USC's Davis is latest hybrid tight end model

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2008 | by Jeff Zillgitt

Fred Davis embodies the 21st-century tight end.

Recruited by Southern California as a wide receiver, Davis graduated from high school early and began taking classes at USC in January 2004. By the start of fall practice, he had put on 25 pounds.

"I didn't hit the weight room much in high school, and I started eating really well at college. I just blew up in college," Davis says. "My position coach said I could be a really good tight end. When fall camp started, I asked him if I could give tight end a shot."

The tight end position has evolved in the NFL in recent years.

"Used to be, back when I started in '78, '79, was that you couldn't block, you couldn't play," ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. says. "The pass-catching tight ends are front...