FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Zack Kuntz has had no bother clearing hurdles alongside his adventure to the NFL.
Literally.
The 6-foot-8 New York Jets tight finish used to be most effective an inch or two shorter than he stands now when he used to be competing for the monitor group at Camp Hill High School in Pennsylvania. And he absolutely dominated the hurdles.
“State champion,” the seventh-round draft select proudly identified with a grin after the Jets’ rookie minicamp observe Saturday.
He positive used to be, profitable the Pennsylvania state elegance AA championship within the 110-meter tournament in 2017. And at his top, he indisputably stood out a number of the relatively shorter athletes.
“Very different body type for me out there,” Kuntz mentioned. “But I always used my speed and obviously the hurdles aren’t much of an obstacle for me.”
And that had some ribbing Kuntz about his top — and the way the hurdles must be raised for him.
“I would just tell them, ‘Why don’t you just grow a couple of inches?’” a grinning Kuntz mentioned.
For so long as he can bear in mind, Kuntz has at all times been, as he says, “super tall.”
“In eighth grade, I was like 6-5 and in seventh grade I was dunking on kids in middle school ball,” he recalled. “Everybody has that kind of Bambi phase, where, you know, you’re growing into your body. My feet grow and I’m tripping over myself and things like that. I’ve always been tall. In high school, I was probably 6-6, 6-7, right at that 6-8 bar.
“Now, I think I’m done growing now — hopefully.”
But he at all times used his dimension to his merit. Kuntz additionally performed basketball in highschool, however soccer briefly turned into his old flame.
“I was fortunate to be pretty good at both of them,” Kuntz mentioned. “But football, in the end, is just way more fun to play.”
He were given some seems from faculties who have been concerned about having him play basketball for them, however Kuntz made it transparent he most well-liked the gridiron over the hardwood. He ended up staying just about house, going 90 mins north to Penn State.
Kuntz, who now weighs 251 kilos, mentioned he used to be mainly “skin and bones” went he were given to school and stated it took a while for him to increase bodily at the side of his soccer talents on the school stage.
“In high school, you’re asked to just go be a better athlete than everybody else and more times than not, you’re able to do that,” Kuntz mentioned. “But (college) really helped me learn the ins and outs of the game.”
He had only one catch in 21 video games at Penn State sooner than he transferred to Old Dominion, the place he broke out in his first season there with 73 catches for 692 yards and 5 touchdowns in 13 video games whilst additionally being decided on to the first-team All-Conference USA in 2021.
Suddenly, Kuntz discovered himself at the radar of professional groups on account of his top and velocity mixture, at the side of a capability to make large catches.
But an damage to a kneecap that required surgical treatment closing November restricted him to only 12 catches for 144 yards and two TDs in 5 video games closing season, and it clouded his possibilities for enjoying within the execs.
He recovered briefly, although, and used to be in a position to accomplish on the NFL mix in Indianapolis in February — and used to be spectacular.
“He tested through the roof,” Jets basic supervisor Joe Douglas mentioned. “So we were sitting there at the top of the seventh round and just going through some of the guys who just had that ‘freak factor’ to him and he was right there at the top. The size, the speed, the length, the jump — just everything.”
With the Jets, Kuntz joins a decent ends room that incorporates veterans C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin, and Jeremy Ruckert, a third-rounder closing yr. He fashions his sport after the Patriots’ Mike Gesicki, a 6-6, 250-pound former Penn State megastar who holds the Nittany Lions’ receptions document for tight ends and used to be drafted through Miami in 2018.
“He’s an athletic freak, as everybody knows,” Kuntz mentioned. “There’s certainly traits of his game that I love to say I kind of exhibit in mine.”
Kuntz is from the similar south-central Pennsylvania space as Mickey Shuler, arguably the best tight lead to Jets franchise historical past. Kuntz lately stopped at a automotive wash owned through the two-time Pro Bowl variety and ran into Shuler, who informed him to at all times simply be himself and be informed from the veterans.
“I’m the new guy around here,” Kuntz mentioned, “so I’m just going to do everything I can to learn and add value and help us win some games.”
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