The New England Patriots are always good for a surprise, but they’ve outdone themselves this time. During the first day of training camp, collegiate quarterback Danny Etling lined up and practiced with the wide receivers. Nobody saw this coming, as Etling spent his rookie season as New England’s unofficial third-string quarterback. However, with Jarrett Stidham set to be the backup of the future, the Patriots are clearly trying to tap into Etling’s athletic ability. Switching positions is a difficult task, but is Etling up for the task?
The Danny Etling Wide Receiver Experiment
The Patriots obviously have a history when it comes to developing seventh-round college quarterbacks into wide receivers. Reigning Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman spent his collegiate tenure throwing passes for Kent State before learning wide receiver on the fly with New England. The Patriots did it before, so theoretically they could do it again.
However, Edelman and Etling are on completely different ends of the athletic spectrum. At 6’-3” and 220 pounds, Etling is larger than most NFL wide receivers. While he has the size to be an NFL-caliber wide receiver, the rest of his measurables fall considerably short. Outside of his hand size, Etling’s combine numbers all fall in the bottom 25% of the 2018 wide receiver class. This makes Etling the ying to Edelman’s yang, as Edelman didn’t have NFL size but had the athletic profile to develop into a star wideout.
At 6-foot-3, 222 pounds, Danny Etling ran a 4.76-second 40-yard dash with a 1.63-second 10-yard split, 30.5-inch vertical leap, 9'6" broad jump, 4.37-second short shuttle and 7.09-second 3-cone at the combine in 2018. Here's his spider graph as a WR. pic.twitter.com/6WlFwrm93D
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) July 25, 2019
Since Edelman and Etling are so different, the next-closest comparison is New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Taysom Hill. Hill is officially listed as a quarterback but also plays running back, wide receiver, and special teams ace. However, this isn’t a perfect comparison either, as Hill only has three receptions for seven yards to his name. New England seems to want Etling to be a full-time wideout, and Hill isn’t that. Even in terms of measurables, Hill’s 4.44 40-yard dash is considerably better than Etling’s 4.76-second time. That said, Etling’s 4.37 20-yard shuttle time was actually 0.01 seconds better than Hill.
The Film
It’s hard to judge Etling’s film, as the LSU product has never played wide receiver at any sort of professional level. That said, we can analyze the tape to see his on-field athleticism as well as his willingness and ability to take hits.
The first thing that jumps out with Etling is that he doesn’t shy away from contact. Etling played every snap in the 2018 preseason finale, and steadily improved as the game wore on. Elting displayed his athleticism on several occasions while trying to dodge incoming pass rushers. Additionally, he didn’t shy away from contact and showed a willingness to sacrifice his body in order to make a play. This skill should translate to receiver, as that position is naturally more subject to physical contact.
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Additionally, Etling moves better than his raw measurables would suggest. Everyone remembers Etling’s huge touchdown run against the Giants, but he actually had multiple plays where he had to tuck the ball and take off in the open field. On one play in particular, Etling broke a few tackles, scrambled to the sticks, and plowed over a defender for the first down. This wasn’t a one-game outlier, as he demonstrated this ability at the collegiate level as well.
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Danny Etling will not make the 2019 roster as a wide receiver. If he does, something has gone horribly wrong. His best-case scenario is making it onto the practice squad and developing his craft for another year. Edelman needed four years before breaking out, and he had a more natural transition than Etling. Personally, I think Etling would have a better shot at tight end, but I’m also open to the idea that Bill Belichick might know more about football than me.
Whatever position he ends up playing, he’s a long way from being ready. However, his on-field athleticism and toughness give him a remote possibility of making it as a pass-catcher at the next level.
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