The 49ers official website has been posting Q&A's with the various draft picks, and today's is the one I'm most curious about. They sat down with defensive tackle Joe Cohen to discuss his conversion to the defensive side of the ball and coming out to the west coast.
The one thing that concerned me was his discussion of weight issues and training and whatnot. About weight:
A Yeah, I was recruited to play tailback/fullback at Florida but I got there a little out of shape and overweight so I was playing catch up the whole season, and I mainly ended up playing fullback. I wasn't doing too good with the diet back then.
On converting to the defensive line:
A: Since college, I probably gained about 70 pounds. That's a lot of weight huh? But at least on defense, you can eat what you want, when you want for the most part. You don't want to get too fat though.
On conditioning:
A: Very! I need someone to stay on me! I really am looking forward to training and getting ready for this rookie year. I think it's going to be very important for me. I think my conditioning and training is what will help me stand out and make an impact.
Hopefully he'll bust his butt in camp and as the season gets going. Just based on the Q&A he seems like a pretty low key, easy-going guy. I'm not sure how that will convert to the football field, but hopefully he can make an impact and prove the doubters (including myself) wrong. We'll close with the last Q&A, regarding what he brings to the table:
A: I've got a good combination of speed, size and power and I'm still learning. I feel like I've got a lot of growing to do still, and I'm looking forward to what I can learn from this coaching staff here.