If you want to go to college, there are lots of things to think about. There are the academic demands of the subject of choice. There are the finances, which depend wholly on tuition fees and the availability of student finance and scholarship. And then, there is the sport. Jack Elway understands how many young people rely on getting recruited to play for their college team on a full scholarship, but very few actually make it. And that is also because there is a tremendous lack of understanding of who the college rankings work, which positions someone can play in, and more.
Jack Elway on the Different College Football Positions
According to Elway, knowing the different positions that you could play in is very important, as it enables you to aim for the right one. Hence:
- The team’s leader is the quarterback and that is the role everybody wants to get. However, quarterbacks have to be very well-rounded. They have to be able to play and they must be able to pass. They have to resist defenders and avoid them.
- The running back can run with the ball after a pass, or they can block other rushers.
- Halfbacks avoid the defense at all when there is a running play.
- Fullbacks try to break through the defense.
- Wide receivers are far away from the opposite team and hope to catch a ball if someone else can throw it to them.
- Linemen are on the other side of the defense and they try to stop the rushers who are after the quarterback.
- Tight end players are wide receivers and linemen in one. They block others, while at the same time receiving passes.
- Defensive linemen are there to stop anyone on the offensive team who happens to have a ball. They have to be able to push through the other team’s linemen. As a result, defensive linemen tend to be very big and stocky in physical built.
- Linebackers follow those who have managed to get through the defensive linemen. If nobody has gotten through, they stand on guard, ensuring wide receivers can get the ball if it comes their way.
- Defensive backs wait at the back of their team. They are the final, and perhaps most important, line of defense.
If a high school student is particularly talented at football and they hope to be recruited for college, then they are likely to already know the difference between these ten roles within a team. However, Jack Elway believes that they should try to place a greater focus on their ability to play specifically in one of those roles. Now is not the time anymore to be a generalist, it is time to stand out in one specific part and catch the attention of the recruiter. College football has enabled a lot of people to get an education, either directly or indirectly. At the same time, only very few people are recruited. Hence, prospective students shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket and prepare for going to college without a full scholarship as well.
