Petrino talks Taylen Green, Arkansas quarterback competition
After unsuccessful attempts to recruit quarterback Taylen Green out of high school to be a Missouri State Bear, Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has crossed paths with the signal caller again in Fayetteville — and both seem ready to put the SEC on notice.
A former two-star dual-threat prospect out of Texas, Green was courted by multiple Group of Five programs — including Petrino's Bears – but eventually ended up at Boise State. With the Broncos, he threw for a combined 3,794 yards, 25 touchdowns and 15 interceptions from 2021-23. His connection to Petrino played a big role in transferring to the Hogs after he entered the portal during the offseason.
"One of the things that was fun at Missouri State is I had a bunch of young guys on the staff, and aggressive recruiters," Petrino said Tuesday. "They brought Taylen to me and showed [film] and we all fired up. They’d had great talks with him. I said, ‘We ain’t getting him.’ Sorry guys, we’re not getting him.’ Just because of his ability — his size, his speed and the way he can throw the ball.
"But I did remember him on that. When I got here, Coach (Sam Pittman) said, ‘Go get a quarterback. Do whatever you want to do, go get us a quarterback.’ So I had help with Miles Fishback, who’s an analyst for us, and then Will (Kennedy), our graduate assistant. We scoured the portal, everywhere, traveled around the country. I really liked Taylen. I liked his video. I liked what other coaches said about him. I talked to Barry (Odom) about him because Barry played against him in the championship game I think it was."
During Arkansas' first open scrimmage of the spring on Saturday, Green received all of the first team reps and completed 10 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He showcased his big arm and flashed the running ability that makes him such an intriguing prospect, but his mental acuity is what impresses Petrino the most.
"I went out and met him," Petrino said. "The thing I was most impressed (with) was when I was talking to him, I could see him picturing the plays and the formations and everything in his mind and his ability to do that. I’ve always felt that’s the one thing a quarterback has to be able to do. That’s how you get better on the sideline when you come off the field, that’s how you get better at halftime — I can say something to him and he can see it and understand what I’m talking about coverage-wise or route-wise.
"Then I just liked his motivation. He’s a very highly motivated young man. He spends more time in that building than anybody. He’s got this little routine he goes through where he takes his iPad out on the field and watches video and does his footwork. He’s just going to continue to get better and better."
Though Green oozes with potential thanks to his 6-foot-6, 221-pound frame, speed and arm, the redshirt junior still has some things to clean up in his game, according to Petrino. This shouldn't come as a major surprise to fans, as Green had an 11-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio last season while only completing 57.1% of his pass attempts.
"The majority of it is technique and fundamentals," Petrino said. "He’s got to get set, he’s got to stay balanced and he’s got to get over the top on his release. Even the other day when he missed a couple, I called them layups. It was all technique. Dropped his hip, dropped his elbow, the ball flew.
"Something that can’t happen to get the muscle memory where when it’s in the heat of the battle that he’s perfect on his technique. I tell you what, I tip my hat off to him. He was working extremely hard at it today. It was really good to see."
Fortunately for Green, he's learning from a play-caller who has already coached legendary quarterbacks like the late former Razorback great Ryan Mallett and current Baltimore Raven Lamar Jackson.
"He's got to study and watch a little bit more of Ryan (Mallett)," Petrino said. "Taylen's different than everybody else. The TikTok video guys that throw it side arm and do all that, this dude's 6'6", all he's got to do is get up over the top, and he can complete anything.
"So, he's got to understand that because you go to some of these quarterback gurus and some of the drills they do, everybody thinks they're coaching Mahomes and he's not Mahomes. He needs to set and get over the top and throw the ball, and when he does that, he's going to get that percentage up. We're going to check the ball down and be able to get a higher completion percentage and still get the big plays."
Through nine spring practices and one scrimmage, Green has been seen taking the majority of the first-team reps at the quarterback position. While Pittman has already declared that a starter won't be named until the end of the spring, one can assume where Green will be on the depth chart by that point.
Still, the competition in the quarterback room is strong, especially for the number two spot.
"We’ve had good work at quarterback," Petrino said. "Taylen has kind of been the guy that works with the ones. He’s earned that himself from the minute he got here to how he’s conducted his business, how he leads, how he studies. How he goes, and all the mat drills that we did. He’s the first guy winning on the races. So he’s done a nice job on that.
"I think there’s a good competition for who’s going to be No. 2. I’m really not sure who that is right now. Malachi (Singleton), Jacolby (Criswell) and KJ (Jackson), the youngster, have all had their bright spots. And then made some makes and had some spots that aren’t what we want."
Petrino and the quarterbacks will practice again Thursday, so be sure to follow along at HawgBeat and our premium message board — The Trough — for coverage of every Arkansas spring practice.