FAYETTEVILLE -- The Razorbacks kicked off the start of the 15-practice spring season on Tuesday. It was a cloudy and windy first practice on the Hill as bad weather moves into the area but the Hogs got after it like the season just ended yesterday.
There are a bunch of new faces at Arkansas but plenty of familiar faces as well including a big group of senior returners. Also present for the start of practice were Jonathan Marshall, Rakeem Boyd, Xavier Kelly and Jerry Jacobs who will all go through Pro Day in the IPF (indoor facility) on Wednesday morning–Franks was not with the group of prospects taking in the activities.
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Media was allowed to watch the first eight periods of practice which included some special teams drills, routes on air for the receivers, ball security, OL/DL drills and even a rare live play period.
Some of the position changes that Sam Pittman mentioned in his preview on Monday were confirmed during the first practice like junior lineman Shane Clenin taking snaps at center and redshirt freshman Zach Zimos playing safety/nickel.
Despite not getting refreshed weights on the spring roster, it was clear Pittman wasn't exaggerating when he noted that his offensive linemen have put on the necessary poundage. Pittman said all but one of the scholarship linemen are over 300 pounds and it definitely wasn't easy to tell which one hasn't hit the mark yet.
Given each media member is confined to specific spot on the field, today's video clips are mostly limited to offensive line drills. Coach Davis was stressing physicality a lot with his group on day one and he was adamant that guys get the right footwork or leverage in the drills, even if it meant having the same player rep over and over. Pittman came by and gave some pointers to freshman Jalen St. John while Davis moved on to other matchups.
As expected, KJ Jefferson led the group of ones on the first day of practice but he was on the far field during the live play portion. All the quarterbacks had nice looking throws but they had some trouble keeping the ball inbounds on some 30+ yard throws.
