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Arkansas is at a historic low point. Coming off back-to-back 2-10 seasons, the Razorbacks have a new head coach after firing Chad Morris just 22 games into his disastrous tenure in Fayetteville.
They replaced him with a familiar name, but one who hasn’t been a head coach since leading a junior college team in the early 1990s and hasn’t even been a coordinator at the FBS level. Sam Pittman does have a reputation as an excellent recruiter and developer of offensive linemen, giving the Arkansas fan base at least some hope that he’ll be able to stabilize the program.
As if that wasn’t already a big enough challenge, Pittman is dealing with unprecedented circumstances during his first offseason. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, he and his almost entirely new staff lost all of spring practice, as well as a chunk of offseason conditioning.
The team reconvened in Fayetteville in June to begin working out and has recently started walk-through practices with the coaching staff on the field. Despite the season being pushed back three weeks to Sept. 26, Arkansas is still scheduled to begin fall camp Aug. 7.
Between now and then, HawgBeat will preview each of the Razorbacks’ position groups, breaking down the returning players and additions, providing the top storylines, and projecting a depth chart ahead of this critical stretch.
Next up are the wide receivers…
The Roster
Returning players: Tyson Morris (r-sr.), De’Vion Warren (sr.), Koilan Jackson (r-jr.), Kendall Catalon (r-jr.), Mike Woods (jr.), Peyton Ausley (r-so. - walk-on), Treylon Burks (so.), Trey Knox (so.), Shamar Nash (r-fr.), Karch Gardiner (r-fr. - walk-on), John David White (r-fr. - walk-on)
Additions: Jaqualyn Crawford (r-so. - transfer who will sit out 2020), Darin Turner (fr. - 2020 signee), Harper Cole (fr. - walk-on), Kevin Compton (fr. - walk-on)
The Starters
There isn’t much drama surrounding which wide receivers will earn starting jobs this season because Arkansas returns all three of its starters from a year ago.
Most of the excitement surrounds Treylon Burks and Trey Knox, who immediately contributed as four-star true freshmen last season.
A do-everything playmaker, Burks caught 29 passes for a team-high 475 yards - mostly out of the slot - and added 130 yards on 12 punt returns, 226 yards on 10 kickoff returns and 35 yards on nine carries. Even though he never found the end zone, his 14.4 yards per touch led all FBS freshmen.
