FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshmen Jarius Wright and Elton Ford won starting jobs on offense and defense in preseason practice, but they also figure to play key roles on special teams.

Wright, a wide receiver, will return punts and kickoffs. Ford, a starting free safety, will be deep on kickoffs along with Wright.

“They have no fear,” Arkansas special teams coordinator Kirk Botkin said. “They catch it and they go and hit it. That’s the biggest thing.”

Wright and Ford are replacing Felix Jones and Darren Mc-Fadden — both first-round NFL Draft picks — as the Razorbacks’ kickoff return duo.

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“Those are some big shoes to fill,” Ford said. “But we’re looking forward to helping out the team and doing the best we can.

“ We’re both threats and can take it to the house, and I’m happy for that opportunity.”

Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, who coaches the kickoff returners, said he feels good about Wright and Ford despite their lack of experience. He likes their aggressiveness and how they communicate about who will catch the kickoff and who will be a lead blocker.

“It’s just kind of a case where a lot of our freshmen have got to play,” Petrino said. “They’re really not freshmen anymore. They’ve been in camp.

“ We’ve just got to get out there and play and believe in them and make sure they believe in themselves.”

Jones returned four kickoffs for touchdowns in three seasons, and his 28. 2-yard average is an Arkansas career record. He helped the Razorbacks rank first nationally in kickoff returns in 2005 (29. 2 yards ) and seventh in 2006 (24. 9 ). They slipped to 48 th last season (22. 1 yards ), when Jones averaged 29. 6, but McFadden’s average fell to 19. 8, hurt by three fumbles.

“We’re expecting the same results they had in 2005, when [the Razorbacks ] were No. 1,” Botkin said of his goal for kickoff returns. “We want to be the best.

“ We might have some young guys back there, but they’re going to have to step it up.... It takes everybody on kickoff returns, but the biggest thing is the guys back there toting it.”

While Arkansas’ coaches hope to duplicate the explosiveness on kickoff returns that were provided by Jones and McFadden, they want marked improvement from Wright on punt returns.

The Razorbacks ranked 107 th nationally in punt returns (5. 8 yards ) last season and 90 th (7. 2 yards ) in 2006. No Razorback has returned a punt for a touchdown since 2003, when Marvin Jackson had a 73-yarder against New Mexico State.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on it and hopefully our work will pay off, because that’s a part of the game where you can get more yardage chunks than almost any other time,” said Arkansas running backs coach Tim Horton, who averaged 8. 5 yards as the Razorbacks’ punt returner from 1987-1989. “That’s an area we’ve got to improve on from a punt return and punt coverage standpoint.

“ If you get a big return or a block a punt, that’s such a big yardage swing on that one play.”

Wright averaged 42 yards on four kickoff returns for Warren High School last season, including a touchdown. He also averaged 42. 3 yards on seven punt returns and scored two touchdowns.

“Jarius catches the ball well, and then he can do some things with it after he catches it,” said Horton, who coaches the punt returners. “Right now it’s his job to lose, and I don’t anticipate him losing it.”

Wright first caught punts when he was 11 years old and playing in a peewee football league.

“You couldn’t run with the ball after you caught it, and that wasn’t really any fun,” Wright said. “Being a receiver, I wanted to catch it and take off running.”

The next year, Wright got in a league where returning punts was allowed.

“I was young, but I was pretty fast, faster than a lot of the other kids,” he said. “Back then I was bigger than a lot of them, too, so I kind of bullied them.”

Wright, now listed at 5-10 and 170 pounds, isn’t the biggest guy on the field, but he hopes to make plenty of big plays on special teams.

“It makes me feel real good knowing [the coaches ] have that type of confidence in me, to put me back there on returns,” Wright said. “It makes me want to come out and do really, really well.”

Botkin said he believes Arkansas can improve its punting game by mixing up whether to go for a return or a block.

“The biggest thing is we want to have at least 10 yards a return,” he said. “If we don’t get 10 yards, everybody on that field ought to be dang upset with themselves.”

Botkin said he doesn’t worry that Wright and Ford may be overwhelmed returning kicks as well as holding down starting jobs. He’s confident they can handle it all.

“Kickoffs and punts are the first play of offense and the first play of defense,” Botkin said. “Special teams are just as important as any offensive or defensive play.

“ You’ve got to stick your best guys out there, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”