Editor's Note: The following comments are from Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith about players who went through spring practice. This was originally published in the 2016 Hawgs Illustrated Football Preview.
QUARTERBACKS
8 Austin Allen (6-1, 208, Jr.)
He had a real good spring and earned the right to be the starter. He worked on some things mechanically over the winter and was very accurate this spring. He was able to make plays, extend plays. He’s very smart, tough and has the respect of his coaches and his teammates.
2 Rafe Peavey (6-2, 203, Soph.)
He was much improved this spring. It was the best I’d ever seen him play. He just needs to be consistent in the big picture. He’s like all three of the quarterbacks behind Austin, it’s crucial for him to take another big step this summer. I feel like we have two quarterbacks ready and now we need a third one. All four are working hard, we just need those behind Austin to make that last step.
5 Ty Storey (6-2, 216, Fr.)
There were a couple of days that he was outstanding, then a few others where he looked like a freshman. He and Ricky both just turned the ball over too much. I think there were times they just tried to do too much. When you get limited reps and you get in there, you might try to do too much.
9 Ricky Town (6-3, 212, Fr.)
Just like Ty, there are times when it’s not there, you have to check it down. Don’t force it. Or, sometimes you just have to throw it away. That’s what Ricky has to learn. It’s that way for young quarterbacks. I’ll say this about Ricky and it goes for all of our quarterbacks. They are tough work hard and are smart. They just need a big summer to take that last step. Ricky is like all four, a good person and I enjoy working with all four.
RUNNING BACKS
22 Rawleigh Williams II (5-10, 217, Soph.)
I’ll say this for both Rawleigh and Kody, they had really good springs. Both of them have potential to have 1,000-yard seasons. They are that good. They are extremely bright, can catch it and are good in pass protection. Rawleigh would do some things that make you go wow. He was doing that in the fall just before he got hurt and I saw him do it again this spring.
24 Kody Walker (6-2, 240, Sr.)
He was doing some really good things when he came back at the end of last year and was having a really good spring when he got hurt. He is a very good player.
7 Damon “Duwop” Mitchell (6-2, 216, Jr.)
He had a good spring and has a role with some specific things he can do in our offense. He showed flashes of being very comfortable. He’s good at running back and gives us three good players there.
39 Juan Day (6-1, 212, Soph.)
He had a good spring. There were times that he showed nice flashes where you could tell that he’s starting to get confidence after coming back from two knee surgeries. Then, there were times that he looked like he might be guarding the knee a little. He’s got another summer to get stronger and more confident.
41 Chris Jones (5-11, 248, Jr.)
He did a good job this spring at fullback. He’ll battle with Hayden Johnson, a freshman. Hayden will be in the two-deep immediately.
WIDE RECEIVERS
1 Jared Cornelius (5-11, 211, Jr.)
He just continues to make plays. He’s a smooth player, a very smart football player. When you look at both Jared and Drew, you have instinctive football players. Things break down, or there is a scramble, they just know what they need to do to make a play.
4 Keon Hatcher (6-2, 218, Sr.)
I felt bad for him last year because he had done everything possible to put himself in position to have a great senior season and had two big games to start the season, then had the injury. He’s worked hard to come back and I think he’ll have a very good season.
80 Drew Morgan (6-0, 191, Sr.)
He’s a competitor and very smart. He’s just awesome, fun to coach. He is what you want at receiver. It’s simple. You want someone who can get open and catch the ball. He does those two things.
81 Cody Hollister (6-4, 218, Sr.)
He had a tremendous spring. Really all five of those main guys did. He is a big, fast guy who can make plays. He is up to 218 and he can still run. He showed us in the spring that he has the ability to really run and make plays.
3 Dominique Reed (6-3, 180, Sr.)
He showed a lot more comfort with the playbook. He’s always been able to run that go route, but now he’s better at coming in and out of his breaks. I think he really worked hard on his route running.
13 Deon Stewart (5-11, 163, Fr.)
He is right on the cusp of being a really good player. He just has to play faster. By that I don’t mean run faster, but he’s got to eliminate the mistakes coming out of the huddle. When he knows it better, he’ll play faster. He’s got great skills.
16 La’Michael Pettway (6-2, 213, Fr.)
He’s got a bright future. He does some really good things and he’s got a big, strong body.
14 Eric Hawkins (5-11, 175, Sr.)
He’s got speed and he knows our offense. He’s got ability to stretch the field.
TIGHT ENDS
83 Jeremy Sprinkle (6-6, 255, Sr.)
He had a great spring. He’s an NFL player. He runs tremendous routes, is very physical and his role is going to increase. He’s versatile. He allows us to do a lot of things. He replaces Hunter Henry from what we did last year and now we need someone to step up to replace Jeremy.
87 Jack Kraus (6-5, 250, Soph.)
We missed him in the spring. What you have to remember is that down the stretch last year he was our third tight end. He got better and better. He’ll play for us next year.
19 Anthony Antwine (6-4, 245, Jr.)
He had a really good spring. Moving him from wide receiver allows us to do some things with Jeremy. He’s athletic and because of his experience at wide receiver, there are things we can do with Anthony. He’s a solid blocker and can catch the ball.
44 Austin Cantrell (6-4, 252, Fr.)
He had a really good spring blocking, but needs to improve as a threat in the passing game.
85 C.J. O’Grady (6-4, 246, Fr.)
He’s the opposite of Austin. He’s very good in the pass game, but needs to improve his blocking in the run game.
11 Will Gragg (6-4, 253, Fr.)
He was the surprise of the spring in this group. I thought he was behind in the pass game coming in, but he was not. He continues to develop.
40 Jamario Bell (6-5, 261, Fr.)
He’s extremely talented. The question right now, can he learn it this summer.
95 Jake Hall (6-5, 270, Soph.)
He’s shown us some things as far as the blocking. He can play tackle and also help us in short yardage situation or on the goal line when we need a bigger tight end.
OFFENSIVE LINE
74 Colton Jackson (6-6, 302, Fr.)
He had a great spring. Coach (Bret) Bielema had to remind me sometimes that he was a freshman. He made great improvement from the first to the end of spring. He’s going to be a really good player. He’ll fight you. He’s big and athletic.
62 Johnny Gibson (6-4, 343, Soph.)
He had a good spring and can play guard or tackle. He definitely has a role for this team.
51 Hjalte Froholdt (6-4, 309, Soph.)
He had an outstanding spring. What a great move that was for our offense to get Hjalte from defense. He’s athletic, powerful and smart. I love him at left guard.
71 Jackson Hannah (6-2, 296, Soph.)
He had a very good spring. He’s in position to be a backup for us this fall. He can go in and do a good job.
72 Frank Ragnow (6-5, 314, Jr.)
I love him at center, but he can play guard, too. He’s very smart. He was actually our backup center last year and repped there a lot in practice. He’s really good at making all of our calls up front.
75 Zach Rogers (6-1, 303, Soph.)
He had a great spring and knows all of the interior positions. He’s pushing for a spot. He’s tough and very smart.
60 Brian Wallace (6-6, 326, Soph.)
He started the spring at left tackle and we found out he was just much more comfortable on the right side. He was coming on, but he missed some time with injuries late in spring. He’s very talented. He has power, size and great feet and a very good base.
73 Deion Malone (6-3, 295, Jr.)
He had a good spring but he didn’t really know anything in our system to start with after coming in from junior college. We will see a much better version in August after he’s had a summer.
70 Dan Skipper (6-10, 326, Sr.)
Dan is like Frank, just versatile and a lot of knowledge in our system. He can move inside to guard if we want to put Brian at tackle. He’s extremely tough and because of his ability to play multiple positions, that gives us a good feeling about our first five.
79 Jalen Merrick (6-4, 329, Fr.)
He had a solid spring. We started him on the left side, but he was more comfortable on the right. He needs to continue to develop. He has all of the tools.