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FAYETTEVILLE — It may have seemed like a new development, but the bombshell Sam Pittman dropped in a radio interview earlier this week - and then implemented in practice - has been in the works for a while.
On Tuesday, the fourth-year coach revealed in an interview on Halftime, ESPN Arkansas’ midday sports talk show, that Malik Hornsby would begin splitting his time between quarterback and wide receiver.
Sure enough, a few hours later, the redshirt sophomore lined up at receiver with the first-team offense during the Razorbacks’ fourth practice of spring ball.
The move — which is probably best characterized as a package for now, as he’s still getting reps at quarterback — was put in motion back in January, when Hornsby opted to withdraw from the transfer portal and return to Arkansas.
“In that conversation, I said we’re going to give you every bit of opportunity to win the starting quarterback job, but also, if you come back, I need you to be open to playing wide receiver,” Pittman said. “So we’re doing it at a slow pace.”
Considering the Razorbacks are returning one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks in KJ Jefferson, overtaking the top spot on the quarterback depth chart is probably unlikely for Hornsby.
The Missouri City, Texas, native is firmly entrenched as the No. 2 quarterback, though, which forced Pittman to adjust the format of practice. Instead of the first-, second- and third-team units going through drills in that order, the third group has followed the starters to give Hornsby a break between his receiver and quarterback reps.
It’s still a small sample size, but Pittman told reporters Thursday evening that he’s seen enough to think Hornsby “can help us tremendously as a wide receiver.” His teammates have also been excited about the move.
“(It’s) actually good to be able to get him in there for his speed,” running back Rocket Sanders said. “I feel like he’s a good quarterback, but I feel like you can put him at any position, and I feel like he can execute it just with his speed and his IQ of the game.”
Hornsby flashed that speed a few times in limited reps as the backup quarterback last season. Even including sacks and other negative plays, he still averaged 5.7 yards on 24 carries. That includes runs of 32, 29 and 16 yards against Penn State, Texas and Texas A&M, respectively.
Defensive back Khari Johnson described him as a “Swiss Army knife” in terms of his skillset.
“He’s got (the) speed of a top-caliber skill player,” Johnson said. “I’m just excited for him. Wherever we put him at in this offense, I feel like he’s an explosive talent.”
The Razorbacks are light on quarterbacks this spring after walk-on Kade Renfro, the Ole Miss transfer, went down with a torn ACL during bowl practices.
In addition to Jefferson, Hornsby and redshirt freshman Lucas Coley, Arkansas brought in another walk-on transfer this offseason. Cade Fortin began his career at North Carolina and most recently played at South Florida. His emergence has made the coaching staff more comfortable with getting creative with Hornsby.
“To his credit, he’s doing a really good job with it and he’s having to play extra reps and those things,” Pittman said. “But I think with Fortin coming on a little bit, more and more and more, that will help us be able to do that a little bit.”
As Pittman said, though, the Razorbacks seem to be taking it slow with Hornsby at receiver. Not only did they wait a week before implementing the package, but they also appear to be starting simple.
In Tuesday’s practice, most of his non-quarterback reps involved a lot of pre-snap movement, similar to what Treylon Burks did quite a bit of in 2021. There were plays he took jet sweep handoffs, plays he motioned into the backfield for reads, plays he actually fielded the snap and plays he went out for a swing pass.
HawgBeat didn’t notice him run any routes down the field, but that changed Thursday. On the first play of team, Hornsby beat cornerback Dwight McGlothern on a go route and hauled in Jefferson’s pass despite a lot of contact from McGlothern. Later in the practice, he beat Hudson Clark on another deep ball reception.
The Razorbacks will get their first look at Hornsby as a wide receiver in a scrimmage setting Saturday — albeit not in a full capacity. He’ll still be wearing the black quarterback jersey and won’t be tackled.
Regardless of that, there is a lot of excitement — both inside and outside of the program — surrounding Hornsby’s potential to contribute to the offense in 2022.
“I’m pretty excited to see him wherever we end up putting him at on the field because that man… that man is fast,” running back AJ Green said. “I’m just glad to see he’s willing to do anything to help the team try to get some wins, get in the end zone a little bit for us.”
