Converted hoopster trying to impress at Senior Bowl

MOBILE, Ala. - Quinten Rollins said he doesn't recall the name of the Baltimore Ravens scout who came up with the idea that he try football again, after using up his college basketball eligibility. Seems odd, given that Rollins is now a major generator of buzz at the Senior Bowl, following his one-and-only season as a cornerback at Miami of Ohio.

But as this draft process continues, if there is a God in heaven or an ESPN in Bristol, Conn., surely Rollins and the anonymous Ravens scout will be reunited. Rollins intercepted seven passes for the Redhawks en route to becoming team MVP and MAC Defensive Player of the Year. He is a focal point here, given that teams don't have reams of film and years of scouting reports on him. These practices will tell them a lot about how he stacks up.

"[The scout] contacted the director of basketball operations [at Miami of Ohio] to see if I had an interest. I said, 'Yeah. I'll take a chance at it.' I just tried to make the most of it," Rollins said yesterday following the North team practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Earlier, Rollins weighed and measured at 193, 5-11, not ideal length from the Eagles' perspective, but not bad. His 29 3/8 arm measurement, shortest among the Senior Bowl defensive backs, might be more of a drawback. But let's not let Chip Kelly's measurement mania get in the way of a good story, in January, at least.

"Q is the type of prospect you [see] and say to yourself, 'I've found something here.' But he's also too good to stay a secret, unfortunately. Not many can do what he did this year. The question isn't if he will be drafted, but how high?" an anonymous AFC scout told CBSsports.com.

Rollins said he was recruited as a running back and receiver out of high school in Wilmington, Ohio, but he committed early to Miami of Ohio for basketball. He finished his career as a scrappy Redhawks point guard second on the school's all-time steals list to Ron Harper, with 214, but he said he knew his chances for playing professionally were pretty much limited to Europe. Then he showed up for spring football practice last year.

"It was frustrating, honestly, because I'm a competitor," Rollins recalled. "When I went out there and I wasn't excelling - I expected to excel like I did in high school on the football field. I went out there that first practice, coming from basketball, you can't really get physical with guys, and the receivers were just bullying me. I was like, 'What's going on? That's not pass interference?' It was just a different game. I had to adjust to it. But once I got my feet wet, by practice 15, at the end of spring ball, I was ready to go."

Rollins said his new teammates were standoffish at first, but eventually team leader and linebacker Kent Kern, who rarely spoke to anyone, sought out a conversation. "That's when I knew I'd gained some respect in the locker room," Rollins said.

Miami of Ohio football coach Chuck Martin sat down with Rollins when Rollins showed interest and suggested cornerback, though Rollins said he was given the option of trying running back, where he at least knew the basics. But Rollins could see the wisdom in Martin's logic, that his skills translated well to corner, and that a pro career might be more likely there.

"I really don't know much" about the nuances of the position, Rollins acknowledged yesterday. "I've got a lot to learn. I feel like once I learn that, the sky's the limit . . . I want to pattern my game after Charles Woodson. He's a versatile player with good ball skills."

What does he need to work on?

"Playing in space. I get impatient sometimes at the line, open up my hips too soon. And experience; I've only played 12 games."

Drafting a guy who doesn't have much experience at a position would raise a few red flags with Eagles fans. The team's 2014 first-round pick, linebacker Marcus Smith, has struggled to learn NFL defensive basics after beginning his college career as a quarterback. Guard and 2011 first-rounder Danny Watkins, who never played a down of football before his 21st birthday, is out of the sport and will go down as an all-time draft bust. But then there is Denver's Julius Thomas, a Portland State basketball player with one season as a college tight end, drafted in the fourth round in 2011, and now a two-time Pro Bowler.

Often such transitions have a lot to do with the player's will - it's one thing to do something because someone tells you maybe you could make some money doing it, it's another to make it your life's focus, to put your heart and soul into learning everything about it. Rollins said yesterday that he hasn't picked up a basketball since last spring, that he is "all football" now. But he also acknowledged that he needed that Ravens' scout's nudge to make the switch, and that a year ago, "I thought I'd be playing basketball overseas somewhere right now."

Strong practice yesterday for Ole Miss safety Cody Prewitt, who intercepted a pass and said afterward that at 6-2, 212, he wants to show teams he has good feet and can cover deep, isn't limited to working in the box . . . Eagles fans interested in inside linebackers might find Clemson's 6-2, 245-pound Stephone Anthony intriguing . . . If there is a quarterback worth watching here it might not be Baylor's Bryce Petty, but Colorado State's 6-2, 215-pound Garrett Grayson . . . A few hours after yesterday's weigh-in, a few of the seemingly dozens of anonymous Eagles staffers here were handing their coaches and scouts printed lineup cards with the new measurements, color-coded, with areas shaded red, gray, or green. Presumably the green areas were measurements that fit the Birds' draft criteria.

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian