Following a successful summer program of workouts and organized team activities, the Arkansas Razorbacks are gearing up for the start of fall camp Friday.
Head coach Sam Pittman met with the media Wednesday to preview fall camp for his football team and there were plenty of topics he hit on. With nearly 40 new scholarship players — transfers and freshmen — and five new on-field assistants, there are plenty of questions that need to be answered for the Razorbacks.
Before Pittman's squad is able to answer questions on the field, they were able to develop in the first offseason with new strength and conditioning coach Ben Sowders. Pittman said he was pleased with where the team is at from a size and nutrition perspective.
"I think that the culture, the attitude of the team was outstanding, as good as it can be in this climate of portal and NIL," Pittman said. "So we’re obviously bigger, which has a lot to do with the nutritionist, as well, but we’re bigger, our body fat count is down, so a lot of good, a lot of positive things and I just feel like our team, we pressed them pretty hard.
"It’s hot and we pressed them pretty hard. There was no bickering or anything of that nature. We just don’t want to repeat last year. We need to go back to two years ago. Obviously we needed to change a few things and that’s what we did."
Speaking of changes, there were plenty of those to the roster. The positions that needed depth, or even potential starters, were addressed via the transfer portal and now those newcomers will have the chance to prove themselves.
Here are some questions that will need to be answered in fall camp that Pittman addressed Wednesday...
Who will be starting linebackers?
Arkansas lost starters Drew Sanders and Bumper Pool to the NFL, so new defensive coordinator Travis Williams needed to reload at the position he played in college at Auburn.
The Razorbacks added Antonio Grier from South Florida and he was able to practice during the spring. A late addition was Jaheim Thomas from Cincinnati, who the Razorbacks defeated in Week 1 last season.
"Well, linebacker was certainly something because we haven't really had anyone play a lot of reps there," Pittman said. "After spring ball, I felt like we could have with Jaheim (Thomas) coming in that we could have two rotations there. A couple rotations where we could have some guys."
Of course, the Razorbacks return redshirt sophomore Chris "Pooh" Paul Jr. and the expectations for him are high following a strong finish to the 2022 season.
Other returners include sophomores Jordan Crook and Mani Powell, who will look to find their way into one of the two rotations that Pittman mentioned.
Can the defensive line be as good as it looks on paper?
The Razorbacks have nine defensive linemen who classify as a senior, redshirt senior or super senior. That group doesn't even include junior Landon Jackson, redshirt sophomore Cam Ball or sophomore Nico Davillier.
On paper, the defensive line could end up being one of the deeper position groups on the team. Arkansas added four transfers up front, two at defensive end and two at defensive tackle. All four of the transfer additions classify as a redshirt senior or super senior.
On top of the transfers, the Hogs return veterans Zach Williams, Eric Gregory and Jashaud Stewart. All three played significant snaps last season.
"With those guys electing to come back and then I think even after this year it’s going to be big to see who we can keep for their plus-1 year," Pittman said. "When you recruit to a three-down line, it’s hard to get two deep at eight guys. Somehow Deke (Adams) has done that. We feel really good about our two-deep, and they’re older. Certainly I feel good about our transfers that came in."
The Hogs will run much more four-down sets on defense, so having the improved depth helps and they will need to try and keep everyone healthy through a grueling schedule.
Who are the top five guys in the secondary?
Arkansas added five transfers and six freshmen to a secondary that ranked dead last in the FBS in pass yards allowed per game last season.
All but one of the transfers came from a Power Five program and each of them will have the chance to battle for a starting position.
"I think we have the people on defense at corner, but we’ve got to figure out who our top five guys are and where they’re going to help us win the fastest," Pittman said. "I know this is going to sound silly, but I think we’re a little deeper at corner than we are at safety. Are they better than the safeties we have back there? I don’t know. We’ve got to figure that out.
"Are we going to move a corner to safety? (Lorando Johnson) would be the one I would be thinking off the top of my head that could possibly move to a Hog or something like that. But we’ve got to make sure we can man coverage at corner first."
Johnson came from Baylor, as did Alfahiym Walcott, who Pittman said will be a boundary safety. Kee'yon Stewart came from TCU and Pittman said Stewart will be a field corner.
Georgia transfer Jaheim Singletary is a former five-star recruit who will play boundary or field corner, according to Pittman. Western Kentucky transfer AJ Brathwaite Jr. is expected to slot in at the "Hog" position, which is a guy who can tackle and cover as a SAM/WILL linebacker combination, according to Pittman.
Comfortable with tight ends?
The Razorbacks lost tight ends coach Dowell Loggains and starting tight end Trey Knox to South Carolina, but they gained much more in place of those two.
Morgan Turner came over from Stanford to coach tight ends and he has a deep group.
North Texas transfer Var'keyes Gumms and Louisville transfer Francis Sherman joined the team in the summer. Freshmen Luke Hasz and Shamar Easter are both four-star recruits. Returners Nathan Bax and Tyrus Washington will be right in the mix, as well.
"Are we going to be serviceable?," Pittman asked about the tight ends. "Are we going to be pretty good? Are we going to highlight them? And I don’t know what the answer is yet. But boy, they can run, they can catch and they are bigger and more physical than we’ve had at that position.
"Obviously the potential’s there at that position for us to use them. We’d like to because they can run. I believe we’ve got two or three of them that will be matchup problems for defenses if we can get them on the field."
