Scoota

FAYETTEVILLE — True freshman linebacker De’Jon ‘Scoota’ Harris tied for the team lead in tackles during the first dose of extended playing time of his college career.
Harris’ seven stops tied for the team lead in Arkansas’ 52-10 win over Alcorn State on Saturday in Little Rock. The promising freshman played plenty in the blowout, even entering the game on the third series.
But the stops came from a new position for the 6-foot, 255-pound Harris, who lined up at the Will position Saturday after previously working as Brooks Ellis’ understudy at Mike.
“What I’ve tried to do is cross-train a bunch of the guys,” linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said. “It wasn’t just me, but coach (Robb) Smith and coach (Bret) Bielema said let’s try him over there, see what that looks like and see if that could be a place where he could help us at some point.
“The bottom line is, you want to try to take the guys in the order of the kind of player they are and be able to play them. The more guys that can do different stuff, it gives us some flexibility.”
The cross-training begs the question of whether Harris could serve — now or later — as a desperately needed backup to both Ellis and Greenlaw, providing some rest for the veterans who have played nearly every meaningful snap so far this year without any breathers. He's arguably Arkansas' third-best linebacker already.
“There’s a chance that that could happen, it just depends on how comfortable he gets with it,” Hargreaves said. “I don’t want to put too much on his plate.”
Harris has said in the past he prefers playing Will. In Robb Smith’s scheme, it’s a position designed for playmakers. But the staff had him working behind Ellis, with the plan seemingly for him to be the senior’s successor and play next to Greenlaw following this season.
Harris has stopped practicing at Mike recently, focusing on Will exclusively, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the question for him to work at both eventually, if he gets more comfortable.
Saturday’s extended playing time was a good learning experience.
“He was active,” Hargreaves said. “He made some plays. He screwed up a little bit, like he would tell you. But I think it was good for him just to be able to get out there and know the things he needs to do a better job.”
One position he won’t be playing against Alabama is Sam, the Hogs’ third linebacker spot and a position that has gone unused so far this year with Arkansas facing spread teams. Alabama has transitioned to more spread looks than in years past, but also still lines up in formations that’ll allow the Hogs to potentially play a 4-3.
But who will be the third linebacker? Senior Josh Williams? Sophomore defensive end-linebacker hybrid Randy Ramsey? Junior Dwayne Eugene, who played Mike on Saturday but has the ability to play all three positions.
“We’ll figure that out over the next few days in practice and then you’ll see Saturday night,” Hargreaves said.
The Sam won’t be Harris. But it wouldn’t be a huge shock if Scoota is on the field more often — and maybe in multiple places — sooner or later.
“He’s doing really good things in practice and on game day, so I think coach is comfortable putting him in the game,” Ellis said.