Will's all smiles

FAYETTEVILLE -- Will Gragg takes grief for his baby face and charming smile.

A highly sought-after freshman tight end, one of the gems of Arkansas' most recent signing class, Gragg has taken the good-natured ribbing of his new teammates in stride.

"They tell me that all the time," Gragg said, laughing. "You know, whenever we strap on the pads I have to show them that I belong here. I tell them the girls like it, so that's my comeback whenever they say I have a baby face."

Gragg enrolled early at Arkansas with instant credibility as a player after receiving offers from all 14 SEC schools and other college blue bloods from coast to coast. His bloodline is rich too, as the brother of former Razorback Chris Gragg, now a third-year tight end with the Buffalo Bills.

Gragg experienced the recruiting song and dance with scholarship offers spilling out of his mail box, but he always had the Razorbacks at heart.

"I've had an offer from Arkansas since I was in the ninth grade," Gragg said. "Once the big schools come after you -- the Alabamas, the USCs, the Texases -- you can get lost in the concept and things of that sort, playing with those big-name schools, but I was always a home-state guy from Arkansas."

His parents, Kelvin and Tenita Gragg, reinforced to their son why playing for the Razorbacks could be beneficial.

"If you go to Arkansas and you take care of business, you do your classwork like Chris did and graduate and play for the Razorbacks and you stay out of trouble, that is a recipe for success in Arkansas," Kelvin Gragg said. "Once you go and you do what you're supposed to do in college, there are businessmen in the state of Arkansas who remember how you carried yourself.

"That will take you a long way in making a living after football is over."

That formula proved to be a winner for Chris Gragg, who is in the midst of buying a house in Fayetteville.

Just like when Chris came Fayetteville in 2008 in a class loaded with in-state talent determined to kick Arkansas into the upper echelon of college football, Will Gragg and his classmates have the same aim.

Fellow freshman quarterback Ty Storey of Charleston presented the idea of enrolling early to Gragg, and the highly regarded duo helped encourage other in-state players, like Nashville receiver LaMichael Pettway and Fayetteville tight end C.J. O'Grady, to stay together.

"We have a bunch of guys from the state who wanted to come up here and change things and continue the legacy," Gragg said. "I think we have guys who can do it and deliver when the time comes."

Gragg, 6-4, 255 pounds, and seven other signees completed their high school degree requirements in time to enroll at Arkansas in January and go through spring drills.

"It was one of the best decisions I could have made, getting up here and learning the playbook and being involved with the team," Gragg said.

Chris Gragg attended virtually all the practices, hanging near the tight ends group led by assistant coach Barry Lunney Jr. most of the time, and dispensed advice in the way only a brother can do.

"Whenever I messed up or did something wrong, he was right there to show me to really take a load off Coach Lunney," Will Gragg said. "He can talk to me in a way that the coaches can't, so he was getting real personal, getting in my tail whenever I messed up. I really appreciate when he does that."

Lunney noted Gragg's easy interactions with teammates.

"He's got an infectious personality, and it's come out more and more as he's gotten more comfortable being here," Lunney said. "You could see it a little bit in recruiting as you got to know him, but it's really come out since he's been here.

"I think he's a great leader and a great teammate. That's what sticks out to me, is that he's a great teammate. He cares about the program. He cares about his teammates."

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema, whose devotion to tight ends has produced a series of NFL-level players at that spot, said he believes Gragg's first name applies appropriately to him.

"He's his own independent man," Bielema said. "He's been very impressive since coming to campus. Grew up with a little bit of a spotlight on him because of his name and his brother, but he's been nothing but impressive to not only our coaches but our players since he arrived.

"We expect big things out of Will."

Kelvin and Tenita Gragg plan to do a lot of traveling this fall between Fayetteville and other college stops as well as some of Chris Gragg's NFL games.

"My wife travels quite a bit to the ball games," Kelvin Gragg said. "She loves to travel. I've purchased that NFL Direct TV where I'm able to watch every ball game. Next year I'll go see Chris play in Nashville and Kansas City because I'm able to drive.

"I'm probably going to wear out a vehicle between following Will and following Chris. During Chris' five years there, the only ball game we missed was a trip to South Carolina."

Will Gragg learned this spring from a veteran group at his position, led by Hunter Henry, Jeremy Sprinkle and Alex Voelzke. He also learned that Arkansas' defense is starting to play with some swagger.

"First scrimmage we had in the big stadium, I was running a drag route," he said. "The quarterback kind of lobbed it up where I had to go get it. As I went to get it, Brooks Ellis hit me something hard. He hit me real hard. The first thing that hit the ground was my head.

"I held onto the ball, so all the coaches were proud of that. That was definitely a welcome to the SEC moment."

Gragg said Ellis followed the hit with a comment.

"I didn't say too much back," Gragg said. "I was trying to find my mouthpiece."

Gragg said the tight end group helped him prepare for a quick start.

"I feel like I can come in and make an impact," he said. "Hunter, he's one of the best to ever do it. He does everything right. Whenever I'm doing something wrong, he's there and he helps me out. Sprinkle is an emerging tight end and he's going to have a big year.

"Learning from those two guys, I really appreciate it."

Gragg is well aware of the succession of tight ends who prepped at Arkansas high schools and made a big name with the Razorbacks, like D.J. Williams and his brother.

"Hopefully I can just make them all happy," he said. "I've talked to D.J. numerous times and those guys, talking about Chris and Hunter, those guys are three legends.

"Hopefully me and C.J. can follow in their footsteps."

Sports on 06/21/2015