Arkansas safety Montaric Brown off to promising start in preseason

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Montaric Brown was among Arkansas' top signees in the 2017 recruiting class. The Ashdown, Ark., native was a 4-star prospect and the No. 1 Natural State recruit in the class. He was also a U.S. Army All-American with an offer list that included Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma and many other prominent programs.

With all this hype surrounding Brown, many Razorback fans expected big things would come from him immediately. That didn't materialize, though.

Brown spent most of the 2017 summer working to get eligible through the NCAA. He eventually arrived on campus in late August with preseason practices nearly finished and ultimately redshirted.

A year later, the time for Brown to become a valuable contributor may be here.

During the early live portion of practice Tuesday, Brown broke in front of a Ty Storey pass into the flat and nearly had an interception that would've surely resulted in a touchdown had it been a game situation. The pass was slightly deflected by D'Vone McClure blitzing off the edge, but it was still impressive to see Brown's instincts and athleticism on display as he closed on the pass.

According to coach Chad Morris, that play was indicative of what Brown has shown so far this preseason.

"He's actually having a really good camp through four practices," Morris said. "That play early on in practice just reaffirms the type of camp that he's having. Of course, there's things you've got to do to continue to get better and improve. But he is having a good camp so far."

Assuming the Arkansas secondary stays healthy this season, Brown's development over the coming weeks and months is more important for the future than anything. The Hogs are in good shape on the back end of the defense with Santos Ramirez and Kamren Curl seemingly entrenched as starters in the safety spots.

If Brown can become a capable third option at safety, though, he'll have plenty of opportunity to gain valuable experience this season. Such experience would undoubtedly be invaluable in Brown's efforts to replace Ramirez, a senior, after this season and beyond.

In the meantime, Brown is at least showing signs of realizing his vast potential. And that should be music to the ears of Razorback fans.