Taylen Green closes spring on high note as Arkansas' starting quarterback
FAYETTEVILLE — While head coach Sam Pittman still hasn't officially named Boise State transfer Taylen Green the starting quarterback for Arkansas, Green all-but cemented himself as the Hogs' QB1 following Saturday's Red-White Spring Game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
After taking all of the first team quarterback reps during spring practices, Green put his talents on display in front of a sparse crowd and plenty more watching via SEC Network+. The 6-foot-6 native of Lewisville, Texas, completed 17 of his 22 passes in the Hogs' spring game with 243 yards and three touchdowns through the air.
ALSO READ: Stats, highlights, depth chart from Arkansas' Red-White game Saturday
"I think he had a really good day," head coach Sam Pittman said postgame. "I thought we caught the ball really well, the group of guys that he was playing with. He made some great throws... I thought Taylen, and some of those runs could have been a lot further, but I thought he showed a lot of poise today. Obviously that he's a great leader and the kids playing around him believe in him."
The redshirt junior completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tyrone Broden (6-foot-7) to cap off the first team offense's first drive of the day. His second touchdown was one of his most impressive throws of the day on a 20-yard back-shoulder touchdown pass to Andrew Armstrong (6-foot-4).
"I definitely love throwing to them," Green said. "Big targets and they’re aggressive. When the ball is in the area, it’s their ball. Like I said before, it’s not a 50/50 ball. They’re going to come down with it.
"Just seeing that today, just the frame that they have and the aggressive catches that they possess, it’s definitely good to see as a quarterback. Just having that confidence of when I throw it in their area, they’re going to come down with it."
Green's long strides are extremely impressive when paired with his speed as he gets outside of the pocket. Sporting an all-black uniform that the quarterbacks wore Saturday, Green was not to be tackled, and that resulted in some early whistles from the boys in stripes.
"Definitely wasn’t tackled," Green said. "But I feel like it’s good for me to go through my reads and just stay in the pocket. Being able to take my legs away for a little bit and go through my pure progression, full progression. Whether (Ja'Quinden Jackson) is the check down, just taking the check down and seeing how the game is.
"Check downs can turn into like it did, you know, 15-20 yards. Just the ability to do that and get the reps of that, while in the fall being live and having the dual-threat ability, it definitely helps me in my development of the passing game."
WATCH: Taylen Green, Ja'Quinden Jackson, Josh Braun talk Arkansas' spring game
The third touchdown pass thrown by Green was indeed a 15-yard check down to Utah transfer running back Ja'Quinden Jackson, who is a former quarterback himself.
"I feel like we were on the same page," Green said. "Great communication. He knew he was hot and he yelled it at me. That’s what I like. Like he said, he played quarterback, so he gets a lot of stuff. He understands defense. He understands fronts and all of that. It’s great to have that in the backfield with me as help."
While Pittman didn't outright name Green the Razorbacks' starter, it's clear that he is the guy running the show for first-year offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
"Obviously Taylen Green is our quarterback," Pittman said. "But after that I think it’s a wide open race. I’m not saying any of them can’t go get Taylen. I’m not saying that. I believe he’ll work hard to keep his position. But between the four of them, I think we still have to wait and see on two, three and four."
As a redshirt sophomore at Boise State in 2023, Green threw for 1,752 yards and 11 touchdowns with nine interceptions. He carried the ball 78 times for 436 yards and nine touchdowns as well.
“Taylen has kind of been the guy that works with the ones,” Petrino said April 2. “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 are 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.”
The other three names battling behind him with the Razorbacks are Malachi Singleton, Jacolby Criswell and KJ Jackson battling for the backup quarterback spot.
With all 15 spring practices wrapped up, Arkansas will now turn its attention to the transfer portal opening up Tuesday. The Razorbacks currently have five open scholarships to fill, so stay tuned to The Trough premium message board for the latest roster movement.