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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will be without its most experienced wide receiver this season.
Fifth-year senior Deon Stewart tore his ACL during the Razorbacks’ second scrimmage of fall camp Saturday, a source told HawgBeat. The injury will prevent him from playing in 2019.
This news comes despite head coach Chad Morris telling the media shortly after the scrimmage that the Razorbacks had “nothing major” happen on the injury front during the 100-110 plays of situational work.
“(From a) health standpoint, I think we’re all right,” Morris said. “We had a couple of guys get a little banged up, nothing major.”
An in-state product from Hardy, Ark., Stewart has 14 career starts. That includes eight last season, when he caught 22 passes for 178 yards.
Although he had a significant drop off in production during Morris’ first season, Stewart was Arkansas’ second leading receiver in 2017. He had 33 receptions, 404 yards and three touchdowns that season.
Despite not having great numbers in 2018, Stewart seemed to have a firm grasp on the starting job at the 2-man receiver spot. He has been working with the first-team offense since spring ball.
Stewart’s backup is redshirt junior Jordan Jones. However, he had a boot on his left foot in the position group photo of the receivers posted by wide receivers coach Justin Stepp following Saturday’s scrimmage. The severity of the injury is unclear.
The loss of Stewart will also be felt on special teams, where he was the projected starting punt returner. He averaged 10.1 yards on nine returns last year, including a 45-yard return against Colorado State.
This means Arkansas will likely count on its highly touted freshman quartet of Trey Knox, Treylon Burks, T.Q. Jackson and Shamar Nash even more than expected.
Knox had already cracked the two-deep depth chart behind Mike Woods at the 9-man receiver spot, but Burks has made a move in the past week. Coaches and teammates alike have praised both in their comments to the media.
Jackson and Nash have gotten reps at the 2-man receiver spot in camp, especially since redshirt sophomore Koilan Jackson had arthroscopic knee surgery a few days ago.
Morris said he figured “if not all four, three of the four” will have meaningful roles on the team this year, but the numbers didn’t quite shake out with only 6-8 expected to make the travel squad - including those with a special teams role.
In addition to Stewart and Jones, veterans De’Vion Warren, Mike Woods and Tyson Morris have been in the two-deep throughout camp. That leaves just 1-3 spots up for grabs.
Burks and T.Q. Jackson, as well as transfer Kendall Catalon, have been seen catching punts during portions of practice open to the media.
Having already used his redshirt, Stewart could apply for a sixth year of eligibility. It would likely be approved thanks to a rule the NCAA recently passed that allows a medical redshirt even to players who previously redshirted - a rule that gave Kevin Richardson II a sixth year last season.
This is the second torn ACL suffered by an Arkansas player this fall. Offensive lineman Noah Gatlin, who was expected to push for playing time at right tackle, went down with one on the first day of camp.
Koilan Jackson’s procedure is expected to keep him out three weeks, while the Razorbacks’ other two players who had arthroscopic knee surgeries last week - starting left guard Austin Capps and starting tight end Cheyenne O’Grady - have timelines that have them back in time for the Aug. 31 opener against Portland State.
Freshman defensive end Eric Gregory was seen wearing a boot on his left foot and will miss at least the rest of camp with the injury, as will quarterback-turned-receiver Daulton Hyatt with a hamstring injury.
