FAYETTEVILLE — The wide receivers and other players were having fun on media day for the Arkansas Razorbacks, debating whether Jordan Jones or Deon Stewart is the fastest player on the football team.
The camps seemed equally split, with both Jones and Stewart weighing in on themselves. No doubt the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville will have a couple of players with top-end speed to stretch defenses this fall.
What the Razorbacks don’t have is much experience.
The old hand in the room for almost the entirety of camp will be Stewart, who caught two passes last season. Fellow sophomore La’Michael Pettway caught one — a 10-yard touchdown in Arkansas’ 52-10 rout of Alcorn State.
The absence of Jared Cornelius, a proven commodity in SEC circles, has opened a huge window of opportunity for receivers who can capitalize in the next couple of weeks. Cornelius was pulled off the 105-man roster just a couple of days into camp to help alleviate tightness in his back.
Despite the dearth of experience, receivers coach Michael Smith is not sweating the situation.
“When everybody is kind of questioning how good we’re going to be, these guys have rallied together, stuck together and kind of ignored the outside world,” Smith said. “They come to work every day and try to get better. I love that approach.
“Throughout this camp so far you see them each day getting a little better. If we can continue to do that we’re going to be good. I’m not worried about it. I’m not.”
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos, speaking last week, echoed Smith’s thoughts about the receivers.
“I think they’ve got a chance to be pretty good,” Enos said. “I’ve seen steady improvement is the best thing I can say.
“From a week ago to today, they’re much better. Are they perfect? No. But we don’t expect them to be. We’ve put a lot on their plate as far as the installation goes and what we’re asking them to do. Every day we’ve continued to press them.”
Jones, a redshirt freshman, blew by defenders at the start of camp and caught four deep-ball touchdowns in the first three days, but he said defensive backs are “backing up deep, everybody’s deep” against him over the past week.
Jones ran afoul of Coach Bret Bielema in Saturday’s scrimmage.
“If he wants to be treated like a Division I player, an SEC player, he has got to take coaching, and I think he will,” Bielema said. “I’m excited that he’s a great kid who has a lot of ability.”
During the first week of camp, Bielema extolled the capabilities of the team’s first-year wideouts and their work at attacking the playbook. He challenged the veteran group of receivers, saying if they didn’t check themselves they’d get passed by the young guys.
Pettway said he heard about the challenge from Bielema through one of his coaches from Nashville High School.
“After I heard that, I mean, going out and practicing, you’ve just got to up it to another level,” Pettway said. “That’s what I felt like I did.”
Pettway caught 5 passes for 165 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown, from Austin Allen in Arkansas’ first scrimmage. He’s caught multiple touchdowns in team periods since then, including two in red zone work Aug. 8.
Stewart had 3 catches for 28 yards in the opening scrimmage, and he had a key 28-yard catch that set up a Devwah Whaley 3-yard scoring run last week.
Smith and the other coaches have praised Stewart’s knowledge of the playbook and route adjustments, and how he has passed along tips to the newcomers.
“It’s going pretty well,” Stewart said last week. “I know all the plays. Me and Pettway I guess are the veterans of the group now until Jared gets back. So we’re trying to hold it down and help these young guys until Jared gets back.”
After losing several big-time producers at receiver — led by Keon Hatcher and Drew Morgan — the Razorbacks wanted to get some immediate help with college experience, so they signed junior college teammates Brandon Martin and Jonathan Nance out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Martin, who had a solid spring despite admitting he was carrying too much weight, was ESPN’s No. 1 rated junior college receiver in the 2017 signing class. He’s been slowed in camp by a sore back that kept him out of the open parts of both scrimmages.
Nance had five catches for 44 yards in the first scrimmage, and he had an 18-yard catch on a third-and-12 pass from Cole Kelley as part of a touchdown drive last week.
Koilan Jackson has accelerated faster than the other freshmen. He beat Ryan Pulley deep for a 45-yard one-armed touchdown catch from Carson Proctor in the first scrimmage, then he snagged a 26-yard crossing route from Jack Lindsey against a blitz to set up a touchdown last Saturday.
Upon the return of Cornelius and slot man T.J. Hammonds, who is expected to be out a couple of more weeks after minor knee surgery, snaps with the first-team offense will get even more competitive. Smith is fine with that.
“The greatest thing you can have in the room is competition,” Smith said. “I tell every guy I ever recruit, the day I sign you is the day I’m trying to replace you.
“We’ve got some depth. It’s just about getting those guys to the point where we feel comfortable with them making plays to help us win games.”
Smith thinks Jones and Stewart will bring a speed element to the unit that really only the erratic Dominique Reed could provide the past couple of seasons.
“We’ll have a lot more speed,” he said. “I said this before, but talent-wise, this is the best group I’ve had. If they get there mentally, watch out.”
At a glance
Returning starters Jared Cornelius (4 starts in 2016)
Losses Drew Morgan (9 starts), Keon Hatcher (8), Cody Hollister (4), Dominique Reed (2)
Who’s back La’Michael Pettway, Deon Stewart, Jordan Jones, Kofi Boateng
Who’s new T.J. Hammonds (played TB in 2016), Brandon Martin, Jonathan Nance, Koilan Jackson, Jarrod Barnes, De’Vion Warren, Maleek Barkley
Walk-ons Gary Cross, Tobias Enlow, De’Shawn Gulledge, Tyson Morris, River Warnock
Analysis With Cornelius resting his back and trying to get right for the regular season and T.J. Hammonds (knee) sidelined for a bit, the receivers room has two returners — Stewart and Pettway — with a combined three career college catches. The room is bursting with speed and confidence, but it’s the in-game rapport with quarterback Austin Allen — the trust factor in the heat of battle — that will be tested in the first few weeks of the season.
