Razorbacks defensive tackle T.J. Smith spoke after practice about winning the first Broyles Razorback Player Award last Friday, development of younger tackles.
Razorbacks cornerback Kamren Curl on defense getting a couple of interceptions, fellow cornerback Montaric Brown “taking a big step” in his development this year.
Razorbacks tight end Grayson Gunter talked after Monday’s practice about going back to Mississippi to face the Rebels in the second week, where his father played.
Hogs kicker Connor Limpert talked after Monday’s practice and said his leg is stronger and how he’s got the same snapper and holder for a year for the first time.
Based on the reports we media trolls hiding under the bridge around Arkansas football in preseason camp get to hear, the freshmen wide receivers are doing exactly what they were recruited to do.
That is to be playmakers in the Razorbacks’ offense. Immediately.
And it’s all of them — Trey Knox, Treylon Burks, Shamar Nash and T.Q. Jackson
“The freshman wide receivers were just guys making plays,” Chad Morris said later. “I mean, that’s really it. We had several deep balls.”
With senior wide receiver Deon Stewart going down with an apparent ACL tear in the scrimmage Saturday, the spotlight is going to get even brighter.
It was reported at WholeHogSports.com that Stewart’s mother confirmed the injury on Facebook on Saturday evening.
Now they will need to be playmakers. Junior De’Vion Warren is one of last older guys standing (Jordan Jones and Tyson Morris are, too), who talked about the freshmen Saturday, particularly Burks.
“Mr. Burks had a really good day,” Warren said. “He’s moving real well with his knee, so it’s not bothering him. He was moving real well and had a couple of touchdowns actually.
“He had two today. It was good to see him move.”
Some have noticed a different attitude throughout the entire team and it starts with the coaches. There is a calmness that wasn’t seen often last year.
You get the idea they actually feel they have something that’s completely different from last year’s gut-wrenching 2-10 season.
It starts with the overall team attitude, but a group of young receivers that show the promise to be playmakers reinforces it. Last year there simply weren’t consistent playmakers, probably for a variety of reasons.
“These guys were making plays,” Morris said after Saturday’s scrimmage.
As usually happens in fall camp, injuries are starting to be a little more frequent. Stewart’s injury was the latest. C.J. O’Grady and Koilan Jackson have already had what is termed “clean-up” surgery and are expected back before the season opener.
Last year, the lack of playmakers was part of the problems. Particularly the consistency.
That’s what Morris saw Saturday.
“They’ve done that through the course of camp, but today they were more consistent than I’ve seen them,” he said.
Even the defensive secondary guys notice. Safety Joe Foucha, who won the summer PAT award (passion-attitude-trust) Friday, is expecting a big change.
“Every day they show me something different,” he said about the freshman receivers. “To me, those guys are going to explode because they came in ready. They didn’t have to come in and get physical or have to learn the playbook. It’s all there.”
The receivers aren’t the only ones shining in camp. The running back trio of Rakeem Boyd, Devwah Whaley and Chase Hayden have quietly put together a solid start, mostly by staying on the field.
“They were patient with their runs and knew when to hit it,” Morris said. “Some of them might have had four- and five-yard gains, but that’s what we’re after. We’re after being patient with that running game and finding that crease, so it was good to see those guys.”
As I suspected, as it comes together, the offense is starting to catch up to the defense.
Any coach will tell you if a team plays it’s best in September, it’s going to be a rough November.
Now where all of this stacks up right now against SEC competition is something we won’t know for awhile.
Chad Morris made it pretty clear after Arkansas’ scrimmage Saturday how the decision-making process to pick a starter is going to go.
“We’ll sit and talk as a staff,” he said. “They all have one vote and I’ve got one more than all of them.”
Morris may like some new things in football (temp offensively, using two practice fields), but make no mistake that there is still that old-school coach.
Whether you like his decisions or not, the final one on everything with Razorback football is his decision. Others may have some input, but it’s his call and he doesn’t try to dodge the responsibility at all.
“We’ll decide as a staff,” he said about choosing a quarterback. “When we walk out of the staff room…we’re all 100 percent on board, whether that’s the starting center or the starting linebacker. We’re all on board at that point.”
The prevailing thought all through summer and the first few weeks of fall camp has been Ben Hicks will be the starter against Portland State in less than two weeks, but Nick Starkel may take over … sooner rather than later to some.
On Saturday, though, it was John Stephen Jones that got the first name mention by Morris.
“The guy’s a player,” he said about a redshirt freshman most keep trying to dismiss, including a lot of folks who think they know what they’re talking about. “He gets out there and there’s a lot of really good things happening.”
Last week, offensive coordinator Joe Craddock talked about Jones’ ability to put the ball in the end zone. Saturday he took the first team on a drive in a two-minute drill and put another touchdown on the board, then Connor Limpert came on to kick a situational game-winning extra point.
“I was very impressed with him,” Morris said.
In reviewing the scrimmage, Morris had positives about Hicks and Starkel (apparently it wasn’t a great day for freshman K.J. Jefferson, who failed to get into field-goal position during his two-minute drill).
But for the second Saturday scrimmage it was Jones making a key play that got everybody’s attention.
“It’s a tough battle,” wide receiver De’Vion Warren said. “Like I said, they have their good days and their bad days. Today was pretty even and both were making good plays. Even John Stephen was making good plays with his feet and his arm. It was an even battle today.”
The players have made it clear they aren’t picking a side … at least publicly. Even center Ty Clary.
“Typically to my knowledge, I’m not the OC or the head coach,” he said Saturday. “I don’t get to make this decision.”
He sounded kinda like he was glad he doesn’t have to make that call. Apparently there are positives and negatives with every one of them.
And despite everybody’s best efforts, Morris is actually pretty convincing when he is asked who’s out front on the whole thing.
“It just depends on what day you ask me,” he said. “Some days it’s one, some days the other.”
The guess here is we won’t hear anything until Wednesday evening at the absolute earliest. That’s the next media avail.
“We’re getting closer, but again, we’re evaluating it,” Morris said. “I want to go through definitely Wednesday and see where we’re at.”
Guessing who it will be is pointless. Nobody has seen enough to really be making that call.
