Nick Marshall: Latest on Undrafted Free Agent After 2015 NFL Draft

Former Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall went undrafted in the 2015 NFL draft, but he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a free agent. 

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Marshall Signs With Jaguars

Sunday, May 3

Following the end of the 2015 draft, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus reported that Marshall signed with the Jaguars. The Jaguars went on to announce the deal Sunday, according to Mark Long of The Associated Press.

Jacksonville signed Marshall with the intention to turn him into a defensive back, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

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Nick Marshall Scouting Report

Friday, May 1

Marshall improved a bit as a passer from his junior season to his senior year. You can view the comparisons between 2013 and 2014 below:

Year	Comp. %	Yards	TD	INT	Rating
2013	59.4	1,976	14	6	143.2
2014	60.8	2,532	20	7	151.1

Even with those steps forward, he never seemed likely to fit in as a quarterback in the NFL. Perhaps if the read-option offense was more prevalent, Marshall might have had a role, but the league still heavily favors pocket passers over dual-threat QBs.

To his credit, the former Tiger recognized that and didn't hesitate in making the next step, per B/R's Brent Sobleski: "No one told me I should make the move. It was originally a rumor that got out, but there was nothing to it at the time. After the season, I made the decision that it would be best for me and my future. I followed my heart and decided what's best for me and my mom."

As one would expect, Marshall is a major work in progress as a cornerback. Wherever he lands, his team will need to be patient with his development. The way he read the field as a quarterback will translate well toward his new defensive role, but the learning curve will be extremely steep.

He'll have to go from not playing cornerback since his freshman year at Georgia to defending NFL wideouts. Making that leap is difficult enough on its own, let alone making that jump after a multiyear gap.

Marshall is listed at 6'1" and 207 pounds on NFL.com, which is a good size for a defensive back, and his strength coach at Auburn, Ryan Russell, believes he is still only reaching his physical peak, per NFL.com's Chase Goodbread:

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I think he still has another level to reach from a legs performance standpoint when it comes to speed, vertical jump, power and all that. There is so much raw athleticism there. He hadn't trained a whole lot in the weight room, and he was a quarterback, so he trained totally differently than he would have if he were a defensive back. I still think he has some more upside.

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Because he's such a great athlete, some team is bound to take a chance on him. His upside is pretty high, at least for a player likely to be taken late in the draft.

Selecting him in the later rounds would also somewhat offset whatever risk comes from the possibility that his move to cornerback doesn't work at all and he falls out of the league in a few years.