Pretty soon Northwestern football coach Randy Walker is going to start making his recruits at the tight end position try out at fullback before offering them a spot on the team.

When starting fullback Ian Miller suffered a concussion in the Wildcats’ second game of last season, Walker was forced to shuffle tight ends Mike Sherry and John Cerasani in and out of the backfield until Miller returned five weeks later for the Iowa game.

This spring, with Cerasani and Miller only a few months away from gowns and diplomas, Walker has decided to go with Sherry as his No. 1 fullback on the depth chart.

“We’re going to be young and without a lot of depth, but we’ll have more depth than last year,” Walker said of the fullback position. “Sherry is in the driver’s seat. He’s an experienced player. I really expect Mike to get a grasp of that position and be the guy next year.”

Before he lined up in the backfield “a couple of times” last season, Sherry had never played fullback ­ not in elementary school, middle school, high school and certainly not at the college level.

Furthermore, Sherry did not have a spring season to learn the position. He is hoping that by the end of this year’s spring practice, he will be more comfortable being the lead blocker for running back Damien Anderson.

“I know the basics a little more now,” Sherry said. “I kind of got those out of the way. But I still have a lot of work to do. I still have a lot of things to work out.

“I’m a long way away from even somewhat knowing what I have got to do.”

One thing that should work to Sherry’s advantage is that the fullback position is similar to tight end. Sherry still will be blocking for Anderson or one of NU’s receivers, and he still will be catching short passes in the flat from quarterback Zak Kustok.

Sherry also had the advantage of watching Cerasani play fullback for the majority of the time Miller was hurt last season, an experience Sherry said can only be a positive for him as he tries to learn the ropes.

“I always learn from watching the older guys play,” Sherry said. “I learned a lot watching Cerasani and Miller and I’m just trying to carry that over to next season.”

The spring season not only will give Sherry a chance to get used to playing fullback, but it will give Anderson a chance to get used to playing with Sherry.

After Miller was injured last season, Anderson lined up alongside a number of different players. He said he often had to make sure the person playing fullback was lined up in the right position — something he never had to do when Miller was healthy.

“With Ian and I, I knew what he was going to do before he did it,” Anderson said. “That made the read so much easier. You have to build up that relationship with each other.”

Walker said he expects Sherry to start at the fullback position, but he also said freshmen Gilles Lezi and Eric Worley will see some time in the backfield.

Lezi will split time at running back and fullback and Worley will swing between tight end and fullback.

Walker and Anderson hope getting Sherry and the others more experience will keep the other skill players from taking a stint in the backfield.

“Hopefully I can build a relationship like I had with Ian with (Sherry and Lezi),” Anderson said. “That’s what spring is for, to learn new things.”