Walcott provides experience and leadership for Razorback secondary

Senior safety Al Walcott brings experience and leadership to an Arkansas secondary that was one of worst in the country last season.

[autotag]Alfahiym Walcott[/autotag] is a name that Arkansas fans should get pretty familiar with ahead of this season.

In 2022, Walcott recorded 82 tackles (42 solo), two sacks, three forced fumbles, one interception and five pass breakups for Baylor. His performance as a junior earned him second team All-Big 12 honors from the media.

Now, he’s in Fayetteville and projected to be a starting safety for a Razorback secondary that lost Simeon Blair (Memphis) and Jalen Catalon (Texas) from last season. Walcott provides much-needed experience and leadership for a secondary that was statistically the worst passing defense in all of college football.

“What I think I can bring to the defense is a leadership role because I am an older guy. I understand what it looks like and what it is going to be like in a game,” Walcott told the media after Thursday’s practice. “So fixing the little things will help us in-game…from our first shoulder pad practice we were doing a bubble drill and I just wanted to set the tone to show the defense, this is how we’re going to be. This is how physical we’re going to be.”

That last sentence has been a common theme for the Arkansas defense under [autotag]Travis Williams[/autotag]. Physicality and aggressiveness are mandatory, especially in the secondary. With Walcott, that’s the way he’s always played and he knows that being physical is the standard for the entire team this season.

“I see it from the offense as well, whether they’re blocking to get to the next level with the O-line and everything,” Walcott said. “The physicality is there. That’s the standard we’re going to hold everyone to.”

Walcott has primarily played safety throughout his career, but can help out at multiple positions. He doesn’t care where his coaches have him playing, he just wants to be on the field.

“It doesn’t make any difference. I love to be on the field whether it’s at corner, linebacker. If I could play D-end, I would,” Walcott said. “In the DB room, coach Woodson does a great job of having us learn each and every spot.”

Walcott missed a large portion of spring practices due to a meniscus injury, so we haven’t gotten to see much of him at full speed. However, that will change on Saturday when Arkansas has their first scrimmage of fall camp.

Saturday also marks exactly three weeks from the Razorbacks’ season-opener against Western Carolina in Little Rock.

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