Interesting idea for a thread, but this is not anything new that I can tell. To suggest that Connor Barwin is a point of evolution in the history of football is overstating the point pretty seriously. Connor Barwin is a minor footnote in the history of football and hasn't done squat to deserve a theory named after him, except as the draft binkie for a lot of Patriots Fans--myself included.
If there is a trend, it may be that football is more popular than ever, and some multi-sport athletes who might have decided to play a different sport have opted for the NFL.
Multi-sport athleticism is not new. It's old, very old.
The other observation in the OP is the prevalence of players switching positions. Moving from DL to OL. Moving from QB to WR. Moving from WR to S. Moving from TE to OT. Really, is this new? I don't even want to start listing examples, because the cup runneth over. Bill Belichick started his career at OC, lol!! It's human nature to shift and move, and players have been moving positions in the game of football since the dawn of time... with or without Connor Barwin!
It's just Mayoclinic being witty, because Barwin rhymes with
Darwin.
To address some of these points:
1. I've said that mutli-sport athleticism is very, very old. Go back to Jim Thorpe if you want to.
2. Players switching positions is nothing new, as I've said, just like crossing sports. But there HAS been a more active evolution in scouting to look for prospects from other sports with raw athleticism, and to take a much earlier risk on them in the draft based on their athletic potential. Look at the example above of Menelik Watson, who had never put on straps until a year and a half ago, who is still technically very raw and lacks instincts, but who could be a day 2 pick in the draft. That high a projection is something new, IMHO, and is the effect of "Barwinian" evolution - of scouts and FOs realizing the potential impact of these elite athletes, and their ability to make position changes and pick up the game much more quickly than previously thought.
3. As for Barwin, as MHTK says, a large part of the reason for using his name is simply a pun. But the other part is that I do think that Barwin is part of an inflection point that occurred around 2009-2010, where teams began to realize that guys with elite athleticism would have an impact much sooner than projected. I have no doubt that if Barwin were coming out this year he would be a 1st round pick. What we are seeing this year is there is a tendency for guys with elite athleticism who are still raw to rise much more quickly, and less of an emphasis on taking "high floor" guys who have several years of consistent tape, but who may have maxed out their potential. Barwin himself may only be a footnote in this evolution, but I think that he came out at a period that was something of an inflection point in the shift of values, and that, along with the pun, was why I used his name in the title. I already said all of that (post #13 above) for anyone who had bothered to take the time to read the thread. And I really don't see why I can't pick whatever title I damn well wanted to.
What's different now is that teams are taking bigger and bigger risks on guys with little experience but elite size and athleticism, and usual higher draft picks on them. Brandon Hardin and Akiem Hicks were projected late round picks last year, and both ended up going 3rd round. Teams are relying less and less on tape and college productivity and more and more on athleticism and projection. They're looking more and more at guys with diverse athletic backgrounds, and position switches are becoming more and more common. All of it happened in the past, but it's becoming much more mainstream now, and the development of these guys can be very fast. These guys seem to explode out of nowhere: Anthony Barr went from becoming an unknown to an impact player in a matter of weeks.
Part of the theme of this thread is that there are probably dozens of guys - perhaps more - with elite athleticism and high upside sitting around undiscovered, the way Barr, Ansah, Watson and Long were last year. They won't show up on the early 1st round projections that come out for next year's draft in April. Draftniks like Mel Kiper won't have heard of most of them, as they're not scouts. The trick is finding them, and especially getting them before they're discovered and their stock rises.
. Processing speed (to steal Mayo and Grid's term) is clearly above average and he's a bull, but hands look decent and motor is good. 
