FAYETTEVILLE -- If Arkansas stays true to Coach Bret Bielema's track record with the Razorbacks, there are 2,634 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns to divvy up among this season's running backs.
That's the average number of rushing yards and rushing touchdowns the Razorbacks have posted in three seasons under Bielema. Going back to include his final three years at Wisconsin, Bielema's past six offenses have averaged 2,950 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns per season, and 224.1 rushing yards per game.
Running backs glance
RETURNING STARTER None
LOSSES Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams
WHO’S BACK Kody Walker, Rawleigh Williams, Damon Mitchell, Juan Day
WHO’S NEW T.J. Hammonds, Devwah Whaley, Hayden Johnson
WALK-ONS Justice Hobbs, Chris Jones
ANALYSIS Sixth-year senior Walker has the experience, but he’s not a breakaway threat compared with the string of Razorbacks who preceded him. Williams and Whaley, highly sought out of high school, could wind up with more carries. Mitchell offers a promising blend of power and open-field moves. Hammonds is the fastest and could get the ball in a variety of ways, including as a return man, slot receiver and as a back.
The returning running backs at Arkansas -- Kody Walker, Rawleigh Williams and Damon "Duwop" Mitchell -- combined for 677 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns last season.
Those three, along with freshmen T.J. Hammonds and Devwah Whaley, have a lot of carries, yards and touchdowns to share this season after the Razorbacks lost 1,577-yard rusher Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams from last year's 8-5 club.
"Man, we call it RBU," Walker, a sixth-year senior, said in reference to the Hogs gaining a reputation for developing into Running Back U. "We know that we're gonna be deep at running back, and we want to be."
First-year running backs coach Reggie Mitchell, the man who will be doling out the reps in games, said he's been pleased with the group's work in camp.
"From an athletic standpoint, they're probably from top to bottom the most talented group of guys I've ever been around," Mitchell said. "And I was at Illinois when we had Rashard Mendenhall and Pierre Thomas. I'm not saying they're those guys, but from top to bottom, they're the most talented guys I've been around.
"Each guy has a different skill set, which is different. Right now I'm just trying to find out where all the pieces fit. It's been great so far."
Walker, who has dropped about 25 pounds to dip below 240 pounds, is splitting most of the first-team reps in camp with Williams, who hasn't gone through live tackling since requiring surgery to repair a disk in his neck after an injury against Auburn last year. He practiced in a green, no-contact jersey throughout the spring.
"To go out there without the green jersey on, it's an awesome feeling," Williams said. "We got to hit a little bit yesterday [Sunday] and it felt great."
Williams said he doesn't have any hangups about being tackled again, and it's something he could experience as soon as today.
"I know how it's going to turn out," he said. "You get tackled, you get back up again."
The Razorbacks have produced four 1,000-yard seasons, plus a 900-yard year from Jonathan Williams in 2013, in three seasons under Bielema. Of the five backs in contention for playing time, any one, or possibly two of them, could hit the 1,000-yard plateau.
"If you follow my career, we've never been a one-hit wonder," Bielema said about how he'd like to split up running back reps. "Even two, but a lot of times three.
"I remember one year I think Montee Ball was 3 yards short [actually 4, in 2010] of 1,000 yards, and we would have had three guys with more than 1,000 yards. That'd never been done in college football."
Each of Arkansas' tailback candidates strikes a different profile. Walker, Williams (5-10, 226) and Whaley (5-11, 216) are the biggest of the group. Mitchell, a former quarterback and receiver who is 6-2, 215 pounds, has a more upright running style. Hammonds (5-10, 197) is the shiftiest.
"Some guys are short and stocky, so they've naturally got their pad levels low," Mitchell said. "Then K-Walk, he's a heavy dude and has some speed to him. While you're competing vs. them you're also trying to learn from them, and you try to take some things they have. We all just rub off on each other."
Mitchell said all of the backs have pulled off nice runs in camp. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw said Whaley stood out Monday.
"He came out and broke a couple of good runs today," Greenlaw said.
Williams said he likes how the running backs' talents complement each other.
"Kody is a big power back," he said. "I feel I'm pretty balanced. T.J. Hammonds, he's fast, he's quick and shifty. Devwah is a bigger guy too, and he has great footwork for his size. He has great vision. Duwop, by him playing all the positions, he's a great football mind, and he knows what he's doing. There's definitely a lot of great running backs in that room."
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos said the running back carries likely would be determined by feel.
"I think we're going to have to play multiple, which is first and foremost with the way we do things," he said. "So more than one of them is going to play. But I think ultimately how the game goes is based on who gets hot. ... If somebody's hot, somebody's making yards and feeling it, they might get more carries than the other guy.
"But if the game calls for something different, whether we're running it more this way or that way or we're throwing it more or there's something protection-wise or catching it out of the backfield, we'll go with whoever gives us the better chance.
"So Rawleigh and Kody right now, as far as I'm concerned, are 1 and 1A. Then Duwop and Devwah and T.J. are all fighting to see who can be the next guy in there and get some reps."
Hayden Johnson is taking roughly 80 percent of the snaps at fullback during camp, while walk-on Justice Hobbs, a big tailback during his career at Farmington High, recently moved to the spot and is splitting the rest of the work with tight ends.
Sports on 08/09/2016