How would LeBron do in the NFL?

I had a fascinating discussion -- actually, let's call it a heated argument -- last night concerning LeBron James's potential as an NFL player. Think about it: LeBron lined up as a wide receiver with pads and a helmet on -- all 6-foot-8, 270 of him -- and a 5-8, 165-pound defensive back trying to cover him. I think The King would dominate.

Obviously, this is hard to forecast without any evidence. But if you understand what makes LeBron such a fantastic basketball player, you should at least concede that his skills would translate to a gridiron.

LeBron is the greatest athlete playing professional sports right now, and by athlete, I mean the physical traits that make him who he is: Incredible upper and lower body strength, elite quickness, impeccable balance, tremendous speed and, above all else, a unique explosiveness I've seen from no other athlete before. Now, LeBron has a lot else going for him on the court -- his savvy, his vision, his sense of when to make a pass and an increasingly effective jump shot -- but what makes him so great is his athletic ability. No defenders can stop that train coming through the lane. No defenders want to. (I'm painfully reminded of that each time I remember the 48 he dropped on my beloved Detroit Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.)

So ... how would all of those abilities translate to a football field? Well, line him up beside the greatest receiver in the NFL -- for the sake of this argument, let's say the Texans' Andre Johnson. What makes him great? Size, strength, speed, quickness, leaping ability, great hands, a great sense of when to time his jumps and, probably most importantly, an ability to run excellent routes. The only area I feel like Johnson might have a leg up on LeBron is speed and route-running. But LeBron would learn to run good routes. And his size, strength and leaping ability would trump his less-than-elite speed. (Although if he were to run a 40-yard dash, I'm pretty sure LeBron could pull off something in the 4.6 range. Have you seen his gigantic strides? Ridiculous.)

The argument my counterpart waged centered on the great speed and quickness of NFL defensive backs, and that because LeBron isn't as fast as many wide receivers, DBs would be all over him whenever the ball would arrive from the quarterback. Touche, although I just suggested that a QB could throw the ball higher to LeBron than any other receiver, and he would just go up and get it. And on the way down, any hit from a much, much smaller DB would surely throw off his balance, but not to the degree guys like Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and even Andre Johnson lose their balance throughout the course of an NFL game.

It's a fun topic to me because I'd love to see it played out someday. In fact, if you've seen LeBron's latest ad on TV (he has some big announcement on Jan. 18 -- a new era he calls it), then you might hold the same hope I do: That LeBron will make himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft and become the next great two-sport athlete beginning next fall.

How exciting would that be?

As for LeBron's potential effectiveness as an NFL player ... I think he could be a Pro Bowler. What about you? And when it comes to skills translating from one league to the other ... would more NBA players be effective NFL players, or vice versa? Please weigh in.