FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Former major league outfielder Monte Harrison and sophomore wide receiver CJ Brown emerged as top playmakers for Arkansas during the team’s second fall camp scrimmage Saturday.
It gives the Razorbacks a boost at a position that struggled last season.
Harrison, 30, who spent parts of three seasons with the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels, caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Taylen Green and added receptions of 20 and 28 yards, according to a team spokesperson.
Harrison’s performance came after he posted three catches of 45 yards or more in the first scrimmage last week.
“You’re 29 years old and you go back as a freshman in [college] and you’re not getting a lot of game time and all that,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “You’re coming from a professional situation in baseball. It’s hard. I would assume it would be very hard.
“He just kept fighting, kept fighting and kept working, and now he’s one of those guys you want to look at. A guy you want to go to, like Andrew Armstrong was a year ago.”
Brown, who stepped up after injuries to transfer receivers Ismael Cisse and Raylen Sharpe, caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Green. Brown has moved between the slot and outside receiver positions during camp.
“He understands the offense better than anybody out there,” offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino said. “When you run the GPS and everyone sprints as hard as they can, CJ is faster than any of them. He also has such great feet that he’s good inside.”
Green, a transfer who passed for more than 3,000 yards and rushed for more than 600 last season while limited by a knee injury, spread the ball around in the scrimmage. Tight end Jaden Platt caught a 21-yard pass, and Jalen Brown made two receptions of 20 yards.
The Razorbacks’ first-team offense faced the second-team defense in the scrimmage, which was closed to the media. The first-team defense allowed just one touchdown to the second-team offense, a 1-yard run by Cam Settles.
Quarterback KJ Jackson recorded a 20-yard pass to Krosse Johnson and a 15-yard pass to tight end Rohan Jones against the first defense.
Running back Mike Washington broke off a 91-yard touchdown run after Green checked out of a pass play and into a run at the line of scrimmage.
“We got up to the line of scrimmage, and it was a pass play, and then Taylen saw some type of blitz, interior blitz, checked it to a run, center Caden Kitler made the right call on to how to pick it up, and from there Mike just hit that hole,” offensive lineman Fernando Carmona said.
Pittman said the coaching staff has identified five to seven receivers they trust with the first team.
“Jalen Brown made some plays this week. Rohan Jones is another guy that yesterday I felt like had his best practice, production-wise, and catching difficult catches and all that,” Pittman said. “We’re getting more people, which is really going to help us keep fresh guys on the field that have confidence, and as important, we have confidence in them.”
Pittman acknowledged, however, that explosive plays remain a concern for the defense.
“Today there was obviously a lot of explosives,” Pittman said. “We weren’t good on good like we were last week. But if you ask us, the main thing we needed to get fixed from the scrimmage last week was explosive plays.
“We gave up too many, which you’re happy on the other side, because guys are breaking tackles and all that. In the two scrimmages that we’ve had, we’ve had a ton of explosive plays offensively. So that means they’re either running by people or making them miss.”
Harrison’s path to Arkansas is unique. A four-star football recruit out of Lee’s Summit West High School in Missouri, he chose professional baseball after being selected 50th overall by the Brewers in the 2014 MLB draft. He played 50 games in the majors and was involved in the trade that sent Christian Yelich to Milwaukee before leaving baseball in 2023 to pursue college football.
Petrino said Harrison’s athleticism and willingness to learn have made him a quick study. “His learning curve is steep, but he’s catching on fast,” Petrino said.
With the season opener approaching, Arkansas coaches and players say the competition at receiver and the depth in the passing game are better than last season. “You want to see it when the lights come on,” Pittman said. “But these guys, they’re making it hard to keep them off the field.”
The Razorbacks finished 4-8 last year and ranked near the bottom of the SEC in passing offense. With new faces emerging and Green healthy, Arkansas hopes to reverse course in 2025.
“We’re going to be able to spread it around,” Petrino said. “And that’s going to keep defenses guessing.”
Arkansas opens the season Aug. 30 against Missouri State at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
