When Manny Diaz announced earlier this week that Jarren Williams was going to be Miami's starting quarterback against Florida, 247Sports Director of Scouting Barton Simmons said on The College Football Daily podcast that Tate Martell should consider moving to wide receiver.

It turns out that idea might not be all that farfetched.

247Sports and InsideTheU has learned that Martell is giving wide receiver a try and took some snaps at the position during the team's closed scrimmaged on Friday according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

It's unclear at the time if Martell will permanently make the switch to wide receiver, but the development is certainly interesting.

Martell went 43-0 in high school as the starting quarterback at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. The former four-star recruit signed with Ohio State back in 2017 and spent his first year on campus working behind Dwayne Haskins. The dual-threat talent was expected to compete for the Buckeyes starting quarterback job this upcoming season with Haskins now in the NFL, but he elected to leave Columbus once former Georgia quarterback Justin Fields announced that he was transferring to Ohio State.

Diaz told reporters on Tuesday that he was hoping Martell, who had a waiver approved by the NCAA in March which granted him immediate eligibility for the upcoming season, and N'Kosi Perry would both stay with the program after losing the quarterback battle to Williams.

“We told them we felt it was too close to call for who the backup would be,” he said. “I know it’s the same old story, but you’re a snap away.”

The transition from quarterback to wide receiver isn't exactly common, but it has happened plenty of times before.

“It’s just one of the many directions someone can go when they’re an undersized quarterback who is also really athletic,” Simmons said on The College Football daily podcast. “[National recruiting analyst Greg Biggins] has seen Tate more than anybody. He was talking about how he’s seen Tate running around catching passes at quarterback camps. He’s got natural pass-catching ability. The ball skills are there. He is very athletic. He is sudden and has some twitch and body movement to his game. That short-area quickness was one of the best qualities he had. As a slot guy that could create space and get separation as a route runner, there’s a lot of those guys with success in all levels of football right now. I’m not saying that’s where he needs to go, but in the spectrum of options, you have to include that as one of them.”

Martell clocked a blazing 3.96 in the 20-yard shuttle the summer before his senior season at Bishop Gorman. He added a 36.8-inch vertical jump. For a comparison, current Miami wide receiver Mike Harley, who operates primarily out of the slot, ran a 4.0 in the short shuttle coming out of high school and had a 34.4-inch vert.

Miami opens the season Aug. 24 against the Gators in Orlando. The Hurricanes are currently seven-point underdogs.