Rivals Roundtable: Predicting Arkansas's stat leaders, more
The football season finally kicks off Saturday for the SEC and the Razorbacks host a challenging adversary in the Georgia Bulldogs at 3 p.m.
Before kickoff, HawgBeat reporters Nikki Chavanelle and Andrew Hutchinson make their season predictions for Arkansas's stat leaders on both sides of the ball, which assistant coach has his group make the biggest jump in 2020 and more.
1. Which Arkansas receiver finishes the season with the most receptions, touchdowns and yards this season?
HUTCH: With three top-end guys, I could see this being a year when three different players lead the three separate categories. Treylon Burks is obviously the receiver everyone wants to talk about and could legitimately lead all three stats, but I feel he is most likely to lead in receiving yards. He’s a big-play threat every time he touches the ball. Now that he’s fully healthy after suffering a hip injury early last season, Trey Knox should be able to do more after the catch this season, but he’s such a big target, he would make sense to lead the team in touchdowns - although Burks should get his first touchdown this year and many more. That leaves Mike Woods, who isn’t as heralded as the other guys but could be a solid third option for the Razorbacks as more of a possession receiver this year.
NIKKI: I think Treylon Burks will be such a mismatch for opponents that Kendal Briles will make him the team's number one target and therefore, he'll end up finishing the season as the leader in each of the three categories, though I don't think it'll be a runaway lead as we know Knox and Woods will get a lot of looks as well.
2. Hogs lost their leading tackler and sack creator from 2019 in De’Jon Harris and McTelvin Agim, who takes those titles in 2020?
HUTCH: Just based off everything we’ve heard from coaches and players during camp, it sounds like Julius Coates is going to be a problem for opposing teams. I’m hesitant to say he’ll lead the team in sacks because it’s his first season out of junior college and those guys typically need a year to fully acclimate to the SEC. However, Coates certainly looks the part and I’m not sure I have enough confidence in anyone else to take that title. As far as tackles are concerned, linebackers typically lead that category. Before Harris, it was Brooks Ellis and Martrell Spaight. That would seemingly make Bumper Pool or Grant Morgan the best bet to make the most tackles in 2020, but I don’t have a ton of confidence in them. When it isn’t a linebacker, it’s typically a safety. While I think Jalen Catalon will be the better overall player, I could see Joe Foucha racking up a ton of tackles - whether that’s from coming down in the box because of his physicality, being the last line of defense when opponents break long runs or tackling receivers after they make a catch against him.
NIKKI: I agree the coaches' talk about Julius Coates this offseason has me putting high expectations on the former JUCO defensive end but with an out of the box choice, I'm going to go with Dorian Gerald. Coates may draw some double teams and Gerald's speed will be tough for large offensive linemen to keep in front of them.
3. Which assistant coach takes the crown for most improved unit?
HUTCH: The obvious choice here would be Brad Davis with the offense line, but I’ve been banging the drum about that unit not being as bad as everyone thought last season. It would also be easy to pick Kendal Briles not only for what should be a much better offense, but also as a quarterbacks coach in charge of coaching Feleipe Franks. That said, I’m going with the other side of the ball and saying Derrick LeBlanc with the defensive line. Coupled with the leadership of defensive coordinator Barry Odom, I feel like they’ll be able to put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall is a guy I could see having a breakout season similar to what we saw with Armon Watts two years ago.
NIKKI: With the talent he has in his group and just overall in the secondary, I really like the young coach Sam Carter to step his corners' games up a few notches. The former all-conference safety knows what it takes to play at a very high level and I think that's going to be reflected in the corners' stats this season.
4. No Razorback had more than two picks last season. Which Hog leads the board in INTs?
HUTCH: This is a tough question. At least on paper, the Razorbacks have a lot of talent in the secondary. The two guys I’m leaning toward are cornerback Montaric Brown and safety Jalen Catalon. I feel like one of them will have four interceptions, which would be the most by any Arkansas player since safety Tramain Thomas had five in 2011. It’s been a long time and I just feel like someone is due. If I had to choose one or the other, I’ll go with Brown.
NIKKI: I also choose Montaric a.k.a. Busta Brown. Brown has always been a solid corner and I think they'll have him going up against the offenses' best players, putting him in a position to make big plays.
5. Which new starter earns our breakout performance of the year award?
HUTCH: Jalen Catalon. Even if he doesn’t get four interceptions like I mentioned as a possibility in the previous question, I could see him having multiple picks and just being a general playmaker on the defense. I never understood why he didn’t play more than he did last season, when Chad Morris wasted three of his four games on useless snaps. When he did get to play, Catalon looked really good against Western Kentucky. That’s obviously not an SEC team, but it was a good sign of things to come, in my opinion.
NIKKI: I'm going to go with the large human from East Texas, Beaux Limmer. With PFF stats, it'll be easy to see just how good he's become since playing minimal snaps and redshirting in 2019 and he's already got the title as the team's second strongest man. All three of the class of 2019 linemen are going to surprise people this season, in a good way hopefully.
6. Besides Feleipe Franks, which graduate transfer has the biggest impact on the 2020 season?
HUTCH: Considering the Razorbacks’ struggles at linebacker, I’m sure most fans are hoping it’s Levi Draper from Oklahoma. I could make a case for him - or even defensive tackle Xavier Kelly from Clemson or defensive back Jerry Jacobs from Arkansas State - but the best choice is kicker A.J. Reed from Duke. He’s the unquestioned starter at his position and will be counted on to make some big kicks this season, especially if the Razorbacks are going to snap their 19-game SEC losing streak.
NIKKI: Like Franks and Reed, Jerry Jacobs has come in and won his spot outright after missing much of his 2019 season due to injury. Since Kelly is splitting reps with Isaiah Nichols (or so it sounds like) and Levi Draper isn't in the starting group, I think Jacobs' contributions in the secondary will win him this award.