Kansas City’s fifth-round pick is an intriguing prospect, having played at all five offensive line positions in college.
On Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs acquired one of the more versatile players in 2024’s NFL Draft. With the team’s fifth-round selection (159th overall), the team took Penn State center Hunter Nourzad.
In college, the 6-foot-3, 317-pound lineman played at tackle, guard and center — and comes to the NFL ready to play anywhere on the line.
“I think that when you look at my past, it kind of just speaks for itself that I can,” Nourzad remarked during his first session with Kansas City reporters. “I feel very happy and comfortable to play in any position that the coaching staff in the organization decides will help the team as much as possible.”
Nourzad is delighted to join a team that has won back-to-back NFL championships.
“My reaction was just a wave of excitement, specifically [about] the Chiefs,” he recalled of the call from Kansas City’s draft room. “It’s a dynasty. The Chiefs have a really talented team and offensive line room, so I’m really excited to get to learn from all those guys.”
Kansas City’s northeast regional scout Cassidy Kaminski was impressed with Nourzad’s athleticism and his academic background. A graduate of the prestigious Walker School in suburban Atlanta, Nourzad earned an engineering degree at the Ivy League’s Cornell University before coming to Penn State for an MBA in 2022.
“This guy’s so intelligent off the field, that the [Penn State] engineering department was recruiting him almost as heavily as the football department,” Kaminski told reporters on Saturday.
Nourzad had started 20 straight games at right tackle for Cornell before coming to Penn State, where he played guard and center, starting 13 games at center during 2023.
“It’s something that adds an extra challenge to the game,” noted Nourzad of his experience at multiple positions, “which I think is really interesting. It adds kind of a depth to it that a lot of times you don’t get. I do have pride in the fact that I can switch around.”
Kaminski noted that it’s been “pretty rare” to find players with so much experience across the line — but that is changing.
“Now you’re starting to see it a little bit more,” he said, “because there’s a little bit of a trend [in] the Ivy League [with] these guys transferring — and then they tend to kind of work themselves in a little bit. And I think you see that in our league in general. You draft a lot of tackles that have [that] versatility — and end up being really good guards down the line.”
Kaminski believes Nourzad will be ready to step into whatever interior position the coaches see as his best fit.
“I think Coach Heck will get him ready as soon as possible, honestly,” he predicted. “He’s smart. He’s tough. And like I said, this is the first year he hasn’t switched positions in three years. So from that standpoint, I think he’ll be in a good spot mentally and physically — and from there, I trust our coaches to figure it out.”
And with two years of experience playing in the NCAA’s Division I, Nourzad believes he is ready for the challenge.
“The Big 10 has some of the loudest stadiums in college football,” he said. “So being able to play with that noise — and play with that extra distraction, I think — has prepared me really well.”
https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2024/4/28/24143257/chiefs-draft-hunter-nourzad-can-play-anywhere-offensive-line?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger
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