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New faces at receiver: We're not as thin as you might think.
Posted on 8/7/17 at 7:40 pm
Posted on 8/7/17 at 7:40 pm
Brandon Martin has all the physical tools but is still having trouble learning the playbook and Coach Smith says he needs to be in better shape.
Jonathan Nance is getting a lot of hype from the coaches. He also attended Mississippi Gulf Coast with Martin but was very lightly recruited. We'll see what he can do against SEC competition but I'm still in wait and see mode on him because coach hype isn't worth much.
Gary Cross is yet another JUCO transfer that the coaches are high on. Hasn't played much football though and only started playing his senior season at Fordyce. He did well in JUCO but is still a question mark due to lack of competition.
Koilan Jackson is the son of Keith Jackson and raised a lot of eyebrows with his one-handed catch against Pulley on Saturday. That's a true freshman receiver making our best corner look foolish. It was very impressive if you got to see it.
Jarrod Barnes is an explosive dude that could make some game changing plays with his athleticism. A few weeks ago Bielema brought out a 61" hurdle and Barnes was the only offensive player to clear it. Everyone on the team was talking about it. He's also a true freshman and an Arkansas guy. Excited to see what he can do given the chance.
De'Vion Warren is another slot guy/speedster that Bielema said will get a chance in the return game. If you've seen Warren's tape, you'll love the thought of him returning kicks. Very shifty guy who played a lot of wildcat in high school. Imagine Joe Adams but even slipperier. Has the kind of moves that make you go "holy shite."
De'Shawn Gulledge out of Bald Knob is also a slot guy, very athletic but undersized at this point. He'll probably redshirt along with Maleek Barkley to continue growing physically.
Tobias Enlow and Jordan Jones are both Arkansas guys who redshirted last year and are itching to play.
With Cornelius taking a break from camp and Deon Stewart and La'Michael Pettway being the only other receivers with any experience, some people think we are thin at receiver. We're actually pretty stacked, and if some of these guys don't produce as JUCO transfers and true freshmen, we'll still have a loaded cupboard for years to come.
Jonathan Nance is getting a lot of hype from the coaches. He also attended Mississippi Gulf Coast with Martin but was very lightly recruited. We'll see what he can do against SEC competition but I'm still in wait and see mode on him because coach hype isn't worth much.
Gary Cross is yet another JUCO transfer that the coaches are high on. Hasn't played much football though and only started playing his senior season at Fordyce. He did well in JUCO but is still a question mark due to lack of competition.
Koilan Jackson is the son of Keith Jackson and raised a lot of eyebrows with his one-handed catch against Pulley on Saturday. That's a true freshman receiver making our best corner look foolish. It was very impressive if you got to see it.
Jarrod Barnes is an explosive dude that could make some game changing plays with his athleticism. A few weeks ago Bielema brought out a 61" hurdle and Barnes was the only offensive player to clear it. Everyone on the team was talking about it. He's also a true freshman and an Arkansas guy. Excited to see what he can do given the chance.
De'Vion Warren is another slot guy/speedster that Bielema said will get a chance in the return game. If you've seen Warren's tape, you'll love the thought of him returning kicks. Very shifty guy who played a lot of wildcat in high school. Imagine Joe Adams but even slipperier. Has the kind of moves that make you go "holy shite."
De'Shawn Gulledge out of Bald Knob is also a slot guy, very athletic but undersized at this point. He'll probably redshirt along with Maleek Barkley to continue growing physically.
Tobias Enlow and Jordan Jones are both Arkansas guys who redshirted last year and are itching to play.
With Cornelius taking a break from camp and Deon Stewart and La'Michael Pettway being the only other receivers with any experience, some people think we are thin at receiver. We're actually pretty stacked, and if some of these guys don't produce as JUCO transfers and true freshmen, we'll still have a loaded cupboard for years to come.
This post was edited on 8/7/17 at 7:42 pm
Posted on 8/7/17 at 8:27 pm to Stonehog
As long as these guys can catch, Allen is going to find them. I might be a little concerned about the lack of experience here if we didn't have such a great QB returning.
Posted on 8/7/17 at 8:40 pm to rockiee
My only concern is the lack of big guys that can go up to get 50/50 balls. We seem to have recruited a ton of slot guys with speed but we don't have many receivers with size. Martin is our only receiver over 6'2".
Posted on 8/7/17 at 8:48 pm to Stonehog
I'd say that pettway is a 50/50 guy. 6'2 220. Martin will be one of those guys. Koilan is pretty big as well compared to a corner back.
Posted on 8/7/17 at 8:48 pm to Stonehog
quote:
Martin is our only receiver over 6'2".
Pettway is listed as 6'3'' but we really haven't had a ton of height at that position ever under Bret.
Hatcher was 6'2'' and Hollister was 6'4''
Posted on 8/7/17 at 9:12 pm to rockiee
quote:
Pettway is listed as 6'3''
He's listed at 6'2" on the roster. Not much of a difference but if our O line is still shitty, which I expect it will be, there will be a lot of 50/50 balls where another inch or two would help. I just wish we had a Mike Evans 6'5" type guy for Austin to use as a safety valve.
Posted on 8/7/17 at 9:16 pm to Stonehog
quote:
our O line is still shitty, which I expect it will be, there will be a lot of 50/50 balls
Eh, I think we have much bigger issues if our Oline is shitty again but ya having an explosive/big receiver with him would be fun to watch.
Posted on 8/7/17 at 9:24 pm to rockiee
Hopefully Brandon Martin can be that guy. We'll see if Smith can get him to learn the playbook and get in proper shape.
Martin has a ton of respect for Michael Smith because Smith is really good friends with Martin's dad. Smith is the reason he came to Arkansas. Brandon once told me that Michael Smith is the best wide receiver coach in the country. I'm not so sure about that but if he has that much respect for him then maybe he'll listen and take his coaching.
Martin has a ton of respect for Michael Smith because Smith is really good friends with Martin's dad. Smith is the reason he came to Arkansas. Brandon once told me that Michael Smith is the best wide receiver coach in the country. I'm not so sure about that but if he has that much respect for him then maybe he'll listen and take his coaching.
Posted on 8/7/17 at 10:23 pm to Stonehog
quote:
My only concern is the lack of big guys that can go up to get 50/50 balls. We seem to have recruited a ton of slot guys with speed but we don't have many receivers with size. Martin is our only receiver over 6'2".
Isn't Jordan Jones 6'3?
Posted on 8/7/17 at 10:31 pm to The_Joker
He's listed at 6'1" on the roster.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 6:53 am to Stonehog
Smith is one if the best coaches on our staff. Idk about comparing all the other wr coaches hut he certainly has an argument. Great recruiter and developer for sure
Posted on 8/8/17 at 8:32 am to Stonehog
quote:
My only concern is the lack of big guys that can go up to get 50/50 balls. We seem to have recruited a ton of slot guys with speed but we don't have many receivers with size. Martin is our only receiver over 6'2".
I'd agree but Enos doesn't go vertical a lot. Most of what he runs is in the slot. The times we've went vertical have mostly been to TEs.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:28 am to Stonehog
quote:
if our O line is still shitty
If the O line is bad this year we might as well start counting down the days till basketball season starts. With our system we have to have at least decent line play to get the play action passing game going.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 11:36 am to boogiewoogie1978
quote:
I'd agree but Enos doesn't go vertical a lot. Most of what he runs is in the slot. The times we've went vertical have mostly been to TEs.
Is that because of his system or our personnel?
Posted on 8/8/17 at 11:39 am to Arksulli
The OL was the biggest reason we ended up with such a poor record.
It would be easy to say the defense, but when you can't run the ball, and have too many 3&outs, the defense gets tired.
Missouri, A&M, VT were three games we lost, in the second half, due to our inability to get push/open holes up front.
It would be easy to say the defense, but when you can't run the ball, and have too many 3&outs, the defense gets tired.
Missouri, A&M, VT were three games we lost, in the second half, due to our inability to get push/open holes up front.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 11:50 am to Porcine Human
quote:
Is that because of his system or our personnel?
I think it's mostly system. There are games when we run posts for our deep routes but rarely do we truly go vertical.
Even when Reed was there we still ran lots of slants and screens.
This may be due to our O-line not holding up long enough for WRs to get down-field.
Posted on 8/9/17 at 8:10 am to Stonehog
I'm not worried to much about the offense. It's the defense that scares the crap out of me. Surely we will be better this year on that side of the ball.
Posted on 8/11/17 at 6:56 am to BB1977
Is there any video of Jacksons one handed catch? I'd love to see it
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