Tubs takes a look at position changes

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Fannin at QB?

Tuberville takes look at Auburn position changes
Posted by Charles Goldberg, Birmingham News June 12, 2008 3:00 PM
Categories: Football
Tommy Tuberville and his assistants are flipping the flip charts. We'll let the Auburn head coach explain some of the moves.


Todd Van Emst
Mario Fannin: Offense in bowl gameTuberville says Mario Fannin, formerly of the backfield, will be a super utility player (did we hear Tuberville say ``quarterback?''), moving away from the backfield and into a variety of spots, just like he did in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, where he excelled. The move was mutually made by player and coach, and was helped along after a shoulder injury in the spring convinced everybody that it would be best not to take a season's worth of pounding on the shoulder coming out of the backfield.
Tuberville says true freshman quarterback DeRon Furr, who participated in spring practice, will move to the secondary because that's the fastest path to playing time. Ryan Pugh, a starting tackle, will be the backup center to Jason Bosley with an eye of taking over the starting center spot in 2009. That's been the plan for a year.

Here's how Tuberville breaks down the moves:

 
**Fannin showed his versatility in the Chick-fil-A Bowl just a few weeks after new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin installed the spread offense. He led the Tigers in receiving with 53 yards on five catches and rushed three times for 18 yards. He suffered a shoulder injury in the spring, but he'll be back in the fall. The move out of the backfield was easy, since Ben Tate and Brad Lester form a solid 1-2 tailback punch ahead of him, though he was third on the team in rushing with 448 yards. Fannin's role this time: Instant offense.

``He's going to play a lot of positions,'' Tuberville said. ``He's going to play slot receiver, and the `Y, X and Z' spots. He'll be a move guy, like a small tight end. He'll be in the backfield, too. He could be a quarterback. You know he ran this offense in high school. (We interrupt this quote to explain Tuberville meant Fannin at quarterback could be an occasional, change-of-pace kind of thing.) He's going to be a universal guy, but we're not going to put him in the backfield and run him 25 times a game. He's got to steadily get back to playing. He was very productive with what we did with him in the bowl game, so we'll continue to do that. He's the kind of guy you move around.

``He's a heck of an athlete. He could play linebacker. He's got to touch the ball.''

**Furr finished spring practice as the No. 4 quarterback, a spot that may have been in jeopardy with the arrival of freshman Barrett Trotter. Tuberville said Furr wants to play now, so he'll give safety a try.

``That's probably the position with the least depth, and DeRon wants to play this year. We haven't given up on him at quarterback -- that's up to him. He's kind of like a Mario -- he could play anywhere you want him to play because he's that good of an athlete. He's got four years left and wants to participate rather than sit back and watch at quarterback for a couple of years.''

**Starting tackle Ryan Pugh is still on track to be the starting center.
``He'll be the starting center when Bosley is gone. We tried Mike Berry, but Mike is much better at guard and tackle. Bosley will be the starting center and Pugh will be the backup - but Ryan will start somewhere.''

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