Cantrell a favorite among Hogs’ coaches
FAYETTEVILLE — The son of Barry Lunney Sr., one of Arkansas’ iconic high school football coaches who retired with championships at Fort Smith Southside and Bentonville, Arkansas Razorbacks tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. made a coaching confession last week.
It’s a confession that generations of disgruntled parents of children they believe weren’t played enough by their coaches swear coast to coast to be true.
“Coaches do play favorites,” Lunney said.
“Aha! We knew it,” a chorus would have crowed.
Lunney paused perfectly for effect then explained.
“They play the ones that are the best players, and those are their favorites,” Lunney said. “That’s how this (his pecking order for umpteen tight ends) will work out just like every other position.”
So is Austin Cantrell your favorite? Lunney laughed. “Well I don’t know about that,” Lunney said smiling in case anyone misperceives him playing favorites, “But he’s certainly earned the right to play.”
Cantrell, the now thirdyear sophomore 6-4, 269-pounder from Roland, Okla., became the top tight end backup to since-graduated Jeremy Sprinkle last season, replaced Sprinkle when Sprinkle was suspended for the Belk Bowl loss to Virginia Tech and this spring tops the tight end depth chart and seems bent on continuing to top it.
“I think he’s off to a really good start through five practices,” Lunney said after last Thursday’s fifth practice leading into last Saturday’s scrimmage. “The experience he gained last year. He’s close to the player that we thought he would be in recruiting. Still far from perfect, but we’re excited.”
Ecstatic best describes Arkansas coach Bret Bielema when Cantrell is asked to block.
Because whether it’s the Badgers tight ends of his 2006-2012 years head coaching Wisconsin or head coaching the Razorbacks since 2013 including producing 2015 Mackey Award winning and current Los Angeles Chargers NFL tight end Hunter Henry and projected 2017 high NFL draft pick Sprinkle, it seems that for blocking, Austin Cantrell indeed is Bielema’s favorite.
“Austin is probably as good of a blocking tight end as I’ve had here and really before I came here ” Bielema said after last Saturday’s scrimmage. “Austin Cantrell is a very special player.”
His pass receiving isn’t up to his blocking. Yet.
Bielema commented on a Saturday scrimmage pass to Cantrell that got away but the coach thought should have been caught.
“I got on him on that third-down pass,” Bielema said. “We had one that I wanted him to pull in. That part of his game has to come along.”
Still, Cantrell caught 13 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns, seventh on the team and first among Razorbacks considered backups rather than starters though Cantrell did get five starts, four when the Hogs opened with multiple tight ends plus the Belk Bowl for Sprinkle.
“Austin has really good hands,” Lunney said. “His hands are excellent. Day in and day out he’s proven he can catch the ball. His deal is the conceptual, how to get open, the route running, all that kind of stuff. He’s probably never going to be the route runner that Hunter Henry was, but his skill set in blocking is fairly unique. And if we can continue to get him up to speed in the passing game, to be enough of a weapon for us, then he’s going to be more than effective. And he can do that.”
Beyond Cantrell, Arkansas tight end candidates abound.
Junior Jack Kraus of Bentonville and third-year sophomore Cheyenne (also known as C.J.) O’Grady of Fayetteville, sophomore Grayson Gunter (out this spring recovering from shoulder surgery) have limited game experience while third-year sophomores Will Gragg of Dumas and Jamario Bell of Junction City have apprenticed two years without getting into a game and sophomore fullback Hayden Johnson is doubling at tight end, too.
O’Grady caught three passes for 63 yards with a touchdown in 2016.
“I do think C.J. O’Grady has made nice strides,” Bielema said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “Didn’t really see it out there today, but he’s a guy that we really feel can step into that. I will give Will Gragg a lot of credit. He’s kind of had a huge spike in maturity and accountability. I need him to be better in the details of what we’re asking him to do. Jamario can catch the ball as well as anybody and looks good in pads, but unless he learns his assignments … that’s his limiting factor.”
For the August preseason practices, Jeremy Patton, currently completing his junior college graduation, was deemed the top junior college tight end in 2016 while at Arizona Western Community College.