Three years later, a brief experiment at Penn State may be paying off for Connor McGovern.
An early enrollee in Happy Valley at the start of 2016, McGovern arrived and was thrown in the mix at tackle, a position of desperate need at the time for the Nittany Lions.
A center at Lake-Lehman and one of the country’s top-rated interior offensive line recruits, McGovern went through spring practice at tackle. Ultimately he would start at guard in the fall as a true freshman, playing two seasons there sandwiched around one year at center.
And NFL teams have taken note of all of it.
McGovern hammered out 28 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press on Thursday at the NFL combine. Just as important, however, has been his talks with pro teams this week. Early indications have been that they’re intrigued with his ability to play multiple positions ahead of April’s draft.
”Teams like that because they only travel six or seven O-linemen,” McGovern told reporters in Indianapolis during his scheduled media availability. “So if one guy goes down, any of those backups can go in and play any of those five positions. So I think versatility is very important.”
Having McGovern’s frame doesn’t hurt either. At his official weigh-in, the All-Big Ten guard checked in at 6-foot-5 3/8 and 308 pounds, down from his junior season playing weight of 323.
His 28 reps matched the total of his Penn State offensive line teammate Ryan Bates, who is also at the combine. In all, 47 offensive linemen participated in the bench with an average of 24.6 reps. The leader was Weber State’s Sua Opeta, who put up 39.
”I just think my height, my athleticism, my length helps me a lot,” McGovern said. “And I’ve prepared my whole life playing both (center and guard), and when I first got to Penn State, they moved me to tackle. So I had all five positions down. So when I played center, it made it a lot easier because I knew what everyone was doing and made sure everyone was on the same page.”
McGovern told the Kansas City Star that he had an official meeting with the Chiefs and informal talks with a few other teams so far this week.
He’ll get some more time in the spotlight on Friday morning as the offensive linemen go through on-field drills to close out their combine experience.
Running backs are also been on the same schedule, with Penn State’s Miles Sanders recording 20 reps on the bench on Thursday.
Four more former Lions will work out at the combine this weekend with defensive linemen Shareef Miller and Kevin Givens still to come along with quarterback Trace McSorley and cornerback Amani Oruwariye.
