Despite outside pressure, UCLA’s Myles Jack is content at linebacker

When Myles Jack enters the game at running back, he just looks … different. The sophomore hits the hole like a freight train and can accelerate quicker than most other players on the field. If he was running the ball full time, Jack would likely be one of the best backs in the Pac-12, if not the country.

But Jack, one of UCLA’s starting linebackers, doesn’t anticipate switching positions full time. He’s carried only 22 times for 79 yards this season, a considerable statistical drop from when he won Pac-12 offensive rookie of the year last season. The focus is at linebacker, seemingly for the considerable future.

“I’m more of a defensive player, so that’s more of where my heart is,” Jack said Monday. “[The coaching staff] has definitely brought it up to me, do you want to move to running back? I feel like I kind of have to find a happy medium. I feel like last week was a good happy medium, where I could still do enough on defense where it didn’t take away from my defense and I can still play offense. It’s hard, you know? It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Jack said that running back coach Kennedy Polamalu asks him pretty much every week if he wants to switch, and the offensive linemen joke about a permanent switch too.

It has made Jack consider it, but don’t expect a switch soon.

“I’ve definitely given it thought, for sure,” Jack said. “Trust me. If enough people say it, you’re definitely going to think about it. But I just feel like in the long run, defense is just where my heart is. That’s just what I want to do. I wouldn’t be in it for the right reasons if I switched to running back. It would be for glam and glitz … that’s not where I’m at. I want to play defense.”

Jack has a rare rival at the “runningbacker” position this week. Washington’s Shaquille Thompson also plays on both sides of the ball. Thompson was actually Jack’s host on his official recruiting visit to Washington, so the two are familiar with each other.

“I definitely think it will be a little competition between us, just to see who is I guess the best runningbacker,” Jack said. “It’ll be fun. I think it’s cool that, hopefully he’ll be on defense, so he’ll get to tackle me and I’ll get to tackle him, stuff like that. I think that’s good for the game.”

Thompson was a full-time running back last week, so it’s unclear how many defensive snaps he’ll receive. One runningbacker seems to be transitioning toward offense, while the other rebuffs the switch.

“Me, personally, I feel like defense is my calling and that’s really what I want to do,” Jack said. “I feel like I can be a dominant player on the defensive side of the ball and still get a couple carries every once in a while.

For more Bruins observations, follow Everett Cook on Twitter @everettcook