From hyped to humbled - Marcus Forston eyes fresh start as pro

FOXBORO — When Marcus Forston arrived at the University of Miami, there was talk of him being the best defensive tackle from southern Florida since Vince Wilfork [stats].

That was a mighty lofty claim. And Forston, a Parade All-American out of Miami’s Northwestern High School, didn’t exactly run from it. He embraced the hype, then dialed it up a notch.

“Vince Wilfork is a tremendous defensive tackle, and it’s going to be my goal to try to beat some of his records,” Forston proclaimed in one interview after arriving at Miami. “I’m going to lay down that there’s a new sheriff in town.”

Well, there might have been a new sheriff, but he barely laid a hand on the old one. While Forston flashed on occasion, he more often struggled to stay afloat in a sea of injuries. There was also the little matter of being suspended by the NCAA for the 2011 season opener for taking impermissible benefits while being recruited.

Forston’s college career was decent, not great. He showed signs of being a major disruptive force in the middle given his natural ability, but not enough.

Opting to leave college early didn’t exactly do him any favors either, as he wasn’t drafted.

But the Pats signed him as a rookie free agent, and with Wilfork getting up in years — he turns 31 in November — and needing to lessen his load, it’s possible Forston could make the team as a backup.

Forston, however, has plenty to learn and a lot to prove before winning a roster spot. That much he knows. Speaking yesterday prior to the rookie camp workout, he sounded a bit more humble than the kid who thought he was going to take the Hurricanes by storm. There were no promises and no guarantees. Just vows of doing whatever was needed to make it at this level.

“I’m just ready to work,” Forston said. “I want to do everything my coach tells me to do at 110 percent.”

One of the knocks on Forston is that while he has incredible talent and raw ability, he doesn’t always use it. That may have been another factor as to why teams passed on him through seven rounds. Forston, however, now may be using that as a motivator.

“It don’t matter where you get drafted,” he said, “because once you come in, everyone’s on the same level. So I just want to come here, work hard, whatever role my coaches want me to do, I’m going to do it.”

As for Wilfork, Forston is looking forward to learning from the man he thought he could trump at Miami. He hasn’t formally met Big Vince yet, but was hoping to get an audience with him and the rest of the defensive line.

“I feel I can learn a lot because the way those guys play, you want to play like that, too,” Forston said. “You know when you see the Patriots [team stats] defensive line, they’re aggressive, they’re nasty, and they play hard.”

Forston is 6-foot-1, 300 pounds. He doesn’t have the same girth or body frame as Wilfork, but he did bench-press 225 pounds 35 times at the NFL combine, which is impressive.

It was suggested that coming to the Patriots might be an opportunity for him to start fresh. Sounded good to him.

“I’m going to come here (and) do everything right,” he said. “I’m going to come here and do my job. I’m going to work hard. Once you work hard, everything else comes into place.”


(boston.com)