Arkansas TE signee Jeremy Patton will be on fast track to playing time...

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Here's an article on Patton by Trent Shadid that discusses the "fast track" that the coaching staff expects to put Jeremy Patton (6-6, 230) on once he arrives after his graduation from Arizona Western.

Excerpts from the article:

A top-10 junior college recruit in the 2017 class, Patton is considered the favorite to replace Jeremy Sprinkle as the Razorbacks' primary tight end. He'll have plenty of catching up to do in order to accomplish that task. Fortunately for the Hogs, coaches are allowed to work with signees over the summer.

"I'm confident in his football IQ and his love of the game that I think he can get caught up to speed really quickly once he gets all this other stuff taken care of," Lunney said. "And so, what's great about the summer rules now is you can work with them. So it allows you in a situation like this to get a guy and catch him up. I'm pretty confident we can get that done."

Though the terminology will be different, Patton coming into a familiar scheme. Arizona Western runs a pro-style offense, using its tight ends frequently as blockers and receivers much like Arkansas. Patton caught 18 passes for 242 yards and a team-high 6 touchdowns last season. His blocking ability was exceptional in an offense that rushed for an average of 242 yards per game.

https://www.seccountry.com/arkansas/arkansas-te-signee-jeremy-patton-2017

[gmarv]

Good stuff thanks Muskogee.

[hogcard1964]

That school has turned out some excellent athletes.   ...Randy Gregory and Korey Toomer to name a few.

I like this kid.

[PORKULATOR]

I love how damn big he is.

[Styflin]

Starter

[NWAHog479]

Another obstacle for Will Gragg to face to get out on that football field

[hvsupastar]

We might see some 4 and 5 TE innovative sets this year. 

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Starter

I'm not sure about that. Maybe. Depends on how quickly they are able to get him caught up and, he is going to need some time in the weight room. I'm sure they will opt for getting him acclimated to the system and Hoganese before worrying about putting weight on him. I'd think that they would prefer to see him in the 245-255 range at TE in the SEC. At 6-6 I am hoping that he has deceptive speed...longer legs can do that.

I'm looking forward to him getting to campus. I also hope he is studying a Hog playbook and a glossary of Hoganese while he is finishing up this spring semester.

[DeltaBoy]

Good looking young man.

[FANONTHEHILL]

One of the advantages of having Jeremy in the mix is the multiple looks you could have with up to four TEs on the field. Patton,  O'Grady and Bell can be conventional TEs or split them wide for size mismatches, Gunter and Kraus can play more conventional TE and Cantrell and Gregg have the size and athleticism to play the TE/FB H-Back spot.  There's also walk on R-Fr Blake Kern at 6'6", 240 from Lamar, AR who is looking good in practice.  Coach Enos has lots of options on how to use the TE group. Best of all, there's not a senior in the group and Kraus is the only junior.  Future looks great at TE.

[OneTuskOverTheLine™]

I'm not sure about that. Maybe. Depends on how quickly they are able to get him caught up and, he is going to need some time in the weight room. I'm sure they will opt for getting him acclimated to the system and Hoganese before worrying about putting weight on him. I'd think that they would prefer to see him in the 245-255 range at TE in the SEC. At 6-6 I am hoping that he has deceptive speed...longer legs can do that.

I'm looking forward to him getting to campus. I also hope he is studying a Hog playbook and a glossary of Hoganese while he is finishing up this spring semester.

Meh... 24 hours in a day... It's just calories and work...

[MuskogeeHogFan]

One of the advantages of having Jeremy in the mix is the multiple looks you could have with up to four TEs on the field. Patton,  O'Grady and Bell can be conventional TEs or split them wide for size mismatches, Gunter and Kraus can play more conventional TE and Cantrell and Gregg have the size and athleticism to play the TE/FB H-Back spot.  There's also walk on R-Fr Blake Kern at 6'6", 240 from Lamar, AR who is looking good in practice.  Coach Enos has lots of options on how to use the TE group. Best of all, there's not a senior in the group and Kraus is the only junior.  Future looks great at TE.

I agree with this, they just need to be careful that they don't begin to telegraph intentions by utilizing certain personnel groups in certain sets in the same situation repeatedly.

It would be funny however, to be able to see the look on the opposing DB's faces with Patton (6-6), Cantrell (6-4), O'Grady (6-4) and Brandon Martin (6-4) set up with 2 left and 2 right or 3 & 1 in a single RB set. That's a lot of height and speed to defend.

[Vantage 8 dude]

One of the advantages of having Jeremy in the mix is the multiple looks you could have with up to four TEs on the field. Patton,  O'Grady and Bell can be conventional TEs or split them wide for size mismatches, Gunter and Kraus can play more conventional TE and Cantrell and Gregg have the size and athleticism to play the TE/FB H-Back spot.  There's also walk on R-Fr Blake Kern at 6'6", 240 from Lamar, AR who is looking good in practice.  Coach Enos has lots of options on how to use the TE group. Best of all, there's not a senior in the group and Kraus is the only junior.  Future looks great at TE.

And waiting in the wings is Mr. Luke Ford scheduled to roll in during the fall of '18.

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

3-TE formations galore next year.   Should be fun.

[PorkSoda]

I agree with this, they just need to be careful that they don't begin to telegraph intentions by utilizing certain personnel groups in certain sets in the same situation repeatedly.

It would be funny however, to be able to see the look on the opposing DB's faces with Patton (6-6), Cantrell (6-4), O'Grady (6-4) and Brandon Martin (6-4) set up with 2 left and 2 right or 3 & 1 in a single RB set. That's a lot of height and speed to defend.

lol, that would be pretty sweet.

[FANONTHEHILL]

Didn't Gunter primary play as a standup receiving TE in high school?

It will be interesting to see how Gunter develops.  He was 230 last year and they want weight on him.  Not surprisingly, they want another 6'6", 250 Hunter Henry clone.  A big question is how much weight can he add while being limited following his shoulder injury/surgery.  I think the end goal is to have him on the line like we saw with Hunter. 

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Meh... 24 hours in a day... It's just calories and work...

It isn't likely to be able to put on "good" weight over the summer period of time. Most of that comes between January and spring ball.

[FANONTHEHILL]

It isn't likely to be able to put on "good" weight over the summer period of time. Most of that comes between January and spring ball.

This Spring the first 8 weeks was stamina and agility.  This summer, when the guys are taking only one or two summer courses, the muscle mass changes should take place.  They will weigh again just before fall camp and post those weights on the website.

[Hoggish1]

That school has turned out some excellent athletes.   ...Randy Gregory and Korey Toomer to name a few.

I like this kid.

A couple?

[MuskogeeHogFan]

This Spring the first 8 weeks was stamina and agility.  This summer, when the guys are taking only one or two summer courses, the muscle mass changes should take place.  They will weigh again just before fall camp and post those weights on the website.

That's good news, maybe he can pick up some weight. It is really too bad that he couldn't enroll in January.