Jamario Bell is gone for at least half the season and Tuesday outside linebackers coach Chad Walker talked about Bell and the outlook.
Maybe the numbers won’t just get smaller this year
One glaring weakness in an Arkansas defense full of them last season was how slow they seemed at times.
Too often, Razorback defenders could only watch other guys’ numbers get smaller as they ran away from them.
In the SEC that will get you beat by average teams. The good ones will stomp a hole in your backside and walk out the water.
With the new recruits, the Hogs look faster. The upperclassmen have noticed and told Bielema that over the weekend.
“They said they are all fast,” he relayed to the media about the comments from the senior leadership committee on the incoming freshmen.
Speed kills. Especially in the SEC.
First, it was Steve Spurrier at Florida going for speed, speed, speed. Then Tennessee got on board and, finally, Alabama.
Shoot, Jimmy Johnson built first Miami, then the Dallas Cowboys later on speed. At both places, there were guys in positions that were under-sized, but, gosh, they could run. The ones who couldn’t play were gone pretty quick, regardless of how fast they were.
Arkansas’ lack of speed has been glaring.
Bielema and the PR folks can spin it however they want, but something had to change. In four years, the record is below .500 and the league record is at the point that the Hogs would have to win 12 straight league games to get to .500.
The youngsters on the team have the most important intangible: Speed.
Oh, and they are also smart. The incoming group in summer school hasn’t made a C or below.
“I’ve never had that,” Bielema said. “Usually there are some C’s, D’s and some F’s. There is usually the odd one who doesn’t even know how to log into his computer.”
Now they just have to transfer it to the field.
And hopefully catch more folks.
Bell suffers foot injury, has surgery; may miss half of season
Jamario Bell seemingly can’t catch a break.
Bret Bielema announced at a press conference Monday that Bell re-injured a foot in practice Saturday and had surgery Monday morning.
“The kid hasn’t had an easy road,” Bielema said.
Bell, a redshirt sophomore from Junction City, had been making progress after being moved from tight end to defense, where he was manning one of the outside linebacker positions.
“He was flourishing,” Bielema said of his conversation with Bell prior to his surgery. “I said, ‘Hey, don’t let this get you.’ He’s a likable kid that guys really enjoy. He’s got some fun traits to him so I don’t think this will be the end of him.”
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos after practice
Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos talked about the team’s development through three days of practices.
Austin Allen talks about Hogs’ new offensive players
Austin Allen covered a wide-ranging group of topics Saturday in his first visit with the media in fall camp.
Center Frank Ragnow on line play in early practices
Arkansas center Frank Ragnow visited with the media following Saturday’s practice and he seemed to not be concerned with the linemen fights.
New defense hot topic at early press conferences
In case you haven’t heard, Arkansas will have a new defensive alignment this year.
Yes, that was sorta tongue-in-cheek. Every Razorback fan knows it.
And, as usual, there is a certain confidence that it will fix the problems of last year’s defense which was balanced in that it struggled stopping the run and the pass.
Now they are going to a 3-4 look, which is intriguing on many fronts.
The reason? The Hogs struggle to get quality down linemen and to have a successful four-man front, you need eight people.
“You don’t have to have eight to have a two-deep, you only gotta have six,” defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said Friday afternoon. “It’s one of the reasons we switched to a 3-4 system.”
And Rhoads can make it sound fairly simple:
“Oh, I can tell you exactly,” Rhoads said. “The noseguard’s gotta have his hands on the center and take care of the A gap.
“The ends gotta have their hands on the tackle and take care of the B gap.
“Our outside linebackers have to set the edge and anything that comes at ’em and be involved in the passing game.
“Our linebackers gotta go where the backs go.
“And our secondary can’t let people behind ’em.
“If 11 guys are doing those things on a play-by-play basis, regardless of the call, we’ve got a chance to play good, competitive defense.”
That sounds good and doable. Traditionally, the 3-4 is prone to teams running up the middle. Some offensive systems can come up with blocking schemes that open up some wide running lanes.
But, the bottom line, it may be the only way the Hogs have a chance defensively considering the level of talent they have on the roster.
Schemes are great.
In the end, though, it nearly always comes down to who has the best players.
And that, Hogs fans, is the biggest question mark of all.
Richardson talks about defensive improvements
Arkansas defensive back Kevin Richardson talked with the media after practice about the development of the Hogs’ new 3-4 defense.
Rhoads talks about Hogs adjusting to 3-4 defense
Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads talks to the media after Friday’s practice about adjusting to the 3-4 defense.
Ramirez: New defense gives players chance to ‘just play’
Arkansas defensive back Santos Ramirez met with the media following Friday’s practice and talked about the new defense.
Bielema may be ready to take talent over experience
As college football teams begin workouts this week, it’s a time of optimism from sea to shining sea.
Even in the SEC. I actually heard someone from Ole Miss call a talk show this week that predicted a 10-2 record for the Rebels that included beating Alabama.
Seriously. That’s how crazy it gets.
Fans desperately want their team to win. They spend the weeks after SEC Media Days convincing themselves this will finally be the year.
Hope springs eternal.
And, to be perfectly honest, it’s hard to tell anything from the first days of fall practice. That’s because if players stand out from the crowd you never really know if it’s because they are that good or the backups they are doing it against aren’t.
If you’re looking for some deep insight to this year’s Razorback team here, I don’t have it. Bret Bielema doesn’t have it, either.
He spent over 20 minutes (longer than most Monday press conferences during the season, which is the longest of the week) talking about position moves and how high certain players can jump. In case you’re wondering, some of them can jump really high.
The two most important positions on the field, I’ve learned from coaches over four decades, are offensive tackles and defensive backs, particularly cornerbacks.
The Hogs have guys that look good in shorts and helmets at those spots, but so does everybody else. They may even look good in early scrimmages.
But how will they look against Texas A&M on Sept. 23? That’s the first real test. Oh, TCU on Sept. 9 might be a little exam, but what counts is what happens in the SEC games and the Aggies will be the first one of those.
Maybe the most promising thing about this team came during Bielema’s press conference and fans should really take notice of it.
In my opinion, experience is over-rated and a grasp from fans trying to convince themselves players get better the longer they stay. The reality is most don’t improve enough to make much of a difference from year to year.
“The worst thing to have is a bunch of players coming back from a six-win team,” legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant said one time.
Talent beats experience nearly every time.
Which is why one little nugget Bielema dropped is very, very important.
“The older guys better wake up,” he said in the first press conference of the season. “Some guys who have been here just three months have shown that they can get it right.”
For fans looking for a positive right off the bat, that’s it.
If the talent is equal, experience provides a little edge.
Last year’s national championship game proved that. Clemson’s junior quarterback Deshaun Watson beat Alabama’s rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts because, well, he knew how to win the game in the end. He had about 60 seconds worth of experience over a player nearly as talented.
A year ago, Watson was playing in the national championship game while Hurts was wrapping up a high school career in Texas.
For Bielema, who talks about fifth-year seniors in an effort to keep hopes alive as he enters his fifth season, the fact is he is recognizing that some newcomers may be better.
Which means the recruiting is better.
Which also means the team could be better.
