FAYETTEVILLE — Dalton Wagner’s personality is almost as big as his frame. The top hand from the Arkansas communication department gave me the perfect line for the long right tackle.
“I’ve told Dalton for the last two years that when he’s done with football, the perfect job for him might be pro wrestling,” said Kyle Parkinson of the 6-9, 308-pounder from Spring Grove, Ill.
There isn’t just one thing that makes that right about Wagner. First, it’s that length of his body and those long limbs. Then, there’s the shoulder length hair, probably shorter now than at some point in his UA career.
I dropped my favorite line about an offensive lineman on Wagner. He’s got the “look of a big ugly.” Wagner responded with a huge smile.
“I’m no pretty boy,” he said Saturday at the team's media day. “You play in the O-line, you are probably a big ugly. That’s the staple for what you need there.”
The best news is that Wagner’s body is not so pretty any more.
“I had a six pack last fall,” he said. “I was 270 (on a 6-9 frame). You don’t want to have any guys with six pack (stomachs) in the offensive line. And, you can’t play in the offensive line at 270.”
The roster lists Wagner at 308 now. He proudly corrects his current weight at 314.
“I came in my freshman year at 330, but I broke my foot and couldn’t lift anything with my lower body. I started losing weight.”
Even worse, about 10 days into camp last August in his second year, Wagner had an appendectomy.
“Who gets that?” he said, admitting that he’d never heard of that surgery. “You couldn’t have it at a worse time.”
And, it was just the tip of the iceberg for first year offensive line coach Dustin Fry. Players dropped like flies in his meeting room, including Dylan Hays, expected to start at center. Wagner was also a likely starter and although he returned later in the season, he lacked bulk and strength to play against elite SEC defensive ends.
“I’m quicker and stronger,” he said. “I’m at 20 percent body fat. And, I’m strong enough to move people now.
“Last year this time of year even before the appendectomy, I couldn’t move people. At 270, I looked like a skeleton. You wouldn’t believe the before and after pictures of me from last year to this year.
“It’s really shocking how skinny I got. I didn’t look like an offensive lineman. When you go through a period when you can’t do squats or other leg lifts, it’s not good for an offensive lineman.”
It’s not just the look, it’s the performance that’s changed. Last week Fry showed Wagner tape from when he was learning the new blocking schemes for the Chad Morris offense and where he’s at now.
“I watched tape from my first spring, again at the start of last spring and at the end of this past spring, I’m like a different player,” Wagner said. “Everything I do has changed.”
The one thing that no one wanted to change was Wagner’s nasty streak. He’s one of many in this young O-line group with a mean mindset. I asked what that means.
“It means no one is going to stand in your way,” Wagner said. “You just don’t give a crap who is in front of you, either the next first-rounder from Alabama or the guy I’ll see against Portland State.”
There is a mentality with this offensive line that seems different. The nightmare of a 2-10 season will do that.
“I’d say yes,” Wagner said. “I talk with Noah Gatlin about that, we are preparing to never lose a game again. You have to prepare so that those days don’t ever return.
“I don’t want to have to ever deal with losing. You have to put your mind in a state where you don’t tolerate a loss.”
The key is that there is competition for playing time across the offensive line. Although Gatlin went down with a knee injury Friday, there is also junior college star Myron Cunningham to play behind Colton Jackson or Wagner, if one has a few missed steps. All three are expected to play somewhere in this offensive line.
“The competition is serious everywhere on offense,” Wagner said. “It’s there at quarterback and everywhere from running back, to wide receiver to tight end.
“We had the (Navy SEALs) here the last week of our summer program and that’s what they stressed, that competition is what made their units successful. You want it rough. It applies to us.
“I saw that in the spring and it pushed our group to where it is now. Expectations for us right now are very high.”
It was pointed out that no one outside of the Arkansas locker room expects much. The Razorbacks are picked last in the SEC West by about everyone.
“We’ve got to wear that (2-10 record),” Wagner said. “We know that. But Coach Morris tells us it’s in the rearview mirror, but don’t stare at it or you are going to crash.
“What I’ll tell you is that we are never, ever going to be 2-10 again. It was the worst feeling in the world when we finished that season.”
It’s only been two practices and none in pads, but Wagner thinks the offense is in good hands. Everyone is talking about transfers Ben Hicks and Nick Starkel, but Wagner said don’t forget about true freshman K.J. Jefferson.
“Those guys hit every receiver right in the chest,” Wagner said. “I know if we protect them, they are going to be awesome. They are accurate. K.J. is 230, but you would never think he weighed that much with the way he moves.
“Ben and Nick are on point with their passes and everything they do and so are the others, including K.J. It’s so good, so exciting to see those guys throw it and our receivers catch it.”
Wagner does remind that real football starts Monday when pads are donned.
“I can’t wait,” Wagner said. “I do know that everyone looks like an All-American in shorts. I want to put the pads on. It’s going to be so much fun. Monday is going to be a good day.”
For sure, it promises to be better than this time last year. The Hogs have a few more big uglies. Finally, the tallest is also one of the biggest.