Massive questions

LITTLE ROCK — Antonio Cooksey is such an anomaly that his coaches at North Little Rock are leaning on others for help.

In this case, help for Cooksey, a 6-8, 380-pound senior offensive tackle who transferred from Little Rock Fair in February, isn’t coming from other high school or college coaches across the country.

Try the NFL.

“You just don’t see guys like him every day,” Charging Wildcats Coach Brad Bolding said. “He’s the biggest player I’ve ever coached.”

And the biggest player Arkansas recruiting coordinator Tim Horton has ever seen, Bolding said.

Perhaps the only two Arkansas high school products comparable to Cooksey in the past 15 years - maybe ever - are former Conway offensive tackle Brett Shockley, listed at 6-9, 295 as a senior in 1995, and former Russellville offensive tackle Matt Hall. Hall was listed at 6-9, 320 as a senior in 2007.

Cooksey’s unusual high school measurables - he also wears a size 18 shoe - are the reason Bolding and new offensive line coach Conner Cagle have been in contact with several NFL coaches the past few months.

Garrick Jones, a former standout offensive lineman at North Little Rock and Arkansas State who was on the roster of four NFL teams during the past decade, is also working with Cooksey.

“When you have somebody as big as Cooksey is, 6-9, 400 pounds, I’m not really used to coaching somebody that size,” said Cagle, previously an assistant at Pensacola (Fla.) Booker T. Washington. “What you’ve got to do is go to those guys who coach those guys that size.”

Cagle said he’s sought advice on leverage, stance and proper footwork from longtime NFL offensive line coaches Howard Mudd and Jim McNally and Kay Stephenson, former head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

“The challenge for Cooksey is definitely his height and his size,” Cagle said. “It’s also his age, just turning 17. You’ve got guys in Division I college football that are 6-8, 300 pounds, they’re older. Guys in the pros are older.

“You’re talking about a young guy that’s really got to get used to his body and being comfortable with it.”

Since Cooksey transferred to North Little Rock, Bolding has put the player on an accelerated learning curve, on and off the field, in hopes that he can develop into a major college prospect.

Cooksey’s window, Bolding said, is small.

Cooksey was academically ineligible last season and played defensive tackle as a sophomore and a 6-5 freshman at Fair.

Then there’s trying to rebuild his massive frame, which Cooksey calls more tall than wide.

“Still got work to do,” Bolding said. “He knows it. We’re really still working on his weight. He still needs to lose some more weight, but he’s made a lot of gains since he’s been here.”

Cooksey said he was 410 pounds in February and hopes to play this fall at 365.

His road to that goal began each weekday with mandatory 6 a.m. summer workouts (Bolding’s intense mix of speed and power training) and then summer school in preparation for the start of fall practice Monday.

“I feel extremely different now,” said Cooksey, whose cousin, Kim, was a basketball standout at North Little Rock Ole Main in the early 1980s. “When I first got here, doing the drills, I honestly couldn’t keep up with everyone else. I’m just happy to be a part of this, honestly.”

Jones, 6-5, 325, said Cooksey possesses “massive upside” fora college program because of how big he is for his age. The key at this point, Jones said, is getting the most out of that size while developing Cooksey’s power and speed.

Bolding said Cooksey’s offseason work has targeted improved quickness and lateral movement and more flexibility in his ankles, knees and hips.

On advice from McNally, Bolding said Cooksey will always play in a two-point stance. A three-point stance is awkward at Cooksey’s size, Bolding said.

“We’re going to do some things, blocking wise, that’s really going to help him,” Bolding said. “You just can’t expect a guy that big to get up underneath somebody’s shoulder pads when they’re sitting over there at 6-foot tall, or even shorter.”

While he’s comfortable blocking straight on, Cooksey said he still struggles in pass protection against smaller players rushing off the edge.

“You would think it’s just being as strong as you can be,” Cagle said. “His challenge is really his movement, his hands, his feet and being good at 6-9, 400 pounds, where somebody 6-2, 250 might be a little quicker. But he has improved so much in the time I’ve been here.”

If there is a positive about his eye-catching size, Cooksey said it’s the attention he receives.

“One thing about it, people assume things about you before they actually know you,” Cooksey said. “They say, Ah, he’s probably just a guy who’s going to take my lunch money or something like that.’ But I’ve never been that kind of guy.”