Story behind TeSlaa draft key to Hogs getting over hump

It's a shocking example of a team seeing more in a player than anyone else did on the NFL stage and the young man living up to what they saw. And if Arkansas receivers can live up to what excited Detroit coach Dan Campbell most about TeSlaa as he looked deeper into the draft prospect, their fortunes could also take a dramatic turn for the positive.

For weeks after TeSlaa was drafted in the third round, football experts pondered what may have driven the Lions to take the Hogs receiver much earlier than anticipated. Sure, he has always been known for having great hands, especially when battling in tight coverage.

They also understood Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green missed TeSlaa running open as the transfer QB tried to adjust to the complexity of making reads in Bobby Petrino's offense, so the receiving yards not being what they should have been didn't exactly fall on TeSlaa.

Still, those factors weren't enough to warrant such a jump in perceived value. It wasn't until an episode of an annual documentary made about the Lions for YouTube covering the draft that the secret was revealed.

TeSlaa grew into an absolute psycho when it came to blocking, which fits Campbell's team personality and individual persona. He blocked with such intensity and violence when the ball wasn't coming to him that if what exactly happened was depicted in an ainme about American football, it would be deemed too over the top to be believable, even in an animated genre built on extremism.

And despite his four catches and a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins, it's what he found himself talking about in his first ever postgame NFL press conference.

"I think the biggest thing for them was just watching the way I was at the Senior Bowl," TeSlaa said when asked about his GM describing him as his favorite player. "I remember [Detroit general manager] Brad Holmes talking about the way I was blocking, and that's just kind of the mentality I've always had. Even if I'm not getting the target, I'm going to be out there blocking safeties, getting it in the run game. So he said I wasn't the most talented receiver. He said I was his favorite. So, I mean, that's fair for me, it's just the way I played the game.

There was evidence when he was at Arkansas he could be special as a blocker, but it took off to a completely different level at what turned out to be two NFL scouting bowl games. In fact, it was his crazed dog approach to blocking and propensity to never catch the ball with his body at the Hula Bowl after being denied a combine invite and a Senior Bowl invite that drew the interest from a Senior Bowl official visiting Hawaii just in case.

"So, I got the invite to the Hula Bowl like a week before it started, went down there, ended up having a really solid week, ended up talking to a Senior Bowl rep there," TeSlaa said. "They said, before, right now, if anything happens, we'll call you. And then three or four days before the Senior Bowl, someone ended up dropping out. That just gave me an opportunity to go out there, and I just need that opportunity. I'm gonna go bust through that door."

Burst through the door he did. TeSlaa was a mad man. He made catches that surprised everyone, especially in regard to his hand positioning.

Detroit was one of the few teams to have been watching him from the very start because of an agent with them who first saw TeSlaa's ability to make tough catches at tiny nearby Hillsdale College as part of looking at local talent.

Because of this, the Detroit staff became more cognizant of what he was doing on plays the ball wasn't coming to him.

"He was extremely productive throughout the week and in the game," Holmes said. "He made some acrobatic catches. He made some contested catches. The targets that he did get, most receivers would catch with their body, he was still catching him with his hands. He showed up in the run game and the tenacity and his strain as a blocker.

"It wasn't a blocking drill, it was a bubble screen coming about him, it was a toss coming behind him. And so you just don't see that very often, especially in an all-star setting."

After watching TeSlaa work his way across the field to the other side, brutally shutting down defensive backs who normally would have made the tackle on a running play to the other side, the Lions' head coach was sold also.

"You don't see guys block as physically as he does," Campbell said. "He really just gets after guys and finishes through the whistle."

It's something TeSlaa said he was glad his current coach took time to notice. After all, it was Campbell's tough, gritty, do the dirty stuff mentality that he took on for himself while watching his favorite NFL team over the years.

"That's something I take a lot of pride in," TeSlaa said. "If it's a backside run, some receivers will take that as a playoff for me, it was. I'm gonna go dig out that safety, and I'm gonna do everything I can to put tape out there to show how I play the game."

It's also how a program like Arkansas can overcome the odds and turn its average 5-7 wins into something special this year. Skip to the 29 minute mark of this video and start watching the tape.

If the Hogs can get their receivers to do this across the board, they will be the terror of the entire SEC. There are already hints that the Razorbacks offense has the capacity to be much more explosive.

It seems there are constant reports of players breaking long yardage runs and catches. It's gotten to a point where it almost feels like if running back Mike Washington steps on the field, he's a guarantee to break at least one 60+ yard play.

If the kind of effort he is apparently putting out can be combined with a TeSlaa type effort by the receivers in relentless aggression, Arkansas can at times become theoretically borderline unstoppable.

At the very least, they will at least become a team fans fall in love with. That kind of effort directly reflects the hard working, blue collar people of the state.

For lack of a better term, game recognizes game. The people of Arkansas would have no choice but to fall into a love story for the ages with this team.

Little things matter, especially the ones those who think highly of themselves don't properly value. It's how mountains are moved and impossible dreams like TeSlaa's take place.

Dreams like Arkansas slugging its way Arizona State style into the playoffs at year's end.

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