Yeah, I know. All the buzz has been about Hunter Luepke. And I’m not pretending I’m smarter than Dane Brugler or any of the others who had touted Luepke as one of the 2 or 3 best UDFA signings for the Boys.
All I’m saying is what I said… it’s not a silly prediction that Fant will actually turn out to be the preferred choice on cut down day.
I say that because physically, they’re practically the same guy–eg, same height, wingspan within 1/2 inch, hand size within 1/8 inch–except Fant has about 10 pounds more girth.
If you’re going to prefer a guy whose primary asset will be running the ball, Luepke has a clear advantage… 4.5-4.6 range speed as opposed to 4.7-4.8 range speed. Same reason, if you’re going to prefer a guy whose primary asset will be special teams coverage.
If you’re going to prefer a guy, though, whose primary asset will be blocking and catching passes, Fant is in that conversation. Again, his playing weight has been about 10 lbs thicker, and he has some athleticism that made him an attractive "athlete" recruit out of high school. They’ve both lined up at FB and TE, and to a lesser extent WR. I’m sure most of us also saw that Fant has a TD pass to his credit.
The key will be whether Fant can learn blocking technique and impress sufficiently over the preseason that was apparently lacking in Knoxville (… but you can learn technique, whereas you cannot learn athleticism, of course).
