Flowers open to end or tackle

Fresno (Calif.) Edison defensive lineman Wesley Flowers is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound target that could project at both strongside defensive end or event at defensive tackle.

Flowers said he's open to playing wherever on the next level, which is why most schools talking to him are also open to playing him at either position.

"Most of the schools, well all of the schools, recruiting me are saying they're recruiting me at defensive line," Flowers, who impressed both at the U.S. Army National Combine and at the recent Los Angeles NIKE Training Camp, said.

"They don't know how my body is going to progress, so they're telling me they want me at defensive line, and then we'll figure the rest out later."

Flowers said he's open to that approach.

"I want to be a defensive end, because I think it would be a little easier since I already play it," he said. "But I know I have to get a lot faster. My last 40-yard dash was a 5.2. I need to work on my speed. That's the biggest thing in my game that I need to work on. My strength is improving, but I need to get faster."

Flowers definitely has football speed, though.

"I have a good motor that never stops running," he said. "I get to the ball, and I have good lateral movement. I also think I have good explosiveness."

It's those types of things that has allowed Flowers to earn scholarship offers early on from Fresno State and Washington. He was supposed to make it up to the UDub spring game but wasn't able to make it.

"We couldn't make it up there, so we're going to go up there in the summer," Flowers said. "I've been giving coach Steve Sarkisian a call up there almost every week. He's a really exciting guy to talk to."

But Flowers is also excited about the offer from Fresno State. He said Bulldog coach Pat Hill has been heavily involved with his recruitment.

"I haven't talked to anybody at Fresno other than coach Hill," Flowers said. "He wants me to stay home. It would kind of be a good opportunity to stay close to home where my friends and family can see me play. But I want to stay in California, and I want to play in the Pac 10. That's kind of high on my list. I'm not closing any options away, though. I'm keeping everything open."

Open because schools like UCLA, Cal, Arizona State, Stanford and plenty of Ivy League schools are showing interest.

"There's a lot of Pac 10 schools that are watching me," he said. "I'm hoping one of those schools comes through with an offer. It would be really exciting."

Flowers, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, plans to major in business in college.