FAYETTEVILLE — Find some trusted eyes to watch a scrimmage. It's the golden rule. I don't much care for the idea of piling in with a bunch of media types. They will give you the stats. But they often don't really know what they are seeing. I include myself in that group, the reason I seek help.
I found a few trusted friends with much better knowledge of the game than myself to watch the first Arkansas spring football scrimmage on Saturday. I started out with Quinn Grovey, Harold Harris and Geno Bell, all former star players at Arkansas.
At another point, I found Pat Jones, Bobby Allen and Keith Jackson. Jones and Allen are former coaches, Jackson a former All-Pro tight end and recently the color analyst for the Arkansas radio broadcasts.
So what did they see? The verdict was this Arkansas team is advanced over last year, especially on offense where the top quarterback, first two running backs and the offensive line have made major jumps from last season. The tight ends can play, too, perhaps better than anticipated after losing some good ones.
However, there was a major disclaimer from the two old coaches, it's early in the installation process for the defense to make too many judgments. Minus slants, stunts and stems in the defensive line, a 3-4 front doesn't have much chance against power running, something the UA offense features in bigger doses this spring.
I was told, things will even up for the defense as new coordinator Paul Rhoads adds some bells and whistles. None were visible in the first scrimmage.
I didn't see any movement in the fronts at any point in the scrimmage. Basically, the front three – ends McTelvin Agim and Karl Roesler and nose tackle Austin Capps – played straight on every play.
There was confirmation afterwards from Arkansas coach Bret Bielema. The base technique was the point of emphasis for the first six practices, the slants and stunts will be added in the next week.
“No movement so far,” Bielema said. “We have asked our front three to just eat up linemen and keep our linebackers free. And, it's a different concept from what we've played. We have not moved them through today.
“That's going to change now. Next Saturday when you see it, it will be a different level up front.”
That's basically what I was told several times during the scrimmage. It was vanilla up front, probably not much fun for Agim, Capps and Roesler. They had to stay still and take on the bigger offensive linemen in a slug-it-out game. It's not what the 3-4 is built to do.
One of the surprises was that Capps has moved ahead of Bijhon Jackson at nose tackle. That's a true sophomore sliding ahead of a senior. Bielema said after practice there is a thought that Jackson might move to an end spot, perhaps to challenge Roesler, in hopes of getting the best three on the field.
Capps and Jackson didn't get much penetration against center Zach Rogers or guards Jake Raulerson and Hjalte Froholdt. Bell, who played defensive tackle for Danny Ford, wanted more push and more aggressive moves inside. But, again, that wasn't in the plan for this scrimmage.
What you can see is that the offensive tackles, Brian Wallace and Colton Jackson, can handle the outside pretty well. They will get a different test next week with more blitzes and change ups on the perimeter, but they are both ahead of the game from last year when the offensive line was shredded by an older group of defensive ends like Deatrich Wise and JaMichael Winston along with Agim.
Jones, now in Tulsa radio, rated the UA offensive line as solid and that was minus senior center Frank Ragnow, held out of practice Saturday. It's a good group of blockers, much advanced over last year when new coach Kurt Anderson had to replace three starters. He's got six returnees with starting experience now. Jones said it's noticeable.
There were some obvious bright spots on Saturday, but most were on the offensive side of the ball. Senior quarterback Austin Allen was solid, although one of his passes was intercepted when the coverage bumped his receiver just as the ball arrived.
The tight ends are still solid, despite losing Hunter Henry and Jeremy Sprinkle over the last two seasons. Austin Cantrell worked over some ends and outside linebackers, just as he did last season when he was one of the SEC's best blockers. Cheyenne O'Grady and Will Gragg did some good things, too. This is not a position of worry.
“Austin is as good of a blocker at tight end as I've had,” Bielema said. “He is a special player. He is a good receiver, but he needs to continue to attack that area.”
Bielema pointed out that there is some thought that Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett will be the top pick in this month's NFL draft. He mentioned them by numbers, 44 for Cantrell and 15 for Garrett.
“Go back and watch tape of that game and see what 44 did against 15,” Bielema said. “44 had his way with him.”
Bielema said O'Grady has “made some real strides although you didn't see a lot of him today. I also give a lot of credit to Will. We've seen a huge spike in accountability. Jamario Bell catches it with the best of our tight ends, but he still needs to improve in some areas as far as assignments. We are also excited about what Jeremy Patton will bring when he arrives from junior college.”
Accountability and understanding of assignments might be the key to another rare talent, redshirt freshman wide receiver Jordan Jones. The Smackover speedster displayed his 4.3 burst on one seam route that developed into a home run in the early part of the scrimmage in a segment consisting of second teamers.
“He's tremendously talented,” Bielema said. “He is extremely intelligent. We just have to convince him that he can be a good player. He can be that if he wants to be that. He's got the speed and he can catch it. He's really good if he wants to be really good.”
The translation: Learn the plays.
Bielema said his first mission after the scrimmage was to meet with some parents. At the top of the list was a session with the set from Smackover.
It's probably just a matter of maturity. Sometimes it takes time. Jones might be a lot like O'Grady, not always as serious about football. It appears things have clicked for the Fayetteville tight end. He was jumping in and out of routes like a big-time talent on Saturday, although he wasn't always the target.
The Hogs do have talent at wide receiver. JUCO transfers Brandon Martin and Jonathan Nance have the skills and the want to of players who know their time is short to make an impression. Obviously, Jared Cornelius has been a top receiver in the SEC.
O'Grady has similar ability. If Jones improves on his assignments, the Hogs could have some difference makers on offense. Running backs Rawleigh Williams and Devwah Whaley are quality SEC backs. That's what the men standing around me Saturday expressed several times.
It comes down to the defense. Who can make a play? Michael Taylor and Randy Ramsey, the two starting outside linebackers, have the ability. Neither was consistently solid in shutting down the edge on Saturday, although the top tight ends have something to do with that. There were flashes from both in the scrimmage.
“Michael Taylor just hasn't scrimmaged much with us,” Bielema said. “He got here too late last fall to really do any scrimmaging. So this is about the first time he's been in live work. He's got ability.”
One of the big question marks last season was the tackling of the secondary. It was spotty on Saturday. Everyone around me noticed when De'Andre Coley brought only his shoulder on a play in the open field, when a teammate was there first. That can't happen against an SEC back. They bounce off for big gainers.
Bielema reminded afterwards that the rules aren't really fair for defensive backs right now. He's not allowing “cut tackles” to protect the knees of a back. That won't change the rest of the spring.
The rules for the defense will change this week when blitzes and stunts will be added to the new 3-4 package. That may change my thoughts that this defense still has a long ways to go. For now, I'll conclude the offense is well ahead after two weeks of the spring.
That's probably as it should be with a new scheme being installed. Here's hoping the next level of installation gives the defensive line a few more weapons to even the race to be ready by the season opener.
“I think you'll see the defense get a lot better as the spring progresses,” said Jones, a defensive coach for the bulk of his career. “They are a little more sudden in some areas than they were this time last year. I see a little more speed.
“Maybe you'd see it a little more right now if you watched them in individual drills. It tends to get covered up when you play that vanilla.”
OK, the slants are coming. I remember what Virginia Tech's movement did to the UA offensive front. I'm ready to see some of that.