Coaches like what they see from Gragg
Saturday afternoon. But not a country music fan? “Notat all.” So far though, after two training camp practices, he’s loving his time at Pitt both on the field — where he’s expected to provide an immediate shot in the arm for the offense— and off of it.
“You know I’m from the country, but the city folks, they really get down and they really like me,” he laughed. “They’ve really taken a hold to me. The Pittsburgh folks, they’regood.”
Coach Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson hope the 6-foot-4, 250pound Gragg will be good to them. The Panthers haven’t even put on pads yet, and Gragg doesn’t appear to be jumpingright in with the firstteam offense, but the coaching staff wouldn’t have contacted him if they didn’t like what theysaw on film.
Gragg graduated from Arkansas in three years with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation and Sport Management, so he has two seasons to establish himself with the Panthers. With quarterback Kenny Pickett in need of some weapons on offense, the head coach wouldn’t mind that happening sooner rather than later.
“Will was a guy we targeted. We loved what he saw,” Narduzzi said. “I just love his attitude. … We thought it was a position of weakness coming in, and the strong survive outthere.”
Narduzzi added that there weren’t any connections between Pitt and Gragg — who alsoconsidered Louisville and Baylor as transfer destinations— when the Panthers began recruiting him. But Watson remembers courting Gragg when Watson was on staff at Texas, and really, that didn’t put him in a very exclusiveclub.
Gragg had big-time offers from all across the country when he decided to stay home and play for the Razorbacks, andit sounds as if his pedigree has already been evident in a helmet and shorts on the SouthSide.
“The one thing that’s stood out about Will Gragg is just his route-running,” Narduzzi said Saturday. “The guy can push the field. It’s different than maybe some of the other guys, so I really think that he’s gonna really help us in the passinggame.”
That’s certainly more speculation than anything at this point, given that Gragg was a seldom-used piece at Arkansas. When you redshirt your firstyear as a four-star recruit, don’t see the field your second season either, then play in 10 games but catch just five balls for 61 yards, there isn’t much ofa proven resume.
But simply being in a Southeastern Conference program, which produced two NFL draft picks at tight end while Gragg was there, could serve him well as he tries to get up to speed in Pitt’s offense. At least that’s how his new offensive coordinator seesit.
“He’s a really good pass matchup, and he’s eager and willing in the run game,” Watson said. “He knows what he has to do to develop. … I like what he brings to our table as amatchup guy.”
Watson also mentioned Gragg’s older brother, Chris, who played at Arkansas and inthe NFL with the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills as a former seventh-round draft pick. Will Gragg will need to carve out his own niche, but it won’t bewithout his brother’s help.
“I talk to him five, six times a day,” Will Gragg said. “I talk tohim before practice, I talked to him after practice [Friday] night. Just going over film, he’s telling me my footwork, how to stick on my routes and things like that, so he’s always been in my corner anytime I needed him. That’s my best friend.”
What Will Gragg won’t do is have any hard feelings about how it ended for him at Arkansas. He refers to his new quarterback, Kenny Pickett, as “a beast” and said the two have been working on chemistry since he got to town.He sums up Narduzzi as “down to business, and I like that.”
But with the Razorbacks in his rearview, Gragg — who calls himself “a jack of all trades” — feels reinvigorated by a change of scenery after leaving his hometown school, where his ambitions and aspirationsfizzled out.
“You never can point a finger on those things,” Gragg said.
“I think it’s good for me to get a fresh start and be able to come out here with new coaches, new coordinator, new tight ends coach, and just new players around me. These guys wanna win, and I feel like we’ve got the players around us to do it.”