Zach Boren: 5 Things You Need to Know About Former Ohio State RB

Zach Boren is highly regarded by NFL scouts as a fullback, and he has a great reputation for being a selfless blocker with an excellent passion for the position.

However, he's also versatile and played well when he unexpectedly converted to linebacker in his final season.

Someone will snatch up this bruiser and find a spot for him on special teams at the very least. 

Background

Full Name: Zach Boren

Hometown: Pickerington, Ohio

High School: Pickerington HS

Major: Sports and Leisure Studies

Year: Senior

Boren stayed in the state of Ohio by choosing to go to Ohio State as a fullback, and he put in some great work as a Buckeye.

In four years at Ohio State, Boren appeared in 51 games and really left his mark in his home state.

Statistics

2009: 13 games, 4 receptions, 23 yards, 1 TD

2010: 13 games, 10 receptions, 68 yards, 1 att, 2 yards, 1 tackle, 1 forced fumble

2011: 13 games, 6 receptions, 60 yards, 1 tackle

2012: 12 games, 5 receptions, 42 yards, 11 att, 33 yards, 2 TD's, 50 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble.

Obviously, what sticks out here is his transformation to the linebacker position in 2012 that led to 50 tackles.

Boren was also plenty active as a receiver, but he never really was needed as a rusher for the Ohio State rushing attack.

Switching to the linebacker position so late in his collegiate career and still putting up solid numbers shows how versatile this guy is as a football player.

Draft Process

Measurables

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 238 lbs

Arm Length: 31.5"

Hand Size: 10"

Combine Results

40-yard dash: 5.00 sec

Broad Jump: 109 inches

Vertical Jump: 32 inches

Bench Press: 25 reps

Zach Boren is a very athletic guy who showed that with his combine results, which are strong outside of his 40-time.

You can look past the 40-time somewhat due to his recent emergence of a solid linebacker. Teams may decide to take him at that position rather than at fullback.

Either way, Boren did what he needed to do at the NFL combine to cement himself as being taken somewhere in the middle of the draft.

Interesting Facts

It's not very often that a player makes the switch to linebacker in the middle of his senior season and puts up such solid numbers like Boren did. 

Boren finished with 50 total tackles last season.

He was also the Ohio Defensive Player of the Year coming out of high school.

Boren is the younger brother of current Baltimore Raven and former Buckeye Justin Boren, who plays offensive guard.

Braxton Miller can attribute a lot of his success at running the football at quarterback due to Boren's blocking abilities, which led to Miller's 7.2 yards per attempt average while Boren was in the game.

All facts from Ohio State's athletic site.

Observations

Adam Rittenberg, an ESPN.com Big Ten blogger, says it's most likely that Boren will be drafted as a fullback instead of a linebacker.

Despite the successful transition, teams are in dire need of good fullbacks out of college. That makes Boren so valuable at his original position of fullback.

Even though the fullback position is widely looked at as a dying breed in the NFL, Boren doesn't necessarily see it that way.

"You almost have to have a chip on your shoulder being a fullback," Boren said to Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee-Wisconsion Journal Sentinal.