.....In an effort to evaluate the different skill sets of each freshman on campus, the coaches typically put them through NFL Combine-style drills. One of those is a cross-field catch drill that includes six balls fired at the player, requiring strong hand-eye coordination to catch them in rapid succession while moving.
It didn't take long for play caller Shawn Watson to pick Beck out of the group as the one with the best hand-eye coordination of them all, sending Watson racing across the field to head coach Charlie Strong.
"I started politicking right away," Watson said on Tuesday. "I ran up to Charlie and say 'Hey, 47 has got unbelievable hands, and he can run.' At that time, we were good at back, but we needed some depth at tight end."
Convincing Strong to give up a linebacker might not have been the easiest thing to do -- the Louisville offer clearly indicates that the head coach believed Beck could play the position at a high level.
But he obviously relented and Beck made the move to tight end during fall camp.
"He was really a perfect fit for what we'd like to do with our moving tight end," said Watson.
The impact at tight end didn't come immediately, however. Beck spent most of the first part of the season transitioning to the position as he contributed on special teams, playing in each game and making two tackles against BYU in that phase.
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The big prize at tight end in the 2014 recruiting class was the top-ranked junior college tight end, Blake Whiteley, the Canadian who played one season at Arizona Western, but Beck has emerged as the impact maker of the two so far and looks to continue on that trajectory based on his blocking ability.
