FAYETTEVILLE — One of the best gifts the Arkansas football staff could get for next year is another season from Darius Philon.
The redshirt sophomore Philon has submitted the paperwork to determine his status with the NFL Draft advisory board, which won’t be known for a couple of weeks, and he has until Jan. 15 to declare as an underclassman.
Darius Philon at a glance
POSITION Defensive tackle
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 6-3, 287
CLASS Redshirt sophomore
HIGH SCHOOL Prichard (Ala.) Vigor
AGE 20 (Jan. 22, 1994)
NOTEWORTHY Second on team with 10.5 tackles for 48 yards in losses, third with 3.5 sacks for 29 yards in losses and first with 3 fumble recoveries. … Ranks seventh with 45 tackles and also has 5 hurries, 2 pass breakups and a forced fumble. … Scored one of Arkansas’ two defensive touchdowns with a 14-yard fumble return vs. Northern Illinois. … Has submitted paperwork for NFL Draft by college advisory board. … Breakout game as a redshirt freshman came at Rutgers with two sacks and a hurry. … Has 17 starts in 24 career games.
Philon has been a bonus for the Razorbacks since National Signing Day in 2012, when he took an Arkansas offer after Alabama asked him to grayshirt — pay his own way for a semester — as he was coming off a knee injury his senior season at Vigor High School in Prichard, Ala.
Philon redshirted for Arkansas in 2012 and has steadily improved as a 17-game starter. The 6-2, 272-pound defensive tackle has made his presence felt on the interior with 3.5 sacks for 29 lost yards, 10.5 tackles for 48 lost yards and a team-best 3 fumble recoveries, 1 for a touchdown. He has plenty of room to improve his stock for the NFL, and Arkansas coaches have made no secret about where they stand with Philon.
“I mean, obviously we’d love to have him back, but that’s a decision he’s got to make,” defensive line coach Rory Segrest said. “I think another year under his belt would be very beneficial for him in the college game, just to continue to develop on the fundamentals and techniques.”
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said Philon is just scratching the surface.
“I think he’s a tremendously talented football player who has grown a lot since our arrival,” Bielema said. “But his personality, his bravado, his confidence … What can he be a year from now? He’s got two years, technically. I can see him a year from now …”
Bielema left the sentence open-ended, leaving room for Philon’s advancement.
Philon said late last week that he’s not focused on what his draft grade might be.
“I’m focused on going out and playing against Texas,” he said. “Basically all that is behind me until that situation comes up.
Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers, who has appeared to benefit from returning for his senior year, said he’s mentioned a few things to his fellow Alabamian Philon about the process.
“He’s making the decision based on what he feels is right,” Flowers said. “He’s a grown man, so I’m going to let him handle it.”
There was a time when Philon’s football days at Arkansas appeared over as he struggled with off-the-field problems.
“It’s all about growing up. And at that time, it was rough for me,” Philon said.
“There was a day he came into my office and quit,” Bielema said. “I went ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s talk about where we’re at and what we’re doing.’
“I really didn’t know him that well and, as you know, communicating with Darius is its own unique situation. I think the part that was fun was he’s really grown. He comes in my office, brought his girlfriend into my office the other day, and introduced her.”
Philon scored one of Arkansas’ two defensive touchdowns this season on a 14-yard fumble return after a Flowers hit on Northern Illinois quarterback Drew Hare. He nearly got another, getting tackled inside the Ole Miss 1-yard line after grabbing a fumble by Ole Miss’ Devanta Kincade, a play on which Philon has taken a fair amount of good-natured ribbing.
“I said, ‘Who gets tackled on the half-yard line?’ ” Bielema said.
Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney joked about it later, too, as the Razorbacks were stuffed at the 1 by the Rebels and had to settle for a field goal.
“I told the guys today that if anything disappointed me in the game it was when the defense gave us the ball on the 1 — which I do believe Darius should have scored, I’ll talk to him about that later — but when you get the ball at the 1 and we have three shots to get it in, that was the most disappointing part of it,” Chaney said the day after Arkansas trounced Ole Miss 30-0.
Philon’s greatest assets are his speed, agility and power, a combination that led SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy to call him one of the conference’s top defensive linemen earlier this year.
Segrest said Philon has room to get better from a technical standpoint.
“I think the biggest thing right now is just the consistency with his hands in the run game, keeping his elbows in tight and just being able to gain that initial separation,” Segrest said. “But he’s so powerful, even when he doesn’t get it sometimes he’s able to just press guys off and still get off the block.”