Tag: Simeon Blair

No Catalon, no Slusher? No problem for Arkansas

Missing Myles Slusher and Jalen Catalon hurt, but not as bad as the yardage may have made it look for Arkansas.

Was it perfect? No. Was it good? Actually, yes.

Arkansas beat South Carolina, 44-30, on Saturday. That’s the good. Spencer Rattler threw for 371 yards against Arkansas. And while that looks bad, it isn’t. The Razorbacks were without preseason first-team All-SEC safety Jalen Catalon and starting nickel Myles Slusher.

Plus, consider that more than 170 of those yards came in the fourth quarter when the Gamecocks were already cooked and South Carolina was all but forced to pass. For good measure, throw in that Rattler had just one touchdown and threw an interception, too, and it was a winning day for the Arkansas secondary.

On the field.

Off it was a different story as Arkansas coach Sam Pittman announced Catalon would miss the rest of the year because of a shoulder injury he suffered last week against Cincinnati.

“He won’t be back this year,” Pittman said. “I feel for him. We’ve had conversations about it. I’m going let him be away from the building a little bit. He’s down. You would be, too.”

Simeon Blair, who had five tackles from the safety spot, was voted to replace Catalon as a team captain. Latavious Brini, a transfer from Georgia, is expected to get a bulk of the reps. Slusher is expected back next week against Missouri State.

In the meantime, the Razorbacks’ secondary can feel solid about what they did Saturday, all things considered.

[vertical-gallery id=12162]

Seven Razorbacks earn spot on Senior Bowl watchlist

The eyes of Senior Bowl scouts will be upon these seven Razorbacks this upcoming season.

The latest watchlist for the Reese’s Senior Bowl has been released, and Arkansas is well represented.

Seven players were named to the watchlist: Safeties [autotag]Simeon Blair[/autotag] and [autotag]Latavious Brini[/autotag], EDGE [autotag]Zach Williams[/autotag], LB [autotag]Bumper Pool[/autotag], TE [autotag]Trey Knox[/autotag], and linemen [autotag]Ricky Stromberg[/autotag] and [autotag]Dalton Wagner[/autotag].

According to the Senior Bowl’s website, the Senior Bowl scouting team has been working since last February to identify the “best of the best” draft prospects at every level of college football for the 2023 NFL Draft.  All 484 position players (non-specialists) who made the list were evaluated by our staff and tape-based grades were logged on hundreds of other senior prospects.  Every player on this list is eligible to participate in an all-star game as either a 2018 high school graduate or true four-year player (with five or more games played in three previous seasons).  This list does not include many true or redshirt juniors who could become eligible as December 2022 (or earlier) graduates.

Arkansas had two representatives on last season’s roster, OL John Ridgeway and long snapper Jordan Silver. Ridgeway would go on to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3h383th881vsf1 player_id=none image=https://razorbackswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[vertical-gallery id=6820]

Name a deeper team at safety than Arkansas…good luck

The Razorbacks are absolutely loaded at the safety spot and that’s dangerous for opponents.

Jalen Catalon. Simeon Blair. Jayden Johnson. Latvious Brini.

Get used to those names.

Arkansas’ top four safeties may truly be the deepest group in the SEC. That, in turn, makes them one of the deepest units in the country.

Consider it. Jalen Catalon is two seasons removed from Freshman All-American honors and was a preseason All-SEC first-teamer this year. Brini was a starter for last year’s national champion Georgia. Blair and Johnson both earned starts for the 9-4 Hogs last year. As a foursome, they can cover and tackle just about anything that’s coming their way.

Blair’s rise has been especially magical. He arrived to the team as a walk on from Pine Bluff five years ago. Defensive coordinator Barry Odom has witnessed the last three years of his growth.

“If I can talk him into it, he is going to be an unbelievable coach when football is over for him. He’s got a great understanding of the game,” Odom said. “He’s a terrific leader. He’s got the passion and the competitive spirit of the way you’re supposed to play the game. I trust him.”

Johnson could be the team’s breakout player in the back. At 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds, he has the prototypical build for the position. Even as a freshman last year, he was 13th on the team in tackles, largely playing a reserve role.

“He can play a lot of spots,” Odom said. “He can play any of the safety spots, he can play the nickel position, so that’s going to help him and help us as a defense, for sure.”

Catalon is the known quantity and Brini brings the winning pedigree. All together, they may be the best group on the whole roster.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3h383th881vsf1 player_id=none image=https://razorbackswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Homecoming of sorts for Arkansas safety Simeon Blair

Arkansas safety Simeon Blair is a native of Pine Bluff and will have plenty of emotion facing the Golden Lions in Little Rock.

Simeon Blair is from Pine Bluff, so going up against his town’s school will be interesting for him on Saturday in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

Blair actually considered playing for the Golden Lions after a stellar prep career with the Pine Bluff Zebras.

“I gave it a little thought,” Blair said. “Arkansas ended up telling me how I could work for a scholarship and that ended up being a great choice for me. But it’s a great honor to go back home and play against my hometown team that I watched since I grew up.”

Blair knows that the players will be fired up to go against a team the caliber of Arkansas.

“I think they’ll be very excited,” Blair said. “Playing a bigger school, and plus I’ll get to see some old-school friends that I grew up with and went to junior high and high school and even elementary school with.”

So far in 2021, Blair has seen action in all seven games and recorded 19 tackles while also breaking up three passes.

With Jalen Catalon’s season-ending injury, Blair will be counted on even more in Barry Odom’s game plans for the remainder of the year.

“It’s always a ‘next man up’ mentality, and that’s why we build up our depth in the spring and fall camps,” Blair said.

Blair was a member of the SEC academic honor roll in 2020 and is looking to stay on there this fall.