Hornsby's Best Shot at the NFL was Staying in Fayetteville

There's two things a player in the transfer portal should be evaluating:

1) What is my best path to the NFL from a skills and body type standpoint?

2) Where is my best opportunity to display those skills in the biggest possible spotlight?

Had that process taken place, the last couple of days might have played out like this:

Hornsby slipped quietly into the head coach's office where Sam Pittman leaned back hard in the chair behind his desk with a cell phone pressed to his ears. 

Pittman glanced up and motioned for Hornsby to sit down in a nearby chair while making it clear to keep silent until spoken to. 

"Clint Conque!" Pittman said as a smile spread across his face. "How you doing brother? Been a while.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Me too.

"Listen, the reason I am calling is because I've got this tight ends job open up here. I wanted to see if you might be interested.

"Yeah. I see. 

"Well, what if we named you the offensive coordinator in waiting. How would that sound? I was even thinking about bringing in DJ Williams to be your graduate assistant.

"You could train him up to be your replacement once you moved up to OC. 

"Hey, man. You never know. A few years from now I may go down to Lake Hamilton and just not feel like driving back. You could be in charge of the whole mess.

"Yeah. Well I'd give you your choice of territory from Russelville down to the southern tip of Louisiana all the way over to I-45 in Texas. You just tell me how much of it you want and it's yours. You can even take DJ with you when you're out there.

"Uh-huh. Well, I know it's a big decision. Take a day to think about it and give me a call tomorrow evening.

"Uh-huh. Alright then. Bye.

"Hey, Malik. What brings you here. Isn't this your three hour window that you use to handle all your transfer portal stuff?"

Hornsby shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Coach had apparently been keeping tabs on him, so perhaps that was a good sign.

"So I was wondering if I could come back and play receiver," Hornsby said with the slightest hint of shake in his voice.

"Let you come back?" Pittman said as his eyebrows crinkled down. "Pretty sure we already tried that and the first thing you did was jump right back in the portal."

"Yeah, but this time I want to take a crack at receiver."

"Receiver?" Pittman said with a hearty laugh. "Pretty sure we already tried that too and all you did was try every way you could to slip back into the quarterback rotation."

"Come on coach," Hornsby pleaded. He could tell he was testing his former coach's patience. "I'm serious now."

"You should have been serious then," Pittman said reaching for his cell phone. "I've got another 10 defensive coordinators to call today, so scram. I don't have time for this."

"Coach, you've got what, 12 people left in the building?" Hornsby said. "And only like two of them are receivers. KJ said you were eyeballing Beaux Limmer the other day and muttering about how he might look in the slot."

Pittman had to rearrange the shocked look on his face. He didn't think anyone had noticed.

"It doesn't have to be that way coach," Hornsby said. "Every coach who calls me about transferring says he wants me to play wide receiver because it's my best shot at the NFL and getting to the NFL is what's best for me and their program.

"The only coach who would even talk a little bit with me about playing quarterback was Eli Drinkwitz," Hornsby said.

"Did he tell you that you'd have to earn your keep to get that shot?" Pittman asked with a grin.

"Yeah, why?"

"He just wants you to launder his Darth Vader suit and help him make signs for basketball games," Pittman said. "Soon as you're done, he'll have you over at wide receiver and next thing you know that Battle Line Rivalry we keep forgetting is on the schedule will become your Super Bowl."

"So what do ya say coach?" Hornsby asked with a bit of hope bubbling up inside.

"Well, I guess you're right," Pittman said. "We are pretty thin at wide receiver. Heck, we've probably got more opportunity for you to shine than anybody you got on your list.

"I tell you what, we'll give you another chance," Pittman said as he leaned in. "But you better train like the NFL combine is tomorrow. 

"Now go find KJ, Isaiah and Matt and whoever is left in the secondary. You and Isaiah run deep posts for a couple of hours and have Matt Landers do Matt Landers things. You'll also need to remind KJ to not tuck it and run every other time you guys run a route."

"OK, coach," Hornsby said. "Will do. Thanks for the opportunity."

He then tried to use his speed to dart out before Pittman could change his mind, but that familiar drawl stopped him in his tracks right as he reached the door.

"And Malik," Pittman said. "Swing by the equipment room and tell them to give you No. 16. If you're gonna make it to the show then you're going to need a number KJ's used to throwing at."

"Sure thing coach," Hornsby said as he slipped out the door.

And with that, the quarterback turned now fully committed receiver took his first step toward torching Kansas and into the national spotlight.

Sure, there are some liberties there for entertainment purposes, but the point still remains.

Malik Hornsby should still be in the Razorback facilities working toward his NFL future instead of working the phones.

He has familiarity with Jefferson, knows the offense and would most likely be paired opposite another world class track athlete against a Kansas defense waiting to watch them both run by. 

After that Liberty Bowl trial run where he would have had almost no one around to take reps away from him as he spent December developing his game, his growth would have been exponential. 

While everyone else is trying to make it to campus as a student for the first time, Hornsby could have had the inside track at becoming Jefferson's next safety blanket.

But that's not what's happening. Instead of Hornsby in a starring role in the Liberty Bowl, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles is trying to figure out if he has enough receivers left on the team to run all of the formations and Jefferson is left with a list of names on his wrist during practice instead of plays.

Obviously, Hornsby probably needs a new set of voices and buildings around him. 

However, on paper, the best move for his career was probably 15 yards to his right. 

Not hundreds of miles in whatever direction he hears the promise of another year of NFL development lost trying to be quarterback.