Eric Ebron is expected to move around in the Detroit Lions' offense and, as a rookie, is getting fully initiated into how overwhelming learning multiple positions can be.
"I've been everywhere and that is what's killing me," the rookie tight end told the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. "I'm used to either learning the Y or learning the A, which we had at North Carolina. But now it's the Y, the F, the Z."
Despite being tossed into the deep end, Ebron said he hasn't asked coaches to slow down for him.
"Coach just tells me, 'I understand, you're going to get through it ... we are doing it for a purpose,'" Ebron said. "It's really hard, but I'm not going to say I'm not enjoying it or not having fun doing it because I know the more I learn the faster I'm able to play, the faster I'm able to produce."
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound rookie is expected to produce as a move tight end in coordinator Joe Lombardi's offense.
Tucker asked Ebron to break down how much he expects to be lined up in the slot and inside as a blocker.
"Fifty percent in the slot, 40 percent with my hand in the ground, 10 percent in the backfield," Ebron said.
When asked to add in how much he'd line up out wide, the rookie did some math.
"So now if you wanna do that ... it'll be 50, 30, 15, 5," he said.
Regardless of how accurate Ebron's self-projections will be once pads are on, the point is he's expecting to block a good amount from the inline and backfield positions. His blocking skills were his biggest question mark entering the NFL.
"Oh I'm going to block some people," he said. "Coach keeps telling me, 'Look, here we're receiving tight ends, but we are going to be good at everything, we're going to block some people. I was like, 'Coach, I ain't got no problem with it ... I'll tear somebody's head off, but if I get my head torn off I'm comin' back to you, because you put me in that situation.'"
The Lions hope the rookie evolves into the tearer and less the tearee during his rookie season.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" debates Jay Cutler's ceiling and looks back at the NFL in the '90s.
