HOG FUTURES JALEN MERRICK

Lineman looks part at 6-5, 335

Arkansas offensive lineman Jalen Merrick blocks during the Razorbacks' Red-White Game on Saturday, April 25, 2015, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

The fourth in a series profiling newcomers on the 2015 Arkansas Razorbacks football team.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Jalen Merrick got a college football scholarship offer before he ever played a game for New Smyrna Beach (Fla.) High School.

At a glance

CLASS Freshman

POSITION Guard

HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-5, 335

HOMETOWN Oak Hill, Fla.

HIGH SCHOOL New Smyrna Beach

AGE 18 (born Sept. 7, 1996)

NOTEWORTHY Early enrollee who went through spring practice. … Played offensive left tackle to open spring, then moved to right guard. … Didn’t play football until his junior year at New Smyrna Beach. … Scout.com ranked him as the No. 257 player nationally and No. 15 guard. … ESPN ranked him as No. 272 player nationally and No. 20 guard. … Turned down numerous scholarships offers to sign with Arkansas. Other notable schools to offer: Alabama, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Georgia and Ohio State.

It was during the spring of 2013, Merrick's sophomore year, after he decided to give up basketball in favor of football, and an assistant coach from Florida Atlantic University stopped by the school.

Merrick was in the weight room when the coach identified him as a Division I talent.

"Jalen happened to be on the lifting platform when the FAU coach came in," said Lance Jenkins, who was New Smyrna Beach's coach at time. "He saw Jalen and goes, 'Just tell him we're going to be the first team to offer him a scholarship.'

"So Jalen got an offer just on the way he looked. He's just a naturally strong kid with great feet, and he had great grades on top of all that. So he was a home-run recruit."

Merrick, 6-5 and 335 pounds, played well enough on the offensive line during his junior and season seasons to get offers from noted programs like Alabama, LSU, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina and, of course, Arkansas.

"It came down to Arkansas and Florida State, and being an in-state player, it was tough to turn down Florida State," Merrick said. "But I knew Arkansas was the place for me."

Merrick, rated as a four-star recruit by ESPN, Rivals, Scout and 247 Sports, said he wants to help Arkansas rise to the top of the SEC.

Arkansas improved to 7-6 last season after going 3-9 in Bret Bielema's first season.

"I just have a strong belief about what's going to happen here with the direction Coach B is leading the program," Merrick said.

Merrick said he was impressed -- on a recruiting visit to Wisconsin -- that the players spoke highly of Bielema, who was the Badgers' coach before coming to Arkansas.

"They said it hasn't been the same at Wisconsin since Coach B left," Merrick said. "That just told me the vibe that Coach B has around his players."

Merrick announced he was coming to Arkansas Jan. 11, then was in Fayetteville the next day to be a spring semester enrollee so he could go through offseason workouts and spring practice.

Merrick didn't make the postspring depth chart, after moving from left tackle to right guard, but Bielema said he has a chance to compete for playing time.

"I would say he's a guy that's going to be right there in the mix of that guard position," Bielema said.

The transition from tackle to guard is an adjustment.

"You've got to be more versatile with your hands," Merrick said. "It's more about power. Inside you've really got to have good hand placement and stay strong and firm."

Arkansas offensive line coach Sam Pittman said it's going to take time for Merrick's technique to match his talent.

"You've got to be patient with him," Pittman said. "He'll ask questions that most players wouldn't -- stance questions, weight distribution, basic stuff.

"The things other kids have been coached up to do, and he was coached as well, don't get me wrong. He just hasn't played long enough for it all to become automatic to him yet."

Jenkins, now an assistant coach at Cocoa (Fla.) High School, said work Merrick did on the squat rack, forcing himself to become flexibile,was more important than adding strength.

"It was difficult for him at first, but he kept doing it and doing it," Jenkins said. "When he became more flexible it allowed him to stay down longer in his stance and really come off the ball."

Jenkins said Merrick gradually improved and played more aggressively as he went along during his junior season.

"A lot of times he was just physically more dominant than the people he played, but then in his senior season he started finishing his blocks," Jenkins said. "He started enjoying driving that other guy off the field or finding one of those guys on the second or third level and getting a piece of them, too.

"I think he started to develop a little bit of a mean streak, which you've got to have to be a great player."

Merrick said facing Arkansas' defensive linemen in spring practice was a big adjustment.

"In high school you're the biggest and baddest out there on the field," he said. "Then you get here ... and it takes a while to get used to their size and speed.

"It's hard, but it lets you know where you've got to get to down the road to be able to play in the SEC. The big thing is just to compete and not be scared of anybody."

Getting through winter in Arkansas was another adjustment Merrick had to make.

"I got to build a snowman," he said. "It was fun about the first 30 minutes out there. Then after I couldn't feel my hands and feet, I decided it was time to go in."

Merrick grew up playing basketball and was a center at New Smyrna Beach as a freshman and sophomore.

"I thought I was going to be the next Lebron James," he said with a laugh. "I was decent, but I mostly fouled guys."

Merrick said Jenkins convinced him to give football a shot.

"He told me if I didn't like it after the first practice, I could quit, but I really liked the contact," Merrick said. "In basketball, you only get five fouls, but in football, you can be as physical as you want.

"Now I'm getting the same love for football that I had for basketball."

Jenkins said he expects Merrick be an impact player at Arkansas, at some point.

"Jalen's still raw, but he's a great athlete and has a lot of drive and tenacity, and I know Coach Pittman is going to do a great job with him," Jenkins said. "I don't think there's any doubt he'll do well at Arkansas."

Going through a redshirt season is not out of the question.

"If the opportunity comes up that I can play, I'd like to do that," he said. "But if not, I know a redshirt year is going to help me develop, too.

"I know I've got a long way to go as a football player, going against guys who have been playing since they were 6 or 7 years old. I have to keep devoting myself to the game."

Sports on 07/01/2015