second round last year, there was never any thought of the 5-9, 184-pound Randle El playing quarterback in the NFL. Used creatively by Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, Randle El combined for 668 yards of offense: 489 yards on 47 catches, 134 yards on 19 rushes, and 45 yards on 7-of-8 passing. Randle El's shining example has been repeatedly used as the rationale for Wallace's suggested position change. Casserly and Texans offensive coordinator Chris Palmer asked him to work out with the receivers at January's Senior Bowl, an invitation he largely refused. At the Combine, Wallace again stayed with the quarterbacks, rather than split his time between positions. Wallace says he's not being obstinate for obstinacy's sake, and that he understands where Casserly and others are coming from in their evaluations. He also acknowledges that he probably did real damage to his burgeoning reputation late last season, when he and his outmanned Cyclones hit the wall playing the likes of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Colorado. "We all would have loved to finish the way we started," Wallace said. "We just ran out of gas toward the end of the season. If we had finished the way we started and I had finished the way I started, it would be a whole different story." That month-long slump cost him his Heisman shot and maybe the chance the NFL would be willing to view him through something other than its standard quarterbacking prism this spring. He'll forever wonder. But while he is willing to someday end up at receiver in the NFL, he's adamant that he won't start there, blindly surrendering his quarterback dreams even before he ever gets a chance to chase them. Even the most well-grounded and realistic among us might not feel much differently, given a similar choice. But that doesn't change the fact that most league personnel men I talk to say their projection for Wallace has him going on the second day of the draft, somewhere between rounds four and seven. Had he concentrated on receiving skills this spring, with his 4.5 speed, who knows if and how much that would have altered his draft status? "The kid is a fabulous athlete," said one veteran league talent scout. "I don't think you can just write him off. But he looks like a second-day pick that somebody will gladly take. He's an interesting talent." Wallace largely refutes the validity of the comparisons to Randle El. "There's a difference, a huge difference, between me and Randle El," he said. "Randal El was 5-9 and really couldn't throw the ball. No disrespect to him, he's a great player. But his senior year he played some receiver. He probably threw for about 1,000 yards and ran for about 1,000 yards. I threw for 3,000 yards my senior year. "He was a quarterback who looked to run first. I looked to throw the ball. People always wanted to make that comparison, and I understand it to a degree, but there really is a huge difference in our games. He was willing to play receiver. If somebody drafts me as a quarterback and I can't cut it, I would try receiver. But all I need is the opportunity to prove that I can play." I sympathize with Wallace in this respect: It must be maddening to be at the Combine and measure 5-11 1/2, knowing full well that other quarterbacks with half your resumé are helped tremendously by having that magical extra half-inch of height. The NFL has to drawn a line somewhere in its quarterback blueprint, I suppose, but can't it be in pencil from time to time? "There's not even an inch of difference between you and another guy, but that means I can't play quarterback and he can?" Wallace asks incredulously. "I know that's how it is, and that this league is all about measurables. But if you can play football, you can play. And if you can play quarterback, you can play quarterback." Unless, of course, they don't let you. Teams like the 49ers, Bucs and Chiefs are believed to be intrigued by Wallace, who almost single-handedly put the Iowa State program on the map. Do they think of him as a quarterback, a receiver, or a little bit of both? Who knows, but scouts agree that he has a big enough arm, great pocket presence and poise, and is a wonderfully creative play-maker when he does pull the ball down. But this time, the decision is not in his hands. His future depends on the opinions flowing from the 32 war rooms that make up the NFL draft. Given that he's not likely to grow any between now and draft weekend, Wallace can't do much to give himself a boost. "I'm trying to be open-minded, but I'm asking the league to be open-minded," Wallace said. "It's not like I'm saying, 'Well, I'm here and that's what I want.' If somebody gave me the chance and drafted me as a quarterback, but said, 'Well, he's an athlete, let's get him on the field,' and I'm still working at quarterback as well, I'd be willing to do some of those other things. "I know some teams want a 6-foot-3 quarterback, and some teams want a mobile quarterback. Not everybody is going to like me. But I know I can do it. If some team gives me the chance, we're going to have a lot of fun." Funny, but I don't think he meant in Saskatchewan. Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com. |
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