Arkansas' linebacker room was ravished by transfer departures during the offseason, but a mixture of promising young talent and experienced newcomers could have the group flying under the radar for the Razorbacks' defense in 2024.
Well-known names like Chris Paul Jr., Jaheim Thomas, Jordan Crook and others left Fayetteville in hopes of greener pastures following the Hogs' 4-8 (1-7 SEC) season. Despite that, Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams has liked what he's seen from the linebackers and the defense as a whole through 10 spring practices.
"You know what, you can see the guys growing," Williams said Thursday. "The guys that were here last year understand the system. Obviously we’re changing the names and different things like that as far as what we’re calling it."
"But you can see the growth each practice and we’re putting more on their plate because we’re going from four down to three down and three down to four down, different things like that. The guys that are new, it’s all new to them. So we’re doing some things to help them kind of learn the system a lot faster. But it’s going good, going good."
The leading returner for the Razorbacks is sophomore Brad Spence, who showed flashes during his freshman campaign a year ago with 16 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a pick-six to boot. Expectations are at an all-time high for the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Houston native this offseason.
"I'm just trying to get him to play," Williams said. "That’s a great question. You said lead in sacks and tackles, but I’m just trying to get him lined up. He can do so many different things well, but at the same time, for me, what I did was say, ‘Okay, he can play the Buck, he can play the Money, he can play the Mack, he can play the Sam backer.’
"He’s played all of those, but you sit back and say, ‘Okay, let’s put him at one position and let him learn this and then now we can put him over there in some different situations.’ But man, he’s still learning, he’s still growing. If he happens to lead the team in sacks and tackles, that’s awesome, but I’m just getting him lined up right now."
Joining Spence in leading Arkansas' crop of linebackers is redshirt junior Georgia transfer Xavian Sorey Jr. A highly-touted transfer from Georgia, Sorey totaled 19 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack last season for the Bulldogs before entering the transfer portal.
"Very athletic," Williams said. "Very athletic. He's such a good person. Like, he's so happy to be here. He's so humbled to be here. He's, 'No sir,' Yes sir.' He gets to the ball, he's athletic. You'll see him getting better and better each practice and I'm glad we got him.
"I knew I was getting a very athletic player; knew I was getting a good person. Now we had to battle for him because everybody in America wanted him. I'm glad we got him. When you have that prior relationship, that's the one good thing about the portal. You could recruit guys and if you don't get them the first time around, you get them the second time around and you already have that background."
Underclassmen like Kaden Henley, Carson Dean and Alex Sanford saw little playing time last season, but all of them are hoping to make big jumps with a potential increase in snaps on the horizon.
"Henley’s done some good stuff at practice," Williams said. "And Brooks Both is another one. But adding Sorey has been really good for us. His athletic ability and just being able to — he’s a guy that’s played a lot of ball. The other guys haven’t played because they were freshmen last year.
"They’re going into their sophomore year. The only reason people don’t know about them is they haven’t played. It doesn’t mean they’re not good enough. So it’s been good to kind of see those guys grow. The whole room is getting better. And like you said, Brad Spence is doing some really good things for us as well."
Spence, Sorey and the linebackers will practice again Saturday, so be sure to follow along at HawgBeat and our premium message board — The Trough — for coverage of every Arkansas spring practice.
