He was a three-year starter at offensive tackle for Iowa earning 2nd Team All-Big Ten honors twice, but Buffalo's final pick of the 2010 draft class, Kyle Calloway, will be moving inside for the Bills.
"We're probably going to play him at guard," said head coach Chan Gailey. "We see him more as a guard for us. He's more suited to the tighter spaces than he is out on the edge. He's a big human and he can stand there and clog up a lot. He moves better and looks like he's going to fit better in tighter quarters."
All but a couple of Calloway's starts at Iowa were at either right tackle or left tackle, but earlier in his career he did play guard. He also finished his college career at guard in the Orange Bowl when he played on the left side.
"One of our guards got injured and we moved our lineup around a little bit," said Calloway."I ended up at right guard and lined up with a pretty big defensive tackle at Georgia Tech.My first years at Iowa I also played guard so it wasn't a big surprise for me. I think I handled it well."
Gailey said seeing him play at guard in the bowl game helped to convince Buffalo that he could be a viable guard prospect.
Calloway comes from a pipeline of technically sound offensive linemen that learn at the elbow of Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz, a former NFL line coach.
"It's definitely professional grade," said Calloway of the techniques taught at Iowa."What attracted me to Iowa was Coach Ferentz.It seems like everyone around the league really respects him and his coaching style.It's been a pleasure playing for him the last five years.I went into Iowa not really knowing anything about O-line and it's been a process and I've learned a lot."
Playing in a zone blocking scheme at Iowa Calloway is accustomed to blocking on the move and is considered to be a good combination blocker with good feet for his size (6'7" 323).
"We're known for our run game at Iowa," said Calloway. "Everything works off our run. That's always something we focus on in practice as well but we did have the ability to drop back and pass it."
And even though he's making a position switch, the durable and disciplined Calloway believes the technique tools he brings with him to the NFL will serve him well in his transition.
"I think it will translate well," said Calloway. "I'm very confident in my technique. It really makes it so if you're doing your technique right you can't get beat really. Obviously, there are a lot of things that I have to sharpen up, especially moving on to the next level.But I am confident."
