VITALS:
Name: Jack Baucus
Position: Tight End
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 250
Speed: 4.9
High School: Mundelein, Ill (Carmel Catholic)
Rivals: Three out of five stars
Recruited By: Bill Bedenbaugh
STRENGTHS:
The other day we profiled Jake Baratz. Well, another player coming to Arizona for the class of 2009 also comes to Tucson from the state of Illinois. Jack Baucus is an animal of a Tight End, and could be confused with another offensive linemen. He is 6'6" tall and weighs 250 lbs. He can also move, clocking a 40 yard dash at 4.9. With a target that big, who can move down the field, look for Pac-10 safeties to dread trying to cut down angles on this big man. Rivals had him ranked as the 16th best player in Illinois and the 29th best tight end in the country. Baucus did not catch a lot of balls in high school, but when the ball was thrown to him, he caught a lot of them. He does a good job of getting low and staying in a football position but his real talent is getting into the secondary and chipping or flattening linebackers and defensive backs.
Scout.com writes this:
He will hop at times and has some small things to clean up, but could develop into a good blocking tight end at the college level. As a receiver he can be an outlet in the short passing game. He has adequate speed and has long strides. With his size he can be a good target in the red-zone.
WEAKNESS:
Baucus is a monster of a tight end and could end up playing offensive line if his development doesn't come along in the next year. Although he only weighs 250 lbs. he has the ability to put on much more weight. We'll let the strength coach take care of that. With that being said, Baucus has a tendency to drop his head and overextend his arms while run blocking. His pass catching ability was limited because his high school didn't throw that much. When he does catch the ball he sometimes catches it with his body. These are things that can be fixed with some good coaching and I am not worried about it. The only unknown is whether or not Baucus will become the next great tight end at Arizona or will move to the interior line and become an offensive linemen.
VERDICT:
The comparisons to Rob Gronkowski are definitely warranted when looking at Baucus. What a great guy to learn from. Although there is talk of Baucus moving to the line if his progress doesn't come along at tight end, I believe that is where he will end up. Gronkowski is 6'7", 260 lbs., and caught 8 passes for 67 yards in the spring game. Gronk is going to mentor Baucus from day one and Baucus is going to be a star. Coach Dykes thinks highly of Baucus and said this about his devastating knee injury in the high school playoffs in 2008:
"He got injured during the season but he is a guy that if he would have stayed healthy, I think everybody in the country would have been recruiting him."
Look for Baucus to be nothing more than filler this season, probably going to be getting some mop up duty in the blowouts.