Life in the SEC is a grind but the most successful teams are the ones that can handle the grueling demands of playing in college football’s best conference.
This is usually brought up when talking about the quality of teams in the conference and difficult schedules that come from that – a problem Arkansas fans are all too familiar with. However, the other issue that comes with playing in the SEC is depth. As mentioned before, the best teams in the SEC are almost always the ones that have the depth to handle injuries at key positions.
Last year, Arkansas saw firsthand how injuries can pile up and railroad an entire season. When the injury bug reared its’ ugly head in the secondary and to starting quarterback [autotag]KJ Jefferson[/autotag], the Razorbacks were pretty much done for.
[autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag] knows that in order to compete in the SEC you have to have starting-level talent in the two-deep, and sometimes even three-deep, of your depth chart. That was what Pittman set out to accomplish this offseason.
Saturday, the Razorbacks held their first scrimmage of fall camp. The running backs showed out and the defensive line made life difficult on the quarterbacks, but unfortunately the team suffered some injuries at key positions.
“We did have a couple of guys get banged up out there with [autotag]Sam Mbake[/autotag] and [autotag]Nathan Bax[/autotag],” Pittman said to the media following Saturday’s practice. “At this time I don’t know the full extent of either one of their injuries.”
Later that evening, Mbake posted on social media that fans would “have to wait a lil longer” and to “trust the process” which might indicate that he will miss an extended period of time with this injury. Pittman also mentioned that projected starting linebacker [autotag]Chris Paul Jr.[/autotag], left tackle [autotag]Devon Manuel[/autotag] and defensive tackle [autotag]Tank Booker[/autotag] were all three held out of action due to injuries.
Wide receiver, tight end, linebacker and offensive line are areas of concern for Arkansas this season, meaning health could play an important role in the level of success for those position groups. For the first time in a really long time, defensive line has the luxury of depth.
Pittman did say that if it was an actual game, then the trio of Paul, Manuel and Booker likely would’ve played. While that is a positive sign, seeing injuries in key areas should hammer home the importance of depth and having guys be able to step up.
It’s certainly not the last time this season that Pittman’s Hogs will face adversity due to injuries, let’s just hope that they’re better prepared to handle that than a year ago.
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