INDIANAPOLIS — LSU’s Patrick Peterson and Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara are considered to be the top two cornerbacks in this year’s draft class. So, why would there be rumblings about both of them possibly switching to safety in the NFL?

“It’s just a lot of guys talking,” Peterson, who’s 6-foot and 219 pounds, said Sunday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I feel my best game is at cornerback, but if an NFL team needs me to play the safety position, I’m definitely more than willing to transition my game to the safety position. They haven’t come to me with changing to the safety position, but if it so happens, it happens. I’ll have to live with it.”

Nebraska CB Prince Amukamara (above) is NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock's second-rated cornerback in this year's draft class. (Gary A. Vasquez/NFL)

Said Amukamara, who’s 6-foot and 206 pounds: “If safety is what the team wants me to play, I’ll be more than happy to play it. However, I do feel I’m a better corner.”

After addressing the possibility of a position change, both players admitted they need to improve on some things before becoming pros.

“The thing I’ve been working on is my technique,” Amukamara said. “I feel like I’m too high on my backpedal, so I’ve been working a lot on it.”

Said Peterson: “I want to work on my zone coverage. We never did that at LSU, but a lot of people are saying I can’t backpedal and things like that. I definitely can. … I’m definitely going to show the media, all you guys, that I can backpedal and change direction as well.”

Peterson also said he’d like to model his game after Packers CB Charles Woodson.

“I don’t want to be the next Charles Woodson, but I kind of want to pattern my game after Charles Woodson because he could play each and every defensive position on the field,” he said. “I believe if they gave him the opportunity to play d-tackle or d-end, he’d definitely do it.

“That’s something I want to do to show the world, that I definitely can learn, I can learn a scheme and understand a scheme as well. If they need me to play dime, if they need me to play safety, if they need me to play strong safety, I’m definitely down for it.”

– Matt Florjancic, Special to NFL.com

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