How UCLA’s Niki Prongos went from unknown to NFL prospect in less than 10 games

UCLA offensive lineman Niki Prongos sets set at the line of scrimmage during a game against Oregon at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 28. (Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)

In high school, Niki Prongos would hear the play call and wonder what it meant.

When he got to UCLA, the offensive lineman went over the playbook and heard teammates talking about inside zone, a popular run play used at every level of football.

“I was like, what the heck is inside zone?” Prongos recalled with a laugh.

More than two years after he entered college not knowing much about football, Prongos has mastered more than concepts. The redshirt sophomore who has participated in only nine games since he started playing the sport has become a maestro of might.

Having packed 60 pounds onto what is now a 6-foot-7, 305-pound frame, he’s smashed edge rushers, conquered doubters, obliterated expectations. Moving around early this season because of injuries to veteran teammates — not to mention their struggles to execute a new offense — he started one game at right tackle, two games at right guard and one game at left tackle. You never know where he might end up next.

“If they need me to play quarterback,” he cracked, “I’m there.”

Realizing that he needed to reward the willing walk-on who was also among his best offensive linemen, coach DeShaun Foster called Prongos in front of the team late last month. Prongos momentarily wondered whether he was in trouble.

After looking him in the eye as Prongos waited, restlessly tucking his T-shirt into his shorts, Foster extended his hand.

“You’ve got a scholarship,” Foster said to cheers from the other players who leaped from their seats, mobbing Prongos in a celebration reminiscent of when Foster was introduced in the same auditorium seven months earlier.

It was the sort of moment that Prongos always…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/uclas-niki-prongos-went-unknown-120050255.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2024-10-10 12:00:50

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