Texas' Jerrod Heard welcomes opportunity at wide receiver

Texas head coach Charlie Strong has not yet named his starting quarterback heading into the 2016 season, but one of the three options has taken a different look during fall camp.

Last season's starting quarterback Jerrod Heard began practicing with the wide receivers this week because he feels he can help the team in that capacity, according to Max Olson of ESPN. Strong commended Heard's attitude and willingness to switch positions and was more than willing to accomodate his request.

"Jerrod was battling for the quarterback position and he says to me, 'Coach, I can be the backup at quarterback, but I want to play,'" Strong said. "So I said, 'OK, big boy, you tell me where you want to play.' He said, 'Can I go play wide receiver?' I said, 'Most certainly, you can.'"

Strong confirmed that Heard is still getting reps at quarterback during practice, but that he will look for a presence in the receiving corps as early as week 1. As a redshirt freshman in 2015, Heard went 92-for-159 for 1,214 yards and five touchdowns, along with 556 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

As far as naming a starting quarterback for the Longhorns season opener is concerned, Strong still doesn't believe he can make that call just yet.

"I just think next week would be too early for us," Strong said. "We're still in the evaluation process. I'm not just going to put it out there yet. I know you want to write about it. But I just know who's waiting on us, so they can see who they have to prepare for. It's about our opponent more than anything. You just don't want to give them anything early."