Could the Bills invite NCAA heavyweight wrestling champ Gable Steveson for a tryout?
Watching Minnesota junior Gable Steveson run roughshod over the heavyweight field at the NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend has to have the wheels turning inside the head of Bills coach Sean McDermott.
Could he one day be a Bills' defensive lineman?
There is almost no chance that McDermott hasn't thought about it already. Just like there's no chance the coach hasn't already watched and dissected Steveson's 8-4 decision over Michigan's Mason Parris for the title on Saturday night in St. Louis.
McDermott loves wrestling almost as much as football, which is not hard to understand since he was always a better wrestler than a football player. At La Salle High School, he won two straight National Prep titles while going undefeated his final two seasons and giving up just takedown along the way.
Since coming to Buffalo, he has had Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs speak to the team and in 2019 spent some time with coach Cael Sanderson and the Penn State wrestling program just before they traveled to nationals and won another championship.
McDermott has envisioned converting college wrestlers into Buffalo Bills. He even spoke about during the NFL Meetings two years ago in Phoenix.
"We look for that,” McDermott said. “I mean, at the [NFL Scouting] Combine, we would ask the players what other sports they played, so that’s one of the sports we look for. When you’re talking about leverage, hips, handfighting, balance — to me every football player, particularly interior linemen, should come up with a wrestling background.
“In fact, there’s a couple of guys on the [Penn State] team I’d like to convert to football players, particularly that heavyweight [Anthony Cassar] that they’ve got.”
Cassar was the reigning NCAA heavyweight champ at the time, but his folkstyle career ended early the next season because of a shoulder injury. He's pursuing an MMA career now.
As for Steveson, he's only a junior and an Olympic hopeful this year.
But next year?
The beauty of a potential chase is that it almost certainly wouldn't involve any draft capital. Steveson is not going to get drafted, but would be eligible after the draft to accept a free-agent offer from anyone.
Does Steveson have the skills to play the 1, 2 or 3 Technique in a 4-3?
You watch this physical specimen and decide.
Rest assured, McDermott already has. And you can be he's already scheming.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro.
