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Spring Practices
Posted on 3/20/16 at 11:32 am
Posted on 3/20/16 at 11:32 am
Things to be sorted out.
1. QB depth chart
Austin Alllen, Rafe Peavey, Ty Storey & Ricky Town are all vying to become the next Razorback starter. The next 5 weeks will be instrumental to finding the field general to lead the hogs in 2016.
2. Kickers are fighting for their spots.
Coach Bielema has told kickers Cole Hedlund, Adam McFain and Lane Saling that only 2 kickers will be invited to fall camp. 1 of those 3 will no longer be welcome on the team after the spring practices. Bert has said he was unhappy with the special teams and the kickoffs, coverage, and the fact that FG kicking cost the team a couple wins in the 2015 season. Bert is being brutal to shore up a very weak spot on the team. Another highly regarded freshman kicker is set to join the squad in the summer,the Kicker competition will only get hotter as the season arrives.
3. WR pecking order.
Arkansas has never had the number of quality of receivers on the roster as it does now. OC Dan Enos has a lot of toys to play with as the misconceived notion of the Razorbacks only being a power run team will continue to catch teams off-guard and a scaled down version of the Air Raid gives Enos plenty of options.
4. OL Pride
New OL Kurt Anderson's abilities will be tested early. The three best OL from last season are gone, depth is thin and talent is unproven. Disappointing recruiting by coasting and former OL coach Sam Pittman left the Hogs missing out on OL targets and signing 2 able but less than heralded JUCO linemen in G Deione Malone and T Paul Ramirez. Those two need to be ready to play immediately. Returning is fan favorite and fan loathed T Dan Skipper and versatile Frank Ragnow who could play all 3 line positions if needed.
T Brian Wallace should finally get his time to shine, T Colton Jackson is coming off his RS year, Super-hyped Danish wonder Hjalte Froholdt has switched over to the OL from the DL and Josh Allen switched to DL from OL as well. Zach Rogers and Jalen Merrick will be counted upon to man the Center and Guard positions respectively and we'll get to see if walk-on Johnny Gibson is everything that Pittman was building him up to be.
5. Playmakers need to emerge on defense.
The defense took a huge slide backwards last season. In my opinion one of the reasons is because a consistent playmaker never really emerged. The back 7 especially had sporadic play and DC Robb Smith's system of funneling the ball into a Bermuda Triangle of a DE/LB/DT did not work as well having lesstalented and less experienced players.
The young LB'rs will need to become SEC ready quick, the new secondary players won't be expected to do much but it'd be nice to see the current safeties to give them a reason to not be needed to play. Paul Rhodes should be a big-time upgrade to the secondary, there's a lot of experience in the secondary we should expect much better play from the CB/S positions.
6. Who's gonna carry the ball?
Thank the lord that Kody Walker decided to continue playing football even though I still can't forgive him for fumbling on the 6 inch line that took a victory over Bama in our 1964 50-year grudge match game. Rawleigh's viability is the biggest question mark in our running game, if he's back to 100% RW3 will be a star, Walker will be the hoss that's hard to bring down in the 4th, and Juan Day and Denzel Evans should give the team something. However if Duwop Mitchell is really becoming a RB full-time he could run for 1,000 yards in the fall and remove any question about the strength of Arkansas' backfield. Duwop has been nothing but electrifying when he's had his chance to touch the ball.
7. Will we or won't we buy season tickets.
There's a hell of a home slate of games, I think most will buy season tickets, many may have a wait and see attitude as spending all that money to sit through losing games is a bit of a buzzkill. Fayetteville gets LA Tech, TX State, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and LSU. That's a nice slate of games and one that if the team has a down year could be one where we go 0-4 in conference home games.
8. New TE's, who's going to emerge.
Hunter Henry is gone, Jeremy Sprinkle no longer has to play second fiddle. Arkansas liked to use 2 TE sets, the emergence of the WR corp means we don't have to rely on TE's as much. We signed three really good ones a year ago and one this past NSD in Grayson Gunter who I believe will make highlight catches look routine after his RS year.
Those are 8 questions I'm looking to get a little more clarity on.
1. QB depth chart
Austin Alllen, Rafe Peavey, Ty Storey & Ricky Town are all vying to become the next Razorback starter. The next 5 weeks will be instrumental to finding the field general to lead the hogs in 2016.
2. Kickers are fighting for their spots.
Coach Bielema has told kickers Cole Hedlund, Adam McFain and Lane Saling that only 2 kickers will be invited to fall camp. 1 of those 3 will no longer be welcome on the team after the spring practices. Bert has said he was unhappy with the special teams and the kickoffs, coverage, and the fact that FG kicking cost the team a couple wins in the 2015 season. Bert is being brutal to shore up a very weak spot on the team. Another highly regarded freshman kicker is set to join the squad in the summer,the Kicker competition will only get hotter as the season arrives.
3. WR pecking order.
Arkansas has never had the number of quality of receivers on the roster as it does now. OC Dan Enos has a lot of toys to play with as the misconceived notion of the Razorbacks only being a power run team will continue to catch teams off-guard and a scaled down version of the Air Raid gives Enos plenty of options.
4. OL Pride
New OL Kurt Anderson's abilities will be tested early. The three best OL from last season are gone, depth is thin and talent is unproven. Disappointing recruiting by coasting and former OL coach Sam Pittman left the Hogs missing out on OL targets and signing 2 able but less than heralded JUCO linemen in G Deione Malone and T Paul Ramirez. Those two need to be ready to play immediately. Returning is fan favorite and fan loathed T Dan Skipper and versatile Frank Ragnow who could play all 3 line positions if needed.
T Brian Wallace should finally get his time to shine, T Colton Jackson is coming off his RS year, Super-hyped Danish wonder Hjalte Froholdt has switched over to the OL from the DL and Josh Allen switched to DL from OL as well. Zach Rogers and Jalen Merrick will be counted upon to man the Center and Guard positions respectively and we'll get to see if walk-on Johnny Gibson is everything that Pittman was building him up to be.
5. Playmakers need to emerge on defense.
The defense took a huge slide backwards last season. In my opinion one of the reasons is because a consistent playmaker never really emerged. The back 7 especially had sporadic play and DC Robb Smith's system of funneling the ball into a Bermuda Triangle of a DE/LB/DT did not work as well having lesstalented and less experienced players.
The young LB'rs will need to become SEC ready quick, the new secondary players won't be expected to do much but it'd be nice to see the current safeties to give them a reason to not be needed to play. Paul Rhodes should be a big-time upgrade to the secondary, there's a lot of experience in the secondary we should expect much better play from the CB/S positions.
6. Who's gonna carry the ball?
Thank the lord that Kody Walker decided to continue playing football even though I still can't forgive him for fumbling on the 6 inch line that took a victory over Bama in our 1964 50-year grudge match game. Rawleigh's viability is the biggest question mark in our running game, if he's back to 100% RW3 will be a star, Walker will be the hoss that's hard to bring down in the 4th, and Juan Day and Denzel Evans should give the team something. However if Duwop Mitchell is really becoming a RB full-time he could run for 1,000 yards in the fall and remove any question about the strength of Arkansas' backfield. Duwop has been nothing but electrifying when he's had his chance to touch the ball.
7. Will we or won't we buy season tickets.
There's a hell of a home slate of games, I think most will buy season tickets, many may have a wait and see attitude as spending all that money to sit through losing games is a bit of a buzzkill. Fayetteville gets LA Tech, TX State, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and LSU. That's a nice slate of games and one that if the team has a down year could be one where we go 0-4 in conference home games.
8. New TE's, who's going to emerge.
Hunter Henry is gone, Jeremy Sprinkle no longer has to play second fiddle. Arkansas liked to use 2 TE sets, the emergence of the WR corp means we don't have to rely on TE's as much. We signed three really good ones a year ago and one this past NSD in Grayson Gunter who I believe will make highlight catches look routine after his RS year.
Those are 8 questions I'm looking to get a little more clarity on.
6
Posted on 3/20/16 at 11:41 am to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
Coach Bielema has told kickers Cole Hedlund, Adam McFain and Lane Saling that only 2 kickers will be invited to fall camp. 1 of those 3 will no longer be welcome on the team after the spring practices.
I did not hear this. That must have been hard to hear, but hopefully it'll light a fire under them. I'm aware that Hocker was one of the best we've ever had, but the dropoff we experienced when he left was brutal enough to knock the air out of us.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 11:42 am to CtotheVrzrbck
Oh, and will the first practice be closed?
Posted on 3/20/16 at 12:01 pm to VagueMessage
Will the black tarps be shown?
Posted on 3/20/16 at 12:07 pm to VagueMessage
No clue, but I doubt they'll be open until the scrimmages.
I've not found a practice schedule online either.
I've not found a practice schedule online either.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 1:22 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
Coach Bielema has told kickers Cole Hedlund, Adam McFain and Lane Saling that only 2 kickers will be invited to fall camp. 1 of those 3 will no longer be welcome on the team after the spring practices.
Where did you get this from?
quote:
3. WR pecking order.
Smith likes to use a 5 WR rotation. I don't see anyone beating out Hatcher, Morgan, Reed and Cornelius so that just leaves one spot up for grabs. Hollister is obviously the front runner due to experience but I wouldn't mind seeing Pettway getting a long look here.
quote:
6. Who's gonna carry the ball?
Thank the lord that Kody Walker decided to continue playing football even though I still can't forgive him for fumbling on the 6 inch line that took a victory over Bama in our 1964 50-year grudge match game. Rawleigh's viability is the biggest question mark in our running game, if he's back to 100% RW3 will be a star, Walker will be the hoss that's hard to bring down in the 4th, and Juan Day and Denzel Evans should give the team something. However if Duwop Mitchell is really becoming a RB full-time he could run for 1,000 yards in the fall and remove any question about the strength of Arkansas' backfield. Duwop has been nothing but electrifying when he's had his chance to touch the ball.
I would really love to see Duwop be a success here. I just don't know if he's ever going to be more than a gadget player. Hopefully he proves me wrong because he could be explosive.
quote:
7. Will we or won't we buy season tickets.
Will be back in my same seats next season.
quote:
8. New TE's, who's going to emerge.
This is going to be a fun one to watch. Sprinkle is going to wreck shop this year. If he can continue to hold on to the ball then he is going to have a big season.
It's going to be interesting to see who steps up from there. Kraus should continue as the blocking TE but who's going to step up as our #2. I'm rooting for O'Grady but I've seen some of the pay per clicks guy say that the coaches have been talking up Gragg. Should be a good battle either way.
And that doesn't even take in to account Cantrell who will be tested out in a variety of spots.
This post was edited on 3/20/16 at 1:24 pm
Posted on 3/20/16 at 1:26 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
Arkansas has never had the number of quality of receivers on the roster as it does now.
Completely disagree. That sentence may be true under Bielema tenure though
Posted on 3/20/16 at 1:29 pm to Porker Face
Yeah I would put Childs, Wright, Adams and Hamilton up against our current big 4. Both of those units are pretty legit at the college level. I wouldn't be upset with either one.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 2:05 pm to TheCheshireHog
quote:
Coach Bielema has told kickers Cole Hedlund, Adam McFain and Lane Saling that only 2 kickers will be invited to fall camp. 1 of those 3 will no longer be welcome on the team after the spring practices.
Where did you get this from?
Friday or Saturday's DemGaz, from Tom Murphy I believe.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 2:25 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
That should be a good battle then. Hopefully Hedlund gets his mechanics worked out with a quickness.
I wonder if they're switching up the special teams duties at all with Singleton leaving.
I wonder if they're switching up the special teams duties at all with Singleton leaving.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 2:45 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
Add: Will Jamario Bell get his academic act together and be part of this team?
Posted on 3/20/16 at 3:06 pm to TheCheshireHog
IIRC the article today said Bert's keeping Punt team duties, Rhoads is taking punt return, Rory's keeping the specialists, and Anderson is going to handle coverage and blocking. I've forgotten who's doing Kickoffs.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 4:29 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
Rory better be studying up on how to teach kickers proper techniques. We really need one of these guys to be able to get the ball into the end zone on kickoffs.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 5:41 pm to TheCheshireHog
In the article Bert mentioned that they tried to kick into specific coverage zones and he didn't think that we did it well at all.
I'll take a touchback over the chance of a long return or one going all the way to the house. Those that kept saying we were intentionally kicking short, I don't buy it. The amount of times we stopped the return short of the 25 wasn't worth the risk of the amount of times we let one get out to the 35 or 40.
I'll take a touchback over the chance of a long return or one going all the way to the house. Those that kept saying we were intentionally kicking short, I don't buy it. The amount of times we stopped the return short of the 25 wasn't worth the risk of the amount of times we let one get out to the 35 or 40.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 5:52 pm to CtotheVrzrbck
quote:
Those that kept saying we were intentionally kicking short, I don't buy it.
Yeah this is just a fan excuse. We kicked into the end zone consistently under Bielema when we had Hocker. He didn't just suddenly change his thought process and start kicking it short. We just don't have someone that can do it. Hopefully that changes going forward and they get someone on the roster that can do it.
This post was edited on 3/20/16 at 5:57 pm
Posted on 3/20/16 at 9:56 pm to TheCheshireHog
Well they changed the rule so a touchback comes out to the 25 in 2012-2013.
Hocker's last season was 2013-2014.
I've noticed a lot of teams trying to kick high and to the goal line to keep teams from coming out to the 25.
Personally I wish we'd just kick it deep in the EZ. 5 yards isn't that big of a deal compared to the risk of giving up a huge play or even a TD.
Hocker's last season was 2013-2014.
I've noticed a lot of teams trying to kick high and to the goal line to keep teams from coming out to the 25.
Personally I wish we'd just kick it deep in the EZ. 5 yards isn't that big of a deal compared to the risk of giving up a huge play or even a TD.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 10:24 pm to WonderWartHawg
quote:
Add: Will Jamario Bell get his academic act together and be part of this team?
quote:
Bell well start out the spring working with Herbert on the side. He is definitely in the dog house.
quote:
-Jamario Bell is definitely in the dog house. On Pro Day, Bielema said Bell chose to go home instead of staying in Fayetteville for an academic session or something like that. I can't remember what exactly it was, but I remember Bielema not sounding very happy about it. Bielema is also on record saying Bell's success depends solely on his attitude - if he turns it around, he could be a very good player, but if he doesn't, he could end up like a Korliss Marshall.
Per Clay Henry and Hutch
sounds like the young man has lot's of work to do
Posted on 3/20/16 at 10:37 pm to dbeck
quote:
Personally I wish we'd just kick it deep in the EZ. 5 yards isn't that big of a deal compared to the risk of giving up a huge play or even a TD.
For real. After Evan Berry took the first KO back for a TD (which we kicked to the 5) we continued to kick the rest of them to about the 5. That was our kickers' ceiling last year. Hopefully they remember to do their squats this offseason.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 10:40 pm to dbeck
We finished 111th in touchbacks with 11 on the year and 118th in touchback % with around 14% of our kicks resulting in touchbacks.
In comparison, Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss had between 49-56 touchbacks each on the year.
That's a lot of chances to give up a big return. If you can kick it to the end zone, you should kick it to the endzone.
In comparison, Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss had between 49-56 touchbacks each on the year.
That's a lot of chances to give up a big return. If you can kick it to the end zone, you should kick it to the endzone.
Posted on 3/20/16 at 11:04 pm to TheCheshireHog
quote:
Childs, Wright, Adams and Hamilton
That's 4 draft picks there. I'm not sure of 4 draft picks at we on our current roster
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