In football, it’s all about putting the right football players in the right football positions so they can make the biggest football plays on the football field to help their football team win the football game.

OK, all ESPN analyst talk aside (seriously, how does Mark Schlereth talk like that?), coaches have to put their players in the best positions to succeed. This is especially true in college football where athletes coming in from high school can succeed at several different positions.

It’s important for every coach to maximize the potential of their team and sometimes that requires moving certain players around.

Take backup quarterback Eddie McGee, for example. Head coach Ron Zook felt the need to get the athletically gifted McGee on the field so he moved him to wide receiver. It’s yet to be determined whether the move will pay off, but the coaches obviously feel McGee has the speed and size to help upgrade one of the deepest and most talented positions on the team.

But now, it’s time to make another move Coach Zook. It’s time to take another highly skilled athlete and put him in his proper place for the betterment of this team.

Move outside linebacker Martez Wilson to defensive end where he rightfully belongs.

I briefly mentioned in my column last week that Tez was underperforming this season as a full-time starter, but now I want to offer this simple solution: move him to his natural position.

At Simeon Career Academy High School in Chicago, Wilson played well enough to be ranked the No. 1 defensive end prospect in the whole nation. I guess that’s pretty good. Despite his success at the position though, Scouts Inc. said, “(Wilson) could enter college as an outside linebacker, and we would not be surprised if that is where he played in college.”

So an outside linebacker he became.

And what are the results so far?

Does 93 tackles (14 for loss), five sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception sound good? Does that sound like the stat line for someone picked to be a preseason third-team All-Big Ten selection like Wilson was this summer? You bet it does … too bad those numbers belong to Brit Miller.

Wilson’s actual stats include 66 tackles (5.5 for loss), three sacks, one forced fumble and no interceptions.

Now those aren’t terrible numbers, but they certainly don’t warrant any all-team selections.

The story of Wilson’s struggles at linebacker go beyond stats though. It’s the way in which he’s been playing his assignments that is most troublesome. For a guy that’s 6’4″ and 246 lbs., Wilson gets blocked far too easily by offensive linemen. There has been so many instances in which I’ve seen Tez locked up by a lineman and get sealed off without much of fight.

More of an issue, however, is his pass coverage skills. Wilson seems out of place in zone while struggling to match up with most of his man defense assignments. Don’t believe me? Let’s see how many plays Wilson makes tomorrow against a Western Michigan team that loves to throw.

So why has Tez been struggling at linebacker?

It’s not because Wilson is an inferior athlete, far from it actually. The problem is that he isn’t a reactionary defensive player. He’s an attacker. He does his best work when he gets to go after the ball, specifically when the quarterback is holding it.

Tez has enjoyed the majority of his success when the coaches unleash his freakish abilities through blitzes. I already mentioned his three sacks this season (five in his career), but Wilson also has five quarterback hurries in 2008 – another telling sign of his pass rushing success.

Why keep this beast on a leash?

It’s definitely too late to make the switch now, but after the final snap of ’08, Zook and his staff should immediately get Wilson on a bulk-building program so he can be ready to start on the defensive end next season.

Despite the need to put on a few extra pounds so he can hold his own against 300-pound offensive tackles, moving Wilson would also help fill the pass rush void left by the graduation of current defensive ends Will Davis and Derek Walker. While the linebacker corps will be losing Miller, Rodney Pittman and Sam Carson to graduation as well, the need for a dominant and consistent pass rush will be something Wilson can provide immediately as opposed to the role of consistent tackler if he is kept at his current position. This is particularly important because the conference is rapidly being overtaken by the spread offense.

Now, I don’t want anyone to think that I’m ripping on Wilson here. He’s been a serviceable linebacker this season, but I think he could be a dominant defensive end. With so many game-changing players leaving after this year (Miller, Will Davis, Vontae Davis), it seems to make the most sense to try and utilize Wilson’s best skills where they will be most valuable next season.

Tez is an All-American defensive end trapped as an outside linebacker. The choice just seems natural.

Kyle Betts is a graduate student. He can be reached at [email protected].