CENTERTON -- The distance Jaden Muskrat walks from his last class to Bentonville West's indoor facility is about 100 yards.
While the Bentonville West senior offensive tackle walks that short distance, there is a transformation that takes place. He changes from a quiet, mild-mannered student to one of the more aggressive football players West coach Bryan Pratt has had under his tutelage.
At A Glance
JADEN MUSKRAT
SCHOOL Bentonville West
CLASS Senior
POSITION Offensive lineman
HEIGHT 6-4
WEIGHT 280
NOTABLE Transferred to West from Oklahoma during Christmas break. … Was a defensive lineman in Oklahoma but was moved to the offensive line in the offseason, even though the Wolverines had all their starters back from last season. … Was offered a scholarship by Tulsa in the spring and is verbally committed to play football there. … Has a younger brother who was moved up from the freshman team late in the season.
"I don't know what happens," Muskrat said. "I just go out there to play the game. I like playing physical. It's fun."
What Muskrat considers fun might not be seen the same way through other people's eyes. Pratt said there have been instances this season when he's been told by game officials that they were about to eject Muskrat from the game.
These warnings would come after Muskrat had delivered another "pancake" block and knocked an opposing player to the ground. Pratt then opted to take Muskrat out of the game at that point to avoid the ejection, which meant he would miss the next game.
"That's what you're teaching them to do," Pratt said. "So it's hard to tell him not to do it. We took him out of those games because we didn't want to change his demeanor. We knew when we got into some tough games, he was going to have to play like that.
"He's just really good and just a natural at some of the stuff you have to coach. He has this long upper body, and he's extremely physical. He has that dirtiness that most people have to have to be a good offensive lineman. In the locker room or in school, he's not aggressive at all or you wouldn't think he's a mean guy. But when he straps on the pads, he's as tough as I've had."
The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Muskrat was a defensive lineman when he moved from Oklahoma during the Christmas break and started attending West in January. The coaching staff thought it would be OK to work Muskrat on the offensive line some, even though the Wolverines had their entire offensive line back from last season.
It didn't take long for everybody to figure out where Muskrat deserved to play, and he was a fixture on the offensive line before the Wolverines finished one-half of their spring workouts. Muskrat agreed with the move.
"I always thought I could play the offensive line," Muskrat said. "Whenever he told me I needed to make the move and get better looks from colleges and stuff, I said 'Shoot -- I'll play offensive line. It sounds like fun.
"I just went out there and started moving people. Learning all the plays took a while. I thought, at first, when I made the switch I wouldn't get to hit people. But that's not the case. You can hit people as offensive linemen and take them places. That makes it fun."
By the third spring workout, Pratt was convinced enough that he started reaching out to people about Muskrat. Tulsa came and watched West's fifth spring practice session and offered Muskrat a scholarship on the spot, and SMU also wanted to take a good look at him. Ole Miss and Memphis have also shown some recent interest.
Tulsa's first impression was good enough for Muskrat, who verbally committed to the Golden Hurricane in June.
"I was actually raised in Tulsa," Muskrat said. "That was one of the big reasons that drew me there. I like the coaches there -- the offensive line coach and the head coach. Once I knew that I knew I would be around my family and play football at the next level. I knew this is where I wanted to play."
Preps Sports on 11/21/2019