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Who will be Jeremy Sprinkle’s sidekick in Arkansas’ double tight end set?
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When Hunter Henry declared for the NFL Draft, the first question shouldn’t have been how would Arkansas replace the best tight end in college football in 2015?
The right question, then and still now, should have been: Who will emerge for the Razorbacks to fill the No. 2 tight end spot held down so capably by Jeremy Sprinkle?
Because this fall, without having Henry to terrorize SEC defenses, Sprinkle will move into Henry’s spot after playing a strong supporting role, leaving that large question mark at No. 2 tight end for a program that runs a lot of two-tight end sets.
The force that was Henry with a dash of Sprinkle was a lethal combination the past few seasons, but that’s gone now. Or at least half of it is. Instead of Henry and Sprinkle, it will be Sprinkle and … and who?
“We’ve got to find another guy or two that’s SEC ready,” Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. told Tom Murphy of wholehogsports.com. “I don’t think we’re there yet, and we’ve got to keep pressing.”
Murphy broke it down, writing on April 13: “All-American Hunter Henry’s early departure for the NFL has left senior Jeremy Sprinkle as the lone game-tested veteran at the front of an Arkansas tight end corps populated by redshirt freshmen Austin Cantrell, Will Gragg, Cheyenne O’Grady and now Jamario Bell, who moved to the position on April 11.”
For most college offenses, losing a huge talent like Henry and replacing him with another in Sprinkle would be exchanging one star with another potential one. But because they like using those two-tight end sets, the Razorbacks would like to uncover some more quality at the position to be able to pair with Sprinkle.
In the Razorbacks’ projected depth chart posted last month in the Arkansas News, Eric W. Bolin listed redshirt sophomore Jack Kraus as the second-stringer behind Sprinkle.
Kraus, a 6-5, 238-pounder from Bentonville, Ark., obviously has enough talent to warrant some attention, but Murphy also points out that he “got sporadic playing time last season before suffering a knee injury during bowl practices” and is out until the fall.
That doesn’t mean Kraus can’t ultimately be that solid backup to Sprinkle, but it’s obviously not an ideal path.
Some questions will be answered Saturday when Arkansas stages its spring game.
In the Razorbacks’ scrimmage on April 9, Sprinkle, O’Grady, Gragg and Cantrell combined for 11 receptions for 186 yards and a touchdown, showing coach Bret Bielema’s affinity for showcasing the tight end position.
“They just bring in great talent and coach them up, and we just run the system, and they put us in position to make the plays,” Sprinkle told wholehogsports.com.
Bolin also ranked Arkansas’ tight ends on Jan. 14, after Henry had announced he was leaving. He listed the players “vying to become the next Hunter Henry.” But the Razorbacks probably already have that guy in Sprinkle, who Bolin calls “an instant All-SEC type” and who last fall had 27 catches for 389 yards and six touchdowns, the most in the SEC by a tight end and three more than Henry.
But who develops into the Sprinkle of 2014 and 2015, when he played the part of consistent, patient and reliable sidekick? Bolin ranked Cantrell No. 2, Kraus No. 3, and Gragg and O’Grady No. 4A and No. 4B.
This doesn’t mean Bolin believes any of these players can just step in for Sprinkle and properly complement him without the Razorbacks missing a beat from the luxury they enjoyed the past few seasons.
On Cantrell, Bolin wrote: “Cantrell probably won’t be the No. 2 tight end. He might on occasion, but more likely he’ll be play a fullback/H-back-type role.”
On Kraus, Bolin was a little more hopeful but didn’t give a resounding endorsement to him being what Sprinkle has been: “Mostly a special teams player as a redshirt freshman, Kraus impressed coaches with his physicality and smarts. He probably doesn’t have the upside as No. 2 tight end, at least receiving-wise, Sprinkle had as the reserve, but as the second-most experienced tight end on the roster, he’ll find time somewhere.”
On Gragg and O’Grady, he wrote: “The book on the two is different. It’s thought Gragg is the powerful, able-bodied blocker with some pass-catching skills, while O’Grady is the receiving specialist, OK enough at blocking. An arrest last year put O’Grady on Bielema’s bad side, but it appeared the Fayetteville native worked his way back in the positive. Expect some combination of both to see snaps, perhaps many, in 2016.”
So Gragg and O’Grady will play but who knows how much, and Gragg will be getting his first taste of college football this fall, so can a lot really be expected of him right away?
O’Grady played “a handful of snaps,” according to Bolin, but perhaps he can be the guy to put up the supporting-role-type numbers that Sprinkle compiled while playing next to Henry?
Then there is freshman Grayson Gunter checking in at No. 6. Gunter is a 6-6, 230-pound three-star talent from Mississippi whom Bolin calls “a near duplication of Henry when the now-gone All-American came out of Little Rock.”
So maybe Gunter will be the diamond in the rough to emerge behind Sprinkle, and Bolin points out in Gunter’s defense that Bielema has worked wonders with tight ends over the years. But Bolin also believes that Gunter should redshirt because of the Razorbacks’ depth.
Bolin applauds the depth the Razorbacks return at the position, but also warns of the lack of experience within that depth.
“Of the top players (in his rankings behind Sprinkle), none have played even as much as Sprinkle did two seasons ago. It won’t be a negative position for the Razorbacks by any means, and if the young players make an offseason jump, it might even be nearly as strong as it was in 2015, despite the loss of Henry.”
Doc Harper of Arkansasfight.com was cautiously optimistic about the position in 2016, even on the early January day that Henry said goodbye to Fayetteville.
“Tight end is one position group Arkansas should be well-equipped to reload in 2016. Jeremy Sprinkle will return, and the Razorbacks signed three highly touted tight ends in 2015 who were able to redshirt last fall.”
The real answer or answers will come on the field in the months ahead, because there’s no more Henry-Sprinkle duo, just a lot of questions marks that are constant reminders that Henry is gone.
Cory Nightingale, a sports copy editor at the Miami Herald, lives for Saturdays. He especially enjoys the pageantry, tradition and history of SEC football.
