Tag: Arkansas football

Is Jaylon Braxton the next Arkansas All-SEC defensive back?

Arkansas has been blessed with quality cornerbacks in the last decade. Jaylon Braxton may end up being the best of them.

The list of great defensive backs in the history of Arkansas football is extensive. It’s also about to get a little bit longer.

Arkansas cornerback Jaylon Braxton enters his sophomore year with the Razorbacks as the unquestioned best player in the defensive backfield. And that’s no slight to the rest of the Arkansas secondary. Braxton is just that good.

The Frisco, Texas, native had every opportunity to get a job early in the year as the Razorbacks’ 2022 pass defense was so bad, Arkansas made the spots an open competition. He took advantage, ultimately finishing with 21 tackles, eight pass break-ups and an interception. Such numbers ensured he enters 2024 as a starter.

“He’s a really good player. We knew he was,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “It’s just going to be real exciting to see him grow, but what he does, he makes plays just like the Florida game. He makes plays. He’s a ballhawk.”

Braxton’s development turned Arkansas from a pass defense ranked dead last in FBS in 2022 to 32nd in 2023. The unit lost only two players – Dwight McGlothern and Al Walcott – from last year’s bunch, too. Braxton believes they can take another step forward.

“Now the game knowledge has slowed down tremendously for me and I’m just out there playing comfortable and having fun,” Braxton said “I’ve just got a lot more confidence going into Year 2 than I had my freshman year.”

Arkansas loses offensive tackle to transfer portal

Andrew Chamblee’s exit was expected after Sam Pittman said he’d left the team in early March.

Andrew Chamblee was a part-time starter for the Arkansas offensive line in 2023.

He won’t be in 2024.

Chamblee entered the transfer portal Friday about a month after coach Sam Pittman said he left the team. Initially Pittman indicated that Chamblee was looking to just be a regular student, but the offensive lineman refuted that. His entry into the transfer portal suggests his football career is not yet finished.

Chamblee started eight games for the Razorbacks last year and played in all 12. Things didn’t go well as Arkansas allowed 47 sacks, 128th in FBS, and ran for just 139 yards a game, 87th in FBS. Pittman added tackle Fernando Camona from San Jose State out of the transfer portal into the offseason and Carmona has immediately become Arkansas’ starter at left tackle.

In fact, the entire Arkansas offensive line looks different. Patrick Kutas has shifted to guard next to Carmona. Tennessee transfer Addison Nichols is holding down the center spot. Keyshawn Blackstock, a transfer from Michigan State, is at right tackle. Only Josh Braun at right guard remains from last year at the same spot.

Smart money is on Nico Davillier as Arkansas’ breakout defender in 2024

The fact that Nico Davillier is holding off Anton Juncaj, an All-American transfer, is incredibly impressive.

Nico Davillier saw his fair share of snaps for the Arkansas defense last year, playing in 12 games and logging 3 1/2 tackles for-loss as a reserve.

That was just the beginning.

Davillier, a Maumelle native whose 6-foot-4, 271-pound frame provides plenty of intimidation, has been Arkansas first-team left defensive end all spring. And when the Hogs shift out of their usual 4-2-5 defense and into a new Mint package – that’s what coach Sam Pittman is calling it – he moves to a stand-up linebacker/defensive end hybrid.

“I like it because I get to be more versatile. I just get to help my team out a lot more than I would be probably in the 4i,” Davillier said. “It’s just a Buck. It’s basically like a little outside linebacker but a defensive lineman. We drop in coverage, we play the run, pass rush. It’s just a stand-up end basically.”

In other words, Davillier is doing something awfully well to hold him off, though, in fairness to Juncaj, the Albany transfer is a more traditional defensive end. When the Razorbacks switch to the Mint and Davillier isn’t in the game, the spot will likely be manned by linebacker Josh Spence or redshirt freshman defensive end Quincy Rhodes.

Regardless, with Davillier’s development, one of the strongest positional units on the Arkansas roster, the defensive line, looks to be even stronger than anticipated.

New Arkansas football coaches Smith, Fouch definitely Petrino disciples

Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino are building their football staff the way they want it.

Kolby Smith and Ronnie Fouch both know where the bread is buttered, so to speak.

Smith, Arkansas’ freshly named running backs coach, and Fouch, the Hogs’ new wide receivers coach would not be on the Arkansas staff if it weren’t for one man.

Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman hired Bobby Petrino as the team’s offensive coordinator in the fall and, in turn, Petrino brought along some of his disciples when jobs presented themselves as available on the Arkansas staff. Last year’s wide receivers coach, Kenny Guiton, left for Wisconsin and Fouch hopped onboard in late winter. Smith took over Jimmy Smith, who left in March for the same job at Texas Christian.

Fouch coached with Petrino when the two were at Missouri State and Louisville. Smith played for Petrino when he was running the Louisville program. Petrino greased the wheels for both of them to join him at Arkansas.

“I received a text from coach (Petrino) saying ‘Hey, there may be an opening,'” Kolby Smith said. “And then he said ‘I can get you on the phone with Catch Pittman, and you’ve just got to sell yourself from there.'”

Fouch’s story is much the same. Petrino floated his named to Pittman and both Fouch and Kolby Smith impressed the Arkansas head man enough to get the gig almost independent of Petrino’s recommendation.

Their work is cut out for them, certainly. All three of the new faces. Arkansas is coming off a 4-8 season in which the Razorbacks ranked 107th out of 133 FBS teams in total offense.

Not much of a competition for Arkansas’ starting QB job this spring

The job is Taylen Green’s until he gets hurt, basically.

Mostly, it was just the angry, proverbial haters that wanted an in-depth, thorough rehaul of the quarterback position for Arkansas during spring drills. They were loud enough, though, Joe Average may have thought a legitimate competition would be underway for the Razorbacks’ starting gig.

Such hopes have not come to fruition.

Former Boise State quarterback Taylen Green was recruited out of the transfer to be Arkansas’ starter in the fall and through his first couple weeks of practice, he’s shown he doesn’t plan on losing that job any time soon.

Green, who was a part-time starter for the Broncos last year, is a dual-threat type in a different mold than the man he’s replacing, KJ Jefferson. Jefferson would much rather have run people over and was a bear to bring down in the backfield. Green gallops, a la Matt Jones in the early 2000s, and shocks defenders with his speed.

Such traits were on display earlier this week when Arkansas returned to practice after spring break. His expected starting backfield mate, Utah transfer Ja’Quinden Jackson, was blown away.

“I’ve never seen anybody that tall that can run.”

“That dude can move,” defensive end Landon Jackson has said. “When it comes down to it, if he really needs to, he’s going to use his feet and get those yards.”

Jacolby Criswell, last year’s back-up to Jefferson, redshirt freshman Malachi Singleton and freshman KJ Jackson are also, technically, in the running for the starting job. Nothing has suggested yet, though, that the competition is mostly lip service.

Can Ja’Quinden Jackson be Rocket Sanders circa 2022 for the Razorbacks?

Ja’Quinden Jackson knows Rocket Sanders’ story. He more or less lived it for Utah last year.

Former Utah running back Ja’Quinden Jackson is now current Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson. In his first spring with the Razorbacks, he’s ready to embrace the team’s No. 1 role in the backfield.

The senior earned that role with the Utes last year, running for 797 yards, a team high. But he also ran for just 4.9 yards per carry, down from 6.8 a year before, and four touchdowns, down from nine as a sophomore.

Jackson said the workload was not the problem with Utah. A nagging injury limited his effectiveness.

“It was a low ankle sprain, then it went. To my tendon in my foot,” Jackson said. “And my tendon in my foot kind of came off the bone. It was something that I really couldn’t do. Like, I had to let it heal.”

Because he missed the Utes’ bowl game and entered the portal, some fans developed a poor perception of him. The story was similar for former Arkansas running back Rocket Sanders, whose 2022 was also superior to his 2023 before he hit the transfer portal.

Jackson isn’t looking to replace Sanders per se, but if he can run for 1,000 yards or more and come near double-digit touchdowns in his first season with the Razorbacks, Arkansas football will be more likely to turn around last year’s 4-8 season.

“People talk about it from the outside looking in,” Jackson said. “They don’t really know what I had to go through last season for me to get those 700 yards and score touchdowns.”

Now, he’s ready to prove himself all over again.

Opinion: Lack of interest around Arkansas football actually good for team

Little fanfare emanates from the Smith Football Center and its surrounding buildings this spring

Sam Pittman seemed shocked sometimes last year during Arkansas’ 4-8 season at the sorts of ways he and his players were treated by so-called fans of the program. By the time that year was done, he had lost several players from the roster, hired a new offensive coordinator many believe is preparing to vulture the head gig and learned patience and sanity are not chief characteristics of Razorbacks’ faithful.

Especially in the monied corners.

Of course they have only tacit acknowledgement the game isn’t the same as it was when they inherited their millions 30, 40 years ago. It’s not even the same game as it was 10 years ago. Look at how many lament targeting ejections, the NIL, the transfer portal and the death of the hip drop tackle.

That’s beside the point for now, though. Little fanfare emanates from the Smith Football Center and its surrounding buildings this spring. In fairness, it’s yet another the way the game has changed: 10 years ago, schools were clamoring to pack the houses for spring games before eventually the fans wisened and stopped showing up in record numbers upon realization they were glorified scrimmages tasting of vanilla.

Frankly, the lack of a spotlight is a good thing for Pittman, Bobby Petrino and a football program that could use some time alone to get its act together. The Hogs have to find a quarterback to replace a school legend, a running back to replace the second best the team has had in the last 20 years, a competent offensive line, some linebackers, depth in the secondary, a new kicker and, oh, nevermind, you get it.

Little time remains for the football Razorbacks to stay out of the public’s consciousness. Arkansas baseball being ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation helps tremendously, as does that changing of how spring is handled from a public-relations standpoint. But the Hogs also run the risk of staying nationally irrelevant by avoiding limelight.

The whole thing is a Catch-22. A fan base that badly wants to be in the national conversation (or, at least, not a national joke) but a team that needs to avoid putting itself out there in order to powder its nose and cover its flaws.

As Arkansas enters its sixth, seventh and eighth practices of the spring, the clock is ticking.

Four-star running back decommits from Hogs, the team’s second loss of Monday

Jamarion Parker’s withdrawl from commitment leaves Arkansas with three players in the Class of 2025 for now.

The chips are falling for the Arkansas football team and they’re falling hard.

On late Monday evening, the Razorbacks lost their second commitment from their Class of 2025 when four-star running back Jamarion Parker withdrew that verbal to Arkansas. He followed defensive lineman Carius Curne, an in-state four-star player who decommitted earlier in the afternoon.

Parker had committed back in September, but Arkansas running back coach Jimmy Smith left his post late in the winter to join the staff at Texas Christian. TCU’s offensive coordinator is Kendal Briles. Briles was Arkansas’ offensive coordinator two seasons ago and worked closely with smith.

Parker did not immediately turn and commit to the Horned Frogs after pulling from Arkansas, though Smith was his primary recruiter. The back also had offers from Tennessee, Wisconsin, Michigan and others.

The loss of the two players on Monday dropped the Razorbacks to No. 52 in the Class of 2025. That ranking is a bit misleading, however, as Arkansas has just three commits in the class at the time being.

A big 2025 recruit de-commits from Arkansas

This is one you cannot lose if you’re Coach Sam Pittman.

This is NOT someone coach Sam Pittman wants to leave the state.

Arkansas had its first de-commitment of the 2025 class on Monday afternoon.

Consensus four-star offensive tackle Caruis Curne posted on X (Twitter) his decision to de-commit from the University of Arkansas. According to the 247Sports composite, Curne had a .945 rating.

Curne wrote in his post,

I have decided to de-commit from the University of Arkansas. I have the utmost respect for the coaching staff and appreciate their hard work during my recruitment. I hope that everyone will respect my decision as I attempt to do what is best for me and my family.

The Marion, Ark. native was the highest-rated recruit in Arkansas’ 2025 class, and with the position desperate for some high school recruiting success, this de-commit is a huge blow to Coach Pittman’s already fragile standing in the program.

But on the other hand, Curne might decide to return home after all is said and done. It wouldn’t be the first time a big recruit has de-committed just to recommit later in the recruiting cycle.

In-state talents like Shamar Easter (class of 2023) and Braylon Russel (class of 2024) de-committed after being one of the first to announce in their respective classes, and both are currently in the middle of spring football for the Hogs.

With Curne’s departure, Arkansas’ 2025 class moves 41st in the nation per 247Sports. It’s left with only four total recruits in the classes.

Arkansas football spring game to be aired on ESPN+

Only Alabama and Texas received traditional TV broadcasting of their games this spring.

Spring football games have lost a bit of luster over the course of the last decade, going from must-see spectacles, to moderately-attended vanilla scrimmages.

Still, it being football in America, many teams’ spring games can be seen on television and/or streaming. That’s the case with Arkansas’, too, as the Razorbacks will play April 13 at noon on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.

Arkansas will be going up against Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee all in the same time slot on the same day. An hour after those teams begin, LSU will get underway and two hours after that, Alabama and Ole Miss.

Alabama and Texas are the only teams that will see their spring games aired on traditional television. The Crimson Tide’s game will air on ESPN and Texas will go on Longhorn Network on April 20 at 1 p.m. Auburn and Vanderbilt will have spring all-access shows instead of spring game telecasts.

Missouri is the odd SEC team out this year. The Tigers’ spring game is scheduled for March 16.