Nobody can anticipate injuries or problems off the field, but both have reared their ugly heads again for the Arkansas Razorbacks' football team in 2007. Senior WR Marcus Monk was being counted on to have a big year as the go-to target down the field, but a knee injury (torn meniscus, tendons) suffered in practice has instead forced him out of the lineup for more than a month. By the time he gets back on the gridiron, one wonders if the Hogs will still be in the thick of the race in the SEC West. It'll also be interesting to watch and see how healthy Monk can get himself at any point during the year. (Trainer Dean Weber expects him to be "limited" all season long.) In Monk's stead, the likes of Crosby Tuck, London Crawford and Reggie Fish will have to step up their play immensely to keep opposing defenses off the line of scrimmage.
Meanwhile, senior DE Marcus Harrison was shaping up to be a great comeback story as he rebounded from a torn ACL suffered in April. Instead, he's now hoping to avoid jail time for an incident in Fayetteville over the weekend. Harrison was caught speeding by police, and when they searched his vehicle they found an ecstasy pill and two marijuana cigarettes. Razorback head coach Houston Nutt has since suspended Harrison "indefinitely", and it's possible now he won't play until much later in the season, if at all. More intriguing is the question of whether or not Harrison's troubles will filter over psychologically to the rest of the team, as he has been one of the unquestioned emotional leaders of this group for the past couple years.
Away from those woes, however, Arkansas fans have some obvious reasons for being optimistic. First and foremost is the two word phrase known simply in the Natural State as "D-Mac." Darren McFadden is so tremendously capable offensively---running, passing, catching---in every possible way, he makes even the most serious of doubters believe anything is possible for the Hogs' offense when the ball is in his hands. There is no doubt that McFadden is the preseason favorite to win the Heisman Trophy; still, whether or not the do-everything tailback actually becomes the first Razorback player to win the award will probably most come down to how many wins his team ultimately gets.
Additionally, special teams should improve significantly for Arkansas this season. First and foremost, Hog fans now have a placekicker in Alex Tejada who should be able to consistently make extra points and short range field goals, two usual gimmes that were regular adventures for the Razorbacks last year. The freshman Tejada is a Springdale native who's known for his big leg and ability to make field goals well over the 50 yard mark. With his arrival, last year's kicker, Jeremy Davis, has moved over to handle punting duties. There shouldn't be much of a dropoff there from departed senior Jacob Skinner.
Maybe most important for Arkansas' special teams is the return game, now that the NCAA has mandated a rule change for all kickoffs to be made from the 30 yard line (like the NFL) instead of the 35. The five yard difference will put the ball in play more often on kicks, which bodes well for the Hogs. Having a return tandem like Felix Jones and Darren McFadden is downright intimidating for any other school and Arkansas should have pretty good field position every time it gets the ball this year.
Yes, Reggie Fish is handling the punt return duties again, along with backup tailback Michael Smith. But Fish appears mentally stronger and more capable of making the right decisions in the return game now than he did a year ago, when he was essentially thrown into the fire. No one will soon forget his botched punt in the end zone late in the third quarter of the SEC Championship game against Florida, let alone Fish himself. But they say whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, and Arkansas fans can only hope that's the case with Fish now as well.
Throw all this into the Season Predictor Blender, shake it up, mix it down, and what do you get? A very interesting milkshake . . . Tasty with an offense that should be able to run the football till the cows come home, led by aforementioned Heisman contender Darren McFadden (maybe the greatest Razorback of all time) and speedster change of pace stud Felix Jones. But the same offense that is so phenomenal with the run has an injury-prone quarterback who will struggle against the stouter defenses, especially with no early season go-to target at wide receiver. The offensive line should be good enough to win lots of ball games, but the passing game probably won't be, even with the substitution of David Lee for Gus Malzahn at offensive coordinator.
You've also got a defense that is thin in terms of depth and elite talent, one that I expect to take a while to find its way. Reggie Herring is an underrated defensive mind, but it just doesn't look like he has all the necessary guns this year. Jamaal Anderson, Chris Houston, Sam Olajubutu and Keith Jackson were all integral parts of the unit last year, and all are playing in the NFL right now. That's with good reason. They were really good. There's no telling how much Arkansas will miss them at times this year.
Throw in a head coach who is constantly under fire in Houston Nutt and things just start to get a little bit strange. Unbelievable as it sounds, Nutt is now in his tenth season as head coach at Arkansas, and while still a pretty great motivator, and a halfway decent recruiter, his in-game decisionmaking, along with his difficulties in sorting out the X's and O's department, usually limit his ability to lift the Razorbacks to wins against the best of college football's best (i.e. USC, LSU, Florida and Wisconsin from a year ago.) Nutt will help this team be good, but can he turn it into something truly great? History, obviously, is not on his side.
The schedule opens with a competitive opponent in Troy, before a bye in week two. Could the open date have come at a better time for Arkansas? Absolutely, but you take what you get. September 15th's trip to Alabama will be a huge season indicator, as the Crimson Tide contest usually is for Arkansas. To think the Hogs will beat Nick Saban's team on the road for just the second time in the Houston Nutt era is probably a bit of a stretch, especially without Marcus Monk. Then it's home for Kentucky, an entertaining offensive opponent that Arkansas should be able to handle. Cakewalks through North Texas and Chattanooga loom after, before the best home game of the year, October 13th against Auburn. I'm picking Arkansas to win that game, but it would be far from surprising if Tommy Tuberville's crew avenged last year's home defeat. Ole Miss, Florida International and South Carolina are all highly winnable games for the Razorbacks, but then things get hugely difficult down the stretch. On the road at Tennessee on November 10th? Ugh. A home game in Little Rock against Mississippi State is next, and then it's off to Baton Rouge, at LSU the day after Thanksgiving. Um, ugh again.
Here's what I think: Arkansas goes 9-3 this year, 5-3 in the SEC (8-4, 4-4 would be far from surprising as well) but does not go back to Atlanta for the conference championship game. The Hogs will make a decent bowl and could realistically end up with ten victories on the year when all is said and done, but even with all-world talent Darren McFadden there are too many question marks to think this team will top last year's win total.
-JAB
Monday, August 27, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Arkansas' 2007 Football Preview: Part II- The Defense
It’s year three of the Reggie Herring regime for the Arkansas defense. Whether it proves to be the best of the bunch for Herring and the Hogs remains to be seen. Major losses defensively from a year ago include DE Jamaal Anderson, CB Chris Houston, LB Sam Olajabutu along with DT Keith Jackson and S Randy Kelly. That’s a lot of personnel to replace in one offseason, but the talk so far is that Arkansas has done just that. Below we'll run through the three key groups defensively.
Much like the offense, it all starts up front with the defensive line. This year’s starting defensive ends will be Antowain Robinson and Malcolm Sheppard. Robinson was a bull at times last year, teaming with Jamaal Anderson to give Arkansas a fearsome pairing off the edges. Offseason shoplifiting troubles have put his leadership abilities back up for questioning, but the fact remains that he is the only proven pass rush commodity on the entire team. On the flip, Malcolm Sheppard may be the most hyped player---improvement-wise---on the defense. All we’ve been told is how much better he’s gotten in just a single offseason, and if he’s even half as good as Anderson, the Hogs should be fine off the edges. Expect Chris Wade to share time with Malcolm Sheppard in the DE rotation. Up the gut the Hogs will rely heavily on Ernest Mitchell and Marcus Harrison. Mitchell was a tremendous surprise to those around the program last year, coming in and playing so well after injuries to linemen up front. One of those injuries was indeed to Marcus Harrison, and unfortunately, he’s hurt again. Harrison tore his ACL in spring ball, and it’s unclear how quickly he’ll be back to 100% speed, if at all. The depth behind these guys is slight, to put it nicely, with Fred Bledsoe, Cord Gray and Marcus Shavers the first guys in line.
In the middle of the field, I think Arkansas has a chance to be a lot better than many people think. There’s no doubt that LB Sam Olajubutu was the defensive leader---vocally and on the field---over the past few years, but there’s no reason to think Arkansas can’t replace his physicality. First in line is Weston Dacus. The MLB plays bigger than he looks and has a tendency to cut down opposing tailbacks who’ve busted through the first line of defense. Flanking Dacus on the edges will be a lot of depth, if not a lot of proven commodity. Freddie Fairchild had a strong freshman season before seeing his sophomore campaign sidelined by a torn ACL in game two against Utah State. He’s going to be counted on for his speed off the side and in blitz packages. Then there’s a group of guys who haven’t really fully separated themselves from another. Chip Gregory, Ryan Powers and Wendal Davis are all expected to contribute, but I think it’s a true freshman who may make the biggest impact of them all. Texas native Jermaine Love is a frosh who looks like a junior. Physically, he is good to go in the SEC right now, but the question is going to be whether or not is able to grasp Herring’s schemes quickly enough. It’s my guess he’ll be starting by the Kentucky game.
Back it up to the secondary and things again don’t look nearly so bleak for the Hogs. FS Michael Grant has made what seems to be a complete recovery from a nasty knee injury suffered against South Carolina last year. He’ll be asked to help cut down on the big play again, and he should be able to take some chances, playing alongside physical SS Matt Hewitt. The corners are slated to be incumbent starter Materral Richardson and senior Jerrell Norton. How well JUCO safety transfer Walner Leandre plays in August could affect all of that.
Throw it all together, and upon further inspection, there is room for optimism about this year’s defense. Coordinator Reggie Herring has shown a tendency to have his teams improve as the seasons go on, and with no USC on the schedule this year, the Hogs may be able to skip an early season embarrassment in the points allowed department. Arkansas’ defense will be good this year, but will it be great? Therein may lie the answer to whether or not Arkansas gets itself back to Atlanta.
D-Line: B+
Linebackers: B-
Secondary: B+
Overall: B
-JAB
Much like the offense, it all starts up front with the defensive line. This year’s starting defensive ends will be Antowain Robinson and Malcolm Sheppard. Robinson was a bull at times last year, teaming with Jamaal Anderson to give Arkansas a fearsome pairing off the edges. Offseason shoplifiting troubles have put his leadership abilities back up for questioning, but the fact remains that he is the only proven pass rush commodity on the entire team. On the flip, Malcolm Sheppard may be the most hyped player---improvement-wise---on the defense. All we’ve been told is how much better he’s gotten in just a single offseason, and if he’s even half as good as Anderson, the Hogs should be fine off the edges. Expect Chris Wade to share time with Malcolm Sheppard in the DE rotation. Up the gut the Hogs will rely heavily on Ernest Mitchell and Marcus Harrison. Mitchell was a tremendous surprise to those around the program last year, coming in and playing so well after injuries to linemen up front. One of those injuries was indeed to Marcus Harrison, and unfortunately, he’s hurt again. Harrison tore his ACL in spring ball, and it’s unclear how quickly he’ll be back to 100% speed, if at all. The depth behind these guys is slight, to put it nicely, with Fred Bledsoe, Cord Gray and Marcus Shavers the first guys in line.
In the middle of the field, I think Arkansas has a chance to be a lot better than many people think. There’s no doubt that LB Sam Olajubutu was the defensive leader---vocally and on the field---over the past few years, but there’s no reason to think Arkansas can’t replace his physicality. First in line is Weston Dacus. The MLB plays bigger than he looks and has a tendency to cut down opposing tailbacks who’ve busted through the first line of defense. Flanking Dacus on the edges will be a lot of depth, if not a lot of proven commodity. Freddie Fairchild had a strong freshman season before seeing his sophomore campaign sidelined by a torn ACL in game two against Utah State. He’s going to be counted on for his speed off the side and in blitz packages. Then there’s a group of guys who haven’t really fully separated themselves from another. Chip Gregory, Ryan Powers and Wendal Davis are all expected to contribute, but I think it’s a true freshman who may make the biggest impact of them all. Texas native Jermaine Love is a frosh who looks like a junior. Physically, he is good to go in the SEC right now, but the question is going to be whether or not is able to grasp Herring’s schemes quickly enough. It’s my guess he’ll be starting by the Kentucky game.
Back it up to the secondary and things again don’t look nearly so bleak for the Hogs. FS Michael Grant has made what seems to be a complete recovery from a nasty knee injury suffered against South Carolina last year. He’ll be asked to help cut down on the big play again, and he should be able to take some chances, playing alongside physical SS Matt Hewitt. The corners are slated to be incumbent starter Materral Richardson and senior Jerrell Norton. How well JUCO safety transfer Walner Leandre plays in August could affect all of that.
Throw it all together, and upon further inspection, there is room for optimism about this year’s defense. Coordinator Reggie Herring has shown a tendency to have his teams improve as the seasons go on, and with no USC on the schedule this year, the Hogs may be able to skip an early season embarrassment in the points allowed department. Arkansas’ defense will be good this year, but will it be great? Therein may lie the answer to whether or not Arkansas gets itself back to Atlanta.
D-Line: B+
Linebackers: B-
Secondary: B+
Overall: B
-JAB
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Arkansas' 2007 Football Preview: Part I - The Offense
Media days in the can, two a day practices underway, and now we can begin to speculate on just what lies ahead for the Arkansas Razorbacks this year on the football gridiron. Certainly the schedule is softer now than it was a year ago----all you have to do is note the absence of USC to know that----but a lot of questions persist. Today, I'll address the offense.
Let's start, as will most, with the tailback depth. Darren McFadden enters his third and final season at Arkansas as the preseason fave to win the Heisman Trophy. He's so good, adjectives don't do him justice. Think of the best running backs ever to play the game----Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Eric Dickerson, LaDainian Tomlinson----and McFadden truly does seem to have the skillset of the best of the lot of them. He's very strong, extremely fast, and highly agile, but he also possesses the one football attribute that can't be measured: Game IQ. Knowing when to cut, when to feel for a defender, and being able to anticipate things happening before they even do, those are the things that make up a player's Game IQ. The great ones had it, and D-Mac does too.
Even with a superback in McFadden, Arkansas' fortunes in the backfield do not rest on him alone. He's also got a great backup in Felix Jones. On any other team, Jones would be the star, but with Arkansas, he's got to fight for his opportunities. Averaging over seven yards per game again would be a great way to earn more of them . . . And woe is the plight of third string running back Michael Smith! He's certainly good enough to start for half the other schools in the SEC, but it's hard to see how he'll get the football much at all this year.
Yet the story with Arkansas' backfield success this year will---as is the norm---have more to do with the men blocking than with the speedsters themselves. Namely, Peyton Hillis. Already rated by some draft publications as the best fullback in the country, Hillis was a huge cog in the ground and passing attacks for the Hogs a year ago. With Hillis on the field, Arkansas maintained its versatility, never allowing opponents to know whether it intended to run or pass. With Hillis out of the lineup at the end of the year, Arkansas flat out struggled to move the football. It's up to Hillis to stay healthy, keep his head down, mouth shut and carve up nice chunks of space for his host of talented tailbacks. If he can do those things, he'll get his number called more often as well.
And then there's the offensive line. It was so good last year, with seniors Tony Ugoh, Stephen Parker and Zach Tubbs leading the way. The question now is whether guys like Jose Valdez, Nate Garner, DeMarcus Love and Mitch Petrus can stabilize a unit that has its stars entrenched in center Jonathan Luigs and guard Robert Felton. I'm of the belief that it can and will be a truly strong unit once again. It's also important to remember that tight end Wes Murphy was essentially a sixth lineman for Arkansas last year; now, with him gone, talented pass catching TE Ben Cleveland is going to be expected to improve his blocking drastically, while 6'7 Andrew Davie gets his share of opportunities to play, if only because of his intimidating size.
To the quarterbacks we go. Last year it was a battle to the end of August camp to see who would emerge as Arkansas' starter. Freshman Mitch Mustain pushed Junior Robert Johnson to the brink, all but taking the starting position from him. At the time, Casey Dick was battling a bad vertebrae in his back. Fast forward to now. Mustain went 8-0 as a starter before getting benched and later transferring to USC. Robert Johnson was converted to wide receiver. And Casey Dick's back is now healthy. It will indeed be Dick as the starting quarterback to begin the season for the first time in his Razorback career. He has all of eight starts under his belt, but at times seems to have a good command of the offense. How he is able to work with new offensive coordinator David Lee on correcting his mechanics is going to have as much as anything to do with his success this year. Hog fans want to know whether 3 for 19 against LSU was an aberration or a sign of more of the same from their quarterback. Beyond Dick, it's anybody's guess. Nathan Emert, Clark Irwin and froshes Joe Chiasson and Nathan Dick (Casey's younger bro) comprise a depth chart that isn't wowing anybody. And that's putting it lightly. It just may be the case where one significant injury to Casey throws the whole Hogs' season out of whack.
And who will these guys be throwing the football to? Marcus Monk dabbled with the idea of going pro, but wisely decided to return for his senior season. He's already Arkansas' all-time leader in touchdown receptions, and a tremendous number one option, but even he lacks gamebreaking speed. Beyond Monk, it's entirely up in the air: seniors like Chris Baker and Robert Johnson, junior Reggie Fish, sophomores London Crawford and Carlton Salters, and freshman Marquez Wade are all jockeying for position on the wideout depth chart. If there's one huge question mark hanging around the offense (besides QB depth) it's got to be the unproven wide receiver play.
Put in charge of all this stuff is offensive coordinator David Lee. Back for a third stint with the Hogs after time with Bill Parcells' Cowboys, Lee has been handed---we're told---complete control of play-calling in Houston Nutt's offense. Last year, the public was told the same thing about Gus Malzahn, and anybody reading this article who wasn't living under a rock knows how well that worked out. Still, this is different. Nutt and Lee aren't being forced to work together: they're actually friends. Houston will have his share of input (and he should, as a head coach) but come Saturdays it will be Lee's decisionmaking on the offensive side of the ball. How he balances the running and passing games, how often he uses Darren McFadden out of the Wildcat package, and how many spread sets he goes with are all decisions he'll have to make. And the Razorback faithful is certainly curious to see how it's all going to work out.
RBs: A+
O-Line: B+
QBs: C+
WRs: C
TEs: C-
Offense: B+
-JAB
Let's start, as will most, with the tailback depth. Darren McFadden enters his third and final season at Arkansas as the preseason fave to win the Heisman Trophy. He's so good, adjectives don't do him justice. Think of the best running backs ever to play the game----Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers, Eric Dickerson, LaDainian Tomlinson----and McFadden truly does seem to have the skillset of the best of the lot of them. He's very strong, extremely fast, and highly agile, but he also possesses the one football attribute that can't be measured: Game IQ. Knowing when to cut, when to feel for a defender, and being able to anticipate things happening before they even do, those are the things that make up a player's Game IQ. The great ones had it, and D-Mac does too.
Even with a superback in McFadden, Arkansas' fortunes in the backfield do not rest on him alone. He's also got a great backup in Felix Jones. On any other team, Jones would be the star, but with Arkansas, he's got to fight for his opportunities. Averaging over seven yards per game again would be a great way to earn more of them . . . And woe is the plight of third string running back Michael Smith! He's certainly good enough to start for half the other schools in the SEC, but it's hard to see how he'll get the football much at all this year.
Yet the story with Arkansas' backfield success this year will---as is the norm---have more to do with the men blocking than with the speedsters themselves. Namely, Peyton Hillis. Already rated by some draft publications as the best fullback in the country, Hillis was a huge cog in the ground and passing attacks for the Hogs a year ago. With Hillis on the field, Arkansas maintained its versatility, never allowing opponents to know whether it intended to run or pass. With Hillis out of the lineup at the end of the year, Arkansas flat out struggled to move the football. It's up to Hillis to stay healthy, keep his head down, mouth shut and carve up nice chunks of space for his host of talented tailbacks. If he can do those things, he'll get his number called more often as well.
And then there's the offensive line. It was so good last year, with seniors Tony Ugoh, Stephen Parker and Zach Tubbs leading the way. The question now is whether guys like Jose Valdez, Nate Garner, DeMarcus Love and Mitch Petrus can stabilize a unit that has its stars entrenched in center Jonathan Luigs and guard Robert Felton. I'm of the belief that it can and will be a truly strong unit once again. It's also important to remember that tight end Wes Murphy was essentially a sixth lineman for Arkansas last year; now, with him gone, talented pass catching TE Ben Cleveland is going to be expected to improve his blocking drastically, while 6'7 Andrew Davie gets his share of opportunities to play, if only because of his intimidating size.
To the quarterbacks we go. Last year it was a battle to the end of August camp to see who would emerge as Arkansas' starter. Freshman Mitch Mustain pushed Junior Robert Johnson to the brink, all but taking the starting position from him. At the time, Casey Dick was battling a bad vertebrae in his back. Fast forward to now. Mustain went 8-0 as a starter before getting benched and later transferring to USC. Robert Johnson was converted to wide receiver. And Casey Dick's back is now healthy. It will indeed be Dick as the starting quarterback to begin the season for the first time in his Razorback career. He has all of eight starts under his belt, but at times seems to have a good command of the offense. How he is able to work with new offensive coordinator David Lee on correcting his mechanics is going to have as much as anything to do with his success this year. Hog fans want to know whether 3 for 19 against LSU was an aberration or a sign of more of the same from their quarterback. Beyond Dick, it's anybody's guess. Nathan Emert, Clark Irwin and froshes Joe Chiasson and Nathan Dick (Casey's younger bro) comprise a depth chart that isn't wowing anybody. And that's putting it lightly. It just may be the case where one significant injury to Casey throws the whole Hogs' season out of whack.
And who will these guys be throwing the football to? Marcus Monk dabbled with the idea of going pro, but wisely decided to return for his senior season. He's already Arkansas' all-time leader in touchdown receptions, and a tremendous number one option, but even he lacks gamebreaking speed. Beyond Monk, it's entirely up in the air: seniors like Chris Baker and Robert Johnson, junior Reggie Fish, sophomores London Crawford and Carlton Salters, and freshman Marquez Wade are all jockeying for position on the wideout depth chart. If there's one huge question mark hanging around the offense (besides QB depth) it's got to be the unproven wide receiver play.
Put in charge of all this stuff is offensive coordinator David Lee. Back for a third stint with the Hogs after time with Bill Parcells' Cowboys, Lee has been handed---we're told---complete control of play-calling in Houston Nutt's offense. Last year, the public was told the same thing about Gus Malzahn, and anybody reading this article who wasn't living under a rock knows how well that worked out. Still, this is different. Nutt and Lee aren't being forced to work together: they're actually friends. Houston will have his share of input (and he should, as a head coach) but come Saturdays it will be Lee's decisionmaking on the offensive side of the ball. How he balances the running and passing games, how often he uses Darren McFadden out of the Wildcat package, and how many spread sets he goes with are all decisions he'll have to make. And the Razorback faithful is certainly curious to see how it's all going to work out.
RBs: A+
O-Line: B+
QBs: C+
WRs: C
TEs: C-
Offense: B+
-JAB
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