FAYETTEVILLE -- The talent at the tight end position is hard to miss this season at Fayetteville.
Senior C.J. O'Grady and junior Drake Wymer give Fayetteville perhaps the strongest one-two combo at tight end in the state. O'Grady (6-foot-5, 230 pounds) is an Arkansas commit who will demand constant attention from opposing defenses. Wymer (6-5, 220) transferred from Springdale High and gives Fayetteville an opportunity to double up at tight end to present headaches for 7A-West defensive coordinators.
The Skinny
Position Battle: Receivers
Biggest Strength: The tight ends. … Senior C.J. O’Grady is an Arkansas commit and regarded as one of the top pass-catching tight ends in the country. Junior Drake Wymer isn’t too far behind at the position and gives Fayetteville quite a 1-2 punch after his transfer from Springdale High.
Biggest Question Mark: Speed. … Fayetteville has plenty of quality possession receivers with good route running ability. The Bulldogs could be lacking that one breakaway, big-play threat they’ve had at the position in the past.
Watch Out For: Junior Tyson Morris. … Showed flashes in 7-on-7 tournaments of being the next big thing for the Purple’Dogs at the receiver spot. Has tons of potential.
While defenses worry about O'Grady and Wymer, the Bulldogs' receivers are sure to reap the rewards.
"C.J. is going to grab the attention and he's going to be double-covered all the time," Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. "But when you start doing to math, you can't double cover everybody. So there's going to be a lot of times when our outside receivers are one-on-one with the cornerbacks, and I like that matchup. It's also going to put Drake Wymer one-on-one, and I like that matchup.
"So I think the passing game is getting better each and every day, and we're excited about it."
Junior Garland Allison (6-3, 190) shows a level of toughness and could emerge as another top target in the Fayetteville offense this year. Allison had just two receptions as a sophomore, but has emerged with an impressive spring and 7-on-7 camp. Bruce Armstrong (5-6, 150), another junior, is expected to be one of Fayetteville's top possession receivers and is credited by Patton with his ability for running crisp routes. Sophomore Barrett Banister (5-11, 170) has also developed well in the offseason and is now pushing for a quality time on Friday nights.
And junior Tyson Morris (6-1, 180) showed flashes during 7-on-7 tournaments of being a top playmaker.
"It's nice to have a C.J. O'Grady and Drake Wymer to take attention away from our (receivers)," said Fayetteville wide receivers coach Benji Mahan. "That doesn't mean we can be lax in what we're doing. We still have to be good at what we do. But it might allow us to make more plays, and now our guys have to get open to make those plays."
Senior Dre Greenlaw, Fayetteville's all-state safety and punt returner, will also shift more to receiver at times this season. And the Bulldogs believe even more depth is available from younger players coming up the pipeline.
"We'll have some young guys and there's probably too many to name all of them," Patton said. "And then we'll have Dre. He'll play some receiver and even some running back. So you could envision a lineup with C.J., Drake and Dre, and that's three-Division I athletes at the same time.
"So there's a lot of pieces we can play with."
Sports on 08/14/2014