The Arkansas quarterback race gets most of the headlines this fall, but the Razorbacks have another spot on offense that’s just as unsettled.
Nobody throwing passes is going to have big numbers if the guys he’s throwing at can’t catch the ball.
Nine receivers are competing for playing time, and coaches say nobody has locked down a role yet.
Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey put it simply. The staff plans to trim the group to “about seven or eight” players they trust on the field once the Hogs open the season Sept. 5 against North Alabama.
“We don’t have a starter right now,” Cramsey said. “There’s not one guy that goes to bed tonight and says, ‘Alright, no matter what I do tomorrow, they’re going to put me in the game on the first play Sept. 5.’ There’s a nine-man battle going on right there with those guys. We kind of move them all around.”
Arkansas has been rotating three groups through practice reps, with CJ Brown, Chris Marshall and Jamari Hawkins working with the first team on day one.
Donovan Faupel, Antonio Jordan and Ismael Cisse followed behind them, while Monte Harrison, Courtney Crutchfield and Jelani Watkins took third-team snaps.
That order mostly held on day two, though Crutchfield shuffled into the second group.
Coach Ryan Silverfield says he’s pleased with the room even without a clear top target.
“I’ve got to continue to push and work to make sure but I feel very confident in that group,” Silverfield said. “Sometimes throughout your career as a coach you sit there and you’ve got that one guy you know you can hang your hat on — a returning guy with a lot of production.
“But we don’t have a lot of truly returning production in college football.”
Transfers carry most of the experience
Arkansas leans heavily on newcomers for proven production at receiver. Brown, Faupel, Hawkins and Marshall combined for 157 catches, 2,177 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.
Faupel led that group with 61 catches for 661 yards and seven scores while playing at New Mexico State.
Brown is the lone returning Razorback with real experience. The Bentonville native caught 28 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns during a rough 2-10 campaign last year.
He says the group is moving past that record.
“I can’t do anything about what happened last year,” Brown said. “But my actions that I take right now can affect what goes on this coming season. I feel like we’re more forward-facing kind of attitude toward it all.”
The other 12 receivers on the roster, including three true freshmen, combined for just four catches and 76 yards a season ago.
That leaves Arkansas counting on unfamiliar faces to grow up fast in the SEC.
Live reps will settle the depth chart
Cramsey knows practice only tells the coaching staff so much. Real answers come once the games start.
“We are going to have a great idea because of the way we practice and the situations we put them in and treating it like a game-like situation,” Cramsey said. “But I don’t care who you are as a coach, you’re lying if you’re saying you’re going to know exactly how a kid’s going to react until you put them on an SEC field in an SEC stadium.
“Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, that’s when you’re going to find out who you truly have. We’re going to have a great idea going forward and hopefully we evaluate the right way and they prove us right.”
Through the first two practices, Cramsey pointed to Brown, Harrison, Hawkins and Marshall as guys who’ve shown flashes.
Still, he says the receivers shouldn’t get too caught up in trying to separate themselves this early. Avoiding mistakes matters more right now, especially with full pads coming Aug. 11.
“I think it’s hard to say after Practice 2 that someone is separating themselves positively,” Cramsey said. “What you try and do as a player is not separate yourself negatively after Practice 2.
“Start getting some live stuff, starting to get some guys play football, when you actually do that is when you actually start to separate yourself from the other guys positively.”
Cramsey said he views the entire process as a two-way street between himself and his receivers.
“I always tell the skill positions it’s your job to prove to me you belong on the field,” Cramsey said. “And it’s my job to find out how to put you on the field.”
Key takeaways
- Arkansas has nine receivers battling for roughly seven or eight roster spots before the Sept. 5 opener.
- CJ Brown is the only returning Razorback with meaningful production, while transfers Faupel, Hawkins and Marshall bring most of the group’s experience.
- Coaches say live game reps, not practice, will ultimately decide who separates from the pack.
