Ben Arbuckle offers initial assessment of Jaren Kanak's switch to tight end

After spending three years at linebacker, Oklahoma‘s Jaren Kanak will be playing tight end for the Sooners this fall. Last week, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle revealed how Kanak has been performing at his new position.

“Jaren has probably honestly exceeded a lot of my early, initial expectations of him at tight end,” Arbuckle said. “I talk about the O-line watching film. That dude doesn’t leave the building. It can get kind of annoying sometimes, but he’s been awesome.

“He’s put in the work to go out there and definitely earn himself a spot playing on Saturdays. He’s put in that work, and I’m excited to watch him go through fall camp and continue building on it because he’s an unbelievable athlete.”

While Kanak has been on the defensive side of the ball for the past three years, he isn’t a complete stranger to having the ball in his hands. Kanak played quarterback in high school.

As a senior at Hays High School, Kanak set single-season school records for rushing yards (1,615) and scoring (142 points). He tallied 910 passing yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior, while racking up 23 scores in the ground game.

Kanak won’t be using his arm for Oklahoma, but he will have to shake the rust off some of his old juke moves. Arbuckle is confident in the senior Sooner.

“He’s an unbelievable athlete who loves football, who just has a knack for the game of football,” Arbuckle said. “He’s a football guy. But he just needs to go out there every day, be consistent. He knows the things that he needs to work on.

“We’ve definitely talked about that in-depth, and in-detail. So, he understands that… He’s a very diligent kid. Like, you tell him to work on something, he’s going to work on it. And from what I have learned the last eight months, he’s going to get it done. So, I’m excited about Jaren.”

Arbuckle isn’t the only excited. In the spring, Jaren Kanak opened up on his transition to tight end and, more importantly, his love for Oklahoma.

“I just have such tight ties and such a deep love for what it means to be a Sooner. What it means to play football here,” Kanak said. “And just the process and this whole staff. It’s just something they’re losing touch of in college football that is kind of unfortunate. But there’s a real culture here.

“There’s a real want and a grittiness to win and do all the things the right way. Have these tough, challenging processes and put that work in. And I think that’s just that mentality that comes with being an Oklahoma Sooner, which I just love.”