Since before he stepped foot on the Farm, Erik Lorig’s football career has been unpredictable. The trend continued through his time at Stanford and now, in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it has manifested itself even further.
Lorig, a rookie seventh-round pick, made his first career start for the Bucs two Sundays ago. However, it wasn’t at defensive end, the position at which he was drafted and played through training camp. Rather, it was at H-Back—a hybrid of the tight end and fullback roles. In the span of about a month, he went from the practice squad to the active roster—though inactive on game days—to a starter at a new position on the other side of the ball. How did he get there?
A story of this nature may be odd for most players, but for Lorig, it’s nearly par for the course. His tale dates back to his college recruitment. Lorig, a 2005 four-star recruit at tight end and defensive end who earned multiple high school All-American nods, was highly sought after by Stanford, USC, California and UCLA.
His recruiting process was about as drawn-out as it can get—national signing day is in early February, and despite alleged ultimatums from the schools, Lorig did not commit until May, even missing his Admit Weekend while he pondered his choice. After his redshirt year, he played offense in 2006 before switching sides in 2007, where he stayed for the rest of his Cardinal career. Known for his run defense, he anchored the Stanford line before suffering a season-ending groin injury early in his senior year.
Despite a hurt pectoral that kept him out of most offseason workouts, Lorig was one of three Cardinal players—along with Jim Dray and Toby Gerhart—selected in the 2010 draft. He practiced at defensive end during summer camp but was cut during the final roster trimmings in September. The Bucs immediately signed him to their practice squad and, with a wealth of odysseys already behind him, a new journey began.
“We were in the second week of the season. I was a defensive end and I was inactive, I wasn’t playing. They needed a tight end and fullback for the scout team,” Lorig said. “So I took it as an opportunity to showcase what I can do on offense.”
The Bucs knew that Lorig had played tight end at the collegiate level, but while he did some work at H-Back for the Cardinal—in fact, USC had recruited him at the position—his experience as a fullback was minimal at best. Blocking assignments and adapting to the offensive playbook prompted new challenges.
“There’s a mentality switch. At defensive end, it’s about motor going all the time,” he said. “When you switch sides to offense, you have to bring that mentality of playing really hard but you have to be more controlled and understand the concept of the play—a few inches or feet could make the block and determine where the running back inserts. You’re reading linebackers instead of linemen.”
His learning curve was steep. Lorig began competing with backup fullback Chris Pressley in early October. In Week 6, against the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 17, Lorig played about 15 snaps. The next weekend, Pressley was released and, with starting fullback Earnest Graham battling a nagging hamstring injury, Lorig took over the starting role.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “I did some good things and did some bad things. I have a lot of room to get better there, from what I watched on the film. I’m taking what they give me and making sure I do my job.”
Lorig has leaned on Graham, starting tailback Carnell “Cadillac” Williams and running backs coach Steve Logan during the transition, and they have aided him in digesting the different techniques and plays. That’s part of the equation—the other is maintaining the motor that characterized his time as a defensive player.
“It’s a 110-percent game at this level. If you’re not going at that level, you’re not going to perform well,” he said. “It’s also about being really confident in the playbook.”
He paused, then added, “And being competent, too.”