Tag: Isaiah Sategna

Arkansas spring football projected depth chart: Wide Recievers

Our spring positional preview for the Arkansas football team continues today with a look at the Razorbacks wide receivers. Everyone – literally – who made a grab for the Hogs last year is back. That should be a good thing, even if Arkansas’ passing …

Our spring positional preview for the Arkansas football team continues today with a look at the Razorbacks wide receivers.

Everyone – literally – who made a grab for the Hogs last year is back. That should be a good thing, even if Arkansas’ passing game struggled. Consistency will go a long way in making the unit better.

It wasn’t as though they were terrible as a group last year. When quarterback KJ Jefferson had time to throw, they made plays, generally. Of course, part of the reason Jefferson took as many sacks as he did was his receivers’ inability to get open often enough, too.

But now that Andrew Armstrong and Isaac TeSlaa have a taste of FBS football and Isaiah Sategna and Tyrone Broden are a year into their Arkansas careers, too, there’s no reason to think of the wide receiving corps as a weakness.

New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has no qualms about heaving the football, so regardless of who wins Arkansas’ quarterback job, expect the wideouts’ numbers to go increase.

Here’s a look at how we have the wide receivers stacked heading into the spring.

  • View quarterback preview here
  • View running back preview here

Ranking Taylen Green and/or KJ Jefferson’s targets for 2024

Nearly everyone will be back for Arkansas at wide receiver and tight end. Is that a good thing for the Hogs?

This list very well could change by fall camp.

But with a majority of Arkansas’ wide receivers and tight ends having already announced their return from 2023 into 2024, the two primary positions that will line up for passes from KJ Jefferson, Taylen Green or Jacolby Criswell next year for the Razorbacks appear to be the most stable in during the crazy season that is transfer portal time.

Arkansas landed Green, a transfer from Boise State, on Monday evening, providing for some competition under center when the spring rolls around. It remains to be seen if Green’s addition is an indicator of Jefferson’s status. Arkansas’ all-time leading passer was not expected to return to the team in 2024 for a super-senior season, but as each day has passed without his official entry to the portal, the question of that status grows.

But whether it’s Jefferson, Green or Criswell, who played well in garbage-time duty for the Hogs in the fall, throwing passes, the corps catching them is almost all set. Or close to it.

The Razorbacks could land another wideout or two via the portal, but as of now, they have a full complement of players at the spot. And, frankly, it doesn’t look much different than last year’s.

Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on perspective. For now, let’s rank them, regardless of position, when it comes to likelihood they will be big-time targets for whoever is tossing them balls next regular season.

Three Arkansas footballers named to All-SEC All-Freshman team

Arkansas saw a trio of players make the Freshman All-SEC team two days after the Razorbacks had three players make All-SEC.

Hours after Jaylon Braxton and Luke Hasz were named Freshman All-Americans, Arkansas saw three players named Freshman All-SEC, as well.

Braxton, a cornerback, was joined by offensive tackle Andrew Chamblee and wide receiver/return specialist Isaiah Sategna with league honors. Hasz, who played in five games before he was lost for the season with a broken collarbone, would have certainly been named had he stayed healthy.

Braxton became a starter about midway through his first season on-campus. He finished with 20 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and eight pass break-ups.

Chamblee played in all 12 games, starting eight in his redshirt freshman season. He became the first Arkansas offensive lineman to make the Freshman All-SEC team since Brady Latham in 2020.

Sategna handled both punt returns and kick returns all season for the Razorbacks. His 680 yards returning ranked sixth in Arkansas’ single-season history and he led all SEC freshmen in return average in both categories.

The trio joined defensive end Landon Jackson, kicker Cam Little and punter Max Fletcher with All-SEC honors as those three players were named to the league’s first team (Jackson and Little) and second team (Fletcher) earlier in the week.

WATCH: Isaiah Sategna takes BYU punt 88 yards for a touchdown

It was the fourth longest punt return in school history and longest since Joe Adams’ 97-yarder in 2010.

Sam Pittman has raved about Isaiah Sategna’s big-play ability for two weeks. The Arkansas coach could sense a big play was on the horizon.

The reality is that it only took three games for the redshirt freshman to make it happen.

Sategna took a Brigham Young punt back 88 yards for a touchdown with 11:29 left in the first quarter of Arkansas’ Week 3 game against the Cougars. The yardage resulted in the fourth longest punt return in Arkansas history and longest since Joe Adams set the school record with a 97-yard return against Ole Miss in 2010.

Arkansas had forced BYU into a three-and-out on the Cougars’ first drive, which began after AJ Green’s touchdown run to start things. BYU picked up a first down on the first play of the drive via an Arkansas pass interference penalty before having to punt to Sategna.

Stat total leaders for Arkansas in 2023 (projections)

Arkansas should force more turnovers on defense and be more balanced offensively in 2023.

Our managing editor E. Wayne gave readers his take on who will lead the Razorbacks in major statistical categories yesterday.

Today is my turn.

Arkansas’ offense should be more balanced this season with Dan Enos at the helm. If it’s anything like 2015, it could be really exciting.

As for the defense, it will be more aggressive under Travis Williams’ schemes compared to Barry Odom’s 3-man front that dropped eight. Which should lead to more chances for tackles for loss and for forcing turnovers.

Let’s take a stab at it.

Sategna shows off lethal speed in second scrimmage

Isaiah Sategna has speed to burn. The question is will they have him back deep returning kicks permanently for the Razorbacks in 2023?

Everyone around the Arkansas football program knows about Isaiah Sategna’s speed acumen.

Now maybe the Southeastern Conference and the rest of the country will as well.

The redshirt freshman speedster housed a kickoff 100 yards in Saturday’s scrimmage and will challenge for the job that has been held by AJ Green the last two years.

Bryce Stephens and Lorando Johnson are also auditioning for the role. Stephens of course had the epic punt return touchdown that saved Arkansas from almost certain defeat against Missouri State a year ago.

Sategna returned two kicks for touchdowns while at Fayetteville High and very nearly returned another in the state championship game in 2021 against Bryant.

Scott Fountain is going to have a hard time keeping his speed off the field this season it seems, although they may want to avoid getting him injured.

Either way, it’s not a bad problem to have.

Which receiver can emerge as KJ Jefferson’s favorite target in 2023?

The Hogs have a lot of fresh faces in the receiving room, so who can become “the guy” this season? Let’s take a closer look at the best candidates.

[autotag]Kenny Guiton[/autotag] had a tough challenge ahead of him following the 2022 season.

Entering his third year as wide receivers coach in Fayetteville, he was going to have to replace 72.5% of the team’s total receiving production from the prior year.

Matt Landers, Jadon Haselwood and Trey Knox? All gone.

Guiton knew he needed to go out and get some weapons for returning quarterback [autotag]KJ Jefferson[/autotag], and he was able to do just that. Isaac Teslaa, Andrew Armstong and Tyrone Broden all chose to come to Fayetteville over other SEC schools.

The reason? Guiton says that was simple.

“Look at the room. Any starters coming back? Really no seniority. Nobody in the room that’s caught any balls yet in live action,” Guiton told the media earlier this week. “So I wanted some guys with college experience, make the room competitive and let’s go from there.”

So far this offseason, the room has been extremely competitive. As a result, Jefferson will have plenty of talented pass catchers to throw to this year. Though the question remains, which receiver can emerge as the go-to option in Arkansas’ passing attack this season?

Let’s take a look at the most likely candidates.

Arkansas wideout Isaiah Sategna poised for bigger role as sophomore

Razorback fans should expect to see a lot more of sophomore speedster Isaiah Sategna in 2023.

Entering the 2023 season, one of the biggest question marks for this Arkansas football team is at the wide receiver position.

With an influx of transfers and a new offensive coordinator, it remains to be seen which weapons [autotag]KJ Jefferson[/autotag] will be able to rely on most in the passing game. One wideout who appears to be in line for a starting role as slot receiver is sophomore [autotag]Isaiah Sategna[/autotag].

Sategna, a Fayetteville native, has been turning heads throughout spring practices and into fall camp. Arkansas wide receivers coach [autotag]Kenny Guiton[/autotag] credits that to his maturity from last year to now.

“His maturity level and how much he’s grown from last fall to spring to now, I mean, it’s a big jump,” Guiton said following practice on Tuesday. “He’s a guy that understands what we want to get done when you make a play call and he’s able to go out and execute.”

“He’s matured to a point where we can really count on him, and I think he knows that. I think he’ll excel at everything we throw in front of him.”

Sategna only played in four games last season and totaled 24 offensive snaps. 18 of those snaps came in the Liberty Bowl, which was a big learning moment for the second year receiver.

“Yeah, right before halftime against Kansas, I didn’t run the best route and KJ ended up throwing an interception,” said Sategna, speaking to the media on Tuesday. “I really felt like that was my fault. I go back and watch that a lot. That just makes me want to work even harder and stuff, and I’m going to keep that in the back of the mind this year whenever I’m going against these other DBs and just know that I’m going to get my payback.”

That moment obviously sparked a change in Sategna’s mindset as he’s become one of the most reliable receivers over the course of spring practices and now fall camp. His speed, pass catching ability and improved route-running means that he’s likely in line to for more playing time this fall.

“I’m trying to get on the field this year. I don’t care where it’s at,” Sategna said. “Last year, it was kind of weird because I was on the bench. That’s never happened for me. This year I’ve just tried to go hard in practice and not take any plays off and just know that practice translates to the games.”

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Recruiting guru Guiton revamps Hogs’ receiving corps

Arkansas receivers coach Kenny Guiton is proving to be an outstanding recruiter, bringing in talented new faces to fill some voids.

With the departure of Arkansas’ four top receiving targets from a year ago, the Razorbacks went into the offseason with a definite need to fill the void.

To the rescue was receivers coach and emerging recruiting guru Kenny Guiton, who proceeded to land three coveted replacements.

Gone are wideouts Matt Landers (47 catches, 901 yards and 8 TDs), Jadon Haselwood (59, 702, 3), and Ketron Jackson Jr. (16, 277, 3) and tight end Trey Knox (26, 296, 5). Landers and Haselwood opted to turn pro, while Jackson and Knox chose to transfer. The primary back-up Warren Thompson (12, 178, 2) also decided to leave the program.

Guiton proceeded to out-recruit a number of Power 5 programs to bring in a trio of highly touted transfers: Andrew Armstrong (62, 1,020, 13) from Texas A&M-Commerce, Isaac TeSlaa (68, 1,325, 13) from Hillside College and Tyrone Broden (32, 506, 7) from Bowling Green. The three should be an immediate welcome addition for senior quarterback KJ Jefferson and new offensive coordinator Dan Enos’s pro-style offense.

Guiton, a former quarterback at Ohio State, worked his magic last season, bringing in a pair of transfers that quickly blossomed – Landers and Haselwood.

Along with another Guiton recruit, freshman Isaiah Sategna, the reworked receiving corps looks to pose a definite threat to opposing secondaries. The speedy Sategna had two impressive TD catches in last spring’s Red-White Game.

Despite having a group that lacks playing experience in the SEC, Guiton is confident that he has the right mix of talent to support a stellar Razorback passing game this season.

“The further and further you go, the more ease you start to get,” he said after the fifth practice of the fall. “I don’t know if I will ever be fully eased until we win some games. But right now, I’m feeling good. I love the competitive nature in our room. You can tell everything is up for grabs.”

With 20 practices remaining before the season opener against Western Carolina in Little Rock, Guiton will just let everything sort itself out.

“We have plenty of guys competing their butts off, in order to be one of those three starters, but they also know when your time comes to shine, you better be ready for it.”

Arkansas football: What can we expect from the special teams in 2023?

Can Arkansas’ special teams be better in 2023? Here’s an in-depth look at what to expect from that group next season.

The Arkansas special teams unit has been a bit of a mystery over the last decade. During the early 2010s, fans grew accustomed to having game-changing players like Joe Adams or Dennis Johnson returning punts or kicks while having a reliable kicker like Zach Hocker.

Unfortunately, in recent years it’s been far from what it once was. The Arkansas special teams unit has lacked dynamic playmakers at those positions and consistently fails to execute in that phase of the game.

That has to change in 2023 and if you ask Razorback special teams coach Scott Fountain, the pieces are there to make it happen.

“We certainly have more talent than we’ve ever had on the team since I’ve been here,” said Fountain, speaking to the media on Sunday morning. “In the past we’ve pieced things together at times, and this year I feel like we really got some good players.”

[autotag]Bryce Stephens[/autotag] is back and will most likely handle the punt return responsibilities after a solid 2022 season. Stephens finished with 149 return yards and one touchdown – the one touchdown being the incredible 82-yard punt return against Missouri State.

“I feel like punt return, leaving spring, obviously we’ve got Bryce Stephens,” Fountain said. “Jaylon Braxton is a freshman. I really like him. He’s a very fast kid. A bigger kid. Also, [autotag]Isaiah Sategna[/autotag] as well. I think all three of those guys have a chance for us back there. We’ll just see how it plays out.”

On kick returns, Fountain expects AJ Green to handle those duties, as he did in 2022, but we could see Sategna take on some of that responsibility.

“If you move over to the kick return spot, obviously, we have AJ (Green) back, but I really like Isaiah Sategna, as well,” Fountain said. “He was a very good returner in high school.”

“We’ve done a lot of studying on KOR this offseason, and we’d like to be more productive there with the opportunities we get. We’d like to take a few more opportunities than what we have done in the past. You can sit back there and fair catch them all day with that rule, but we feel like we have some guys that have a chance to change the game.”

On the flip side of that, Cam Little is back to handle field goal duties. After earning Freshman All-SEC honors in 2021, he went 13-16 on field goals and was perfect on extra points in 2022. One of those three missed field goals was a potential game-winner against Texas A&M. However, Little bounced back following that miss and Fountain took notice

“What I like about Cam is last year we missed the field goal down at Texas A&M and he came right back and made six or seven field goals in a row,” said Fountain. “That’s what he brings to the table. He’s a very strong-minded young man.”

We could see Little handle the kickoff responsibilities as he’s in a battle with Devin Bale and Blake Ford for that job.

The only other question on special teams is at punter. Sophomore Max Fletcher will be the punter after having a very tough freshman season. Fountain says that he’s very happy with the progress Fletcher has made over the summer.

“He had a really good spring and really good summer. We do a lot of charting in the summer as well, and I was really proud of him there,” Fountain said. “Today was our first day to punt live. I think out of his three punts, he hit what I’d call an A-ball. The second was a B-ball. So, two of the three were pretty decent balls. I think he’s headed in the right direction.”

For the Razorbacks to take another step forward as a team this season, the special teams will need to execute at a much higher level. Things look to be headed in that direction, but we will find out firsthand on Sept. 2 when the open the season against Western Carolina.

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