TCU’s Trevone Boykin hopes to change scouts’ minds about his NFL position

NFL scouts and draft analysts look at Trevone Boykin and see a slot receiver and a returner. Quarterback whisperer George Whitfield hopes to help the TCU star change their minds in the five months before the NFL Draft.

Soon after Saturday’s Alamo Bowl ends, Boykin will set off for San Diego to work with Whitfield. As a quarterback.

Boykin will not run routes. He will not catch punts.

“When I talked to him, he said, ‘Can you imagine? I’m still getting some scouts and even some coaches, who are asking my interest as a receiver,’ ” Whitfield said. “I was just stone quiet. I’m just listening to him. I told him, ‘I’m in on one condition: You want to pursue this thing as a quarterback with the diligence of a quarterback, whole heart, total effort all day, every day as a quarterback?’ He said, ‘Done. I’m in. That’s me.’

“Normally, we get the big racehorses who the NFL is already making room for, and every now and again, you have a racehorse that they don’t want to make room for but will. This one is going to have to jump the fence. Horses do that. Horses can jump fences. This horse can jump the fence.”

Whitfield has served as a personal quarterback coach for NFL prospects since 2009, training Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Jameis Winston, Bryce Petty and Johnny Manziel, among others. Boykin, though, could rank as Whitfield’s biggest project yet.

Several NFL scouts and draft analysts interviewed for this story all agree Boykin’s best position in the NFL is at slot receiver with potential as a punt and kickoff returner:

▪ Mike Mayock, a draft analyst for the NFL Network, said: “Basically to me, he’s a developmental NFL quarterback who’s a mid- to late-round draft pick, depending on his willingness to play another position. I don’t know how interested teams are going to be in drafting and developing him purely as a quarterback.”

▪ An NFL player personnel director, whose team is not in the market for a quarterback, said, “He’s a good athlete, but a very inaccurate thrower. He’s a sandlot player. When I saw him earlier in his career, I thought he was going to be a receiver. But you know what? He turned out to be a very good college quarterback. I am sure somebody will bring him to camp as a quarterback, but he’s built like a slot receiver and can catch. That’s where I want to see him.”

▪ Gil Brandt, an NFL.com draft analyst and former Cowboys player personnel director, said: “You can always try him at quarterback. He throws the ball pretty good. But I personally think his best position is elsewhere.”

▪ Dane Brugler, a draft analyst for CBS Sports, said: “His better pro position will be as a wide receiver. He’s really made strides over the years with his technique, but he still relies on his arm over his footwork, over mechanics. That will lead to scattershot throws and inaccuracy. … But all it takes is one team to believe in him [as a quarterback].”

▪ Todd McShay, an ESPN draft analyst, said: “I have talked to multiple NFL scouts who consider him an ‘athlete’ more than a pure quarterback prospect. My guess is that he will get a shot to play quarterback in a reserve role in the NFL, but he will also be asked to contribute in other areas on offense and special teams. The more he shows during the pre-draft process, the better it will be for his draft grade.”

▪ An NFL scout, whose team is in the market for a quarterback, said: “His size is a concern, and any quarterback regardless of his size, in that scheme, the learning curve will be great. He looks like a slot receiver to me.”

TCU lists Boykin at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds. He has played receiver, catching 28 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown, including 26 receptions for 204 yards in 2013.

But Boykin developed into one of college football’s most productive quarterbacks in his five years in Fort Worth, with a 27-10 record as a starter.

He has set 11 school records, passing for 10,727 yards and 86 touchdowns while running for 2,049 yards and 27 touchdowns. He finished tied for ninth in Heisman Trophy voting this year.

TCU coach Gary Patterson, who sent quarterback Andy Dalton to the NFL as a second-round pick, has no doubt Boykin can play a number of positions in the pros, including quarterback.

“His numbers are better than what Johnny Manziel’s were,” Patterson said of the former Texas A&M quarterback who was a first-round pick in 2014. “He’s probably more athletic. He’s bigger. So when I look at it, to me, the guy’s a competitor and does the things he needs to do. He’s been in two different offenses.

“There’s not any doubt in my mind he can play quarterback. He’s played running back for us. He’s played wide receiver for us, all that stuff also. He’d be an unbelievable kickoff and punt returner, especially punt returner.

“But I firmly believe somebody should look at him real close and at least give him a chance at quarterback, to be honest with you. He’s one of the best that I’ve ever been around.”

While scouts have thrown around names such as Antwaan Randle El and Kordell Stewart when talking about Boykin’s NFL future, NFL Network analyst Mayock brings up Rich Gannon’s name. The New England Patriots made Gannon a fourth-round pick in 1987, but quickly traded him to the Minnesota Vikings when Gannon refused to change positions.

The former Delaware quarterback waited four years to make his first NFL start and ended up earning league MVP honors in 2002, finishing his career with 28,743 passing yards and 180 touchdowns.

“It took Rich a bunch of years to kind of develop his craft and get the right opportunity, and he certainly turned himself into a big-time NFL quarterback,” Mayock said. “So I’m always hesitant to say a kid can’t do something.

“What I would say and what I talked to a few NFL teams about is we don’t even know who’s coming out in this draft, so it’s highly preliminary. But the way I see it is slot receiver/punt returner adds value to who he is. If his goal is to be an NFL player, I think that’s his most immediate ticket and highest value.”

Whitfield sees a lot of himself in Boykin. Whitfield stands 6 foot 1 and weighed 220 pounds during his playing days, which is why colleges tried to switch him to defense. He eventually ended up transferring to Division II Tiffin University and became one of the school’s all-time leading passers.

“This is personal,” Whitfield said multiple times. “I’ve never been with a quarterback of Trevone’s caliber, with his résumé and his dossier who they still want to flirt and see him at other positions and this that and the other.

“Yeah, he’s an incredible athlete, but the athlete part powers him playing quarterback. That powers that. So it’s on him; it’s on me; it’s on the next couple of months. If everybody feels like that, in this small camp, the work should reflect that, and the Pro Day should produce it.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 7:49 PM with the headline "TCU’s Trevone Boykin hopes to change scouts’ minds about his NFL position."