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QB guru Ken Mastrole discusses training Austin Allen, sees bright future for Arkansas
You can count Ken Mastrole among those impressed with Austin Allen following his first year as a starting quarterback at the SEC level. After spending a week training with Allen this offseason, the former NFL quarterback — now a renowned quarterback coach, believes the best is yet to come for the leader of the Arkansas offense.
Mastrole was a guest on Sports Talk with Bo Mattingly Wednesday and took a deep dive into his time spent with Allen. In the quarterback guru’s mind, Allen doesn’t need a major overhaul to his game but believes some minor tweaks and adjustments could go a long way in the fall.
“We did a full assessment, not trying to reinvent the wheel, but really what we were trying to do was showing him on game tape,” Mastrole said on the air. “(He’s) impressive as a passer when you really break him down and the consistently level, just a couple of things that we want him to hone in on that will help him in this upcoming season.”
The quarterback coach was then asked what he saw in Allen’s tape last season that impressed him the most.
“What was so impressive was he really sat back there and was taking some beatings back there, there’s no question,” Mastrole said in terms of Allen’s ability to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball. “I thought Coach Enos did a great job of moving him around and doing some different things, in terms of what they did last year for a first-time starter, but I loved his toughness.”
As for what the team at the Mastrole Quarterback Academy saw that needs improvement, the subtle pocket tendencies of Allen were key to their training.
“We looked at posture and balance and where inefficiencies were and we just noticed that there were certain things that he could take back to Arkansas in the offseason and incorporate into his program,” Mastrole revealed. “It gives him that competitive advantage (heading into the fall).”
So what will be different in 2017 for Allen? Where will his game improve the most?
“I think he’s going to continue to be efficient, obviously cut down on some of the mistakes you make when you are a first-year player, but I will say this about him, it was great to work with him for a week,” Mastrole continued. “He has such an awesome support staff from the offensive coordinator to Coach Bielema, all those pieces… I think what you are going to see from him is just more consistency.”
If Allen continues to improve for the Razorbacks and can help ease the team’s new receivers into the lineup by the fall, the offense could continue to be one of the more dangerous units in the SEC. Taking the advice of one of the game’s most knowledgeable resources, the Razorbacks should feel pretty good about the most important position on the field heading into the fall.
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A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com