Spring at WR should benefit T.J. Hammonds, Hogs

T.J. Hammonds was a freshman in 2016 and could be joined by several high school teammates in future years. (Photo by Jason Ivester)

— For the first time this spring, T.J. Hammonds took some reps at running back Tuesday.

That’s the position the sophomore Little Rock native played last year, of course, but he spent the first 12 spring practices the last few weeks working at receiver.

The move makes sense. The 5-foot-10, 192-pounder played both positions in high school for Pulaski Robinson, racking up more than 1,400 rushing yards and 600 receiving yards as a senior.

The coaching staff’s decision to work him at receiver this spring was made in an effort to take advantage of his versatility and in order to get one of the Razorbacks’ more explosive players on the field more, something he’s in favor of after he had just 16 touches as a true freshman.

“It was a little bit frustrating, but coaches just told me to be patient,” Hammonds said of his freshman year. “That’s what it is when you get to college and you’re just now getting here. You’ve got to be patience

“It’s all about patience and waiting your turn, but you’ve also got to take something. So just biding my time and going out there and doing what I do best.”

Hammonds working almost solely at receiver this spring was designed to help him learn the playbook, but he is expected to work at both positions in fall camp and play both this season. Rawleigh Williams and Devwah Whaley are the clear-cut top 2 running backs on the roster, meaning the majority of the carries will likely be divided between them, but cross-training Hammonds could allow him to get a few more touches a game.

That figures to be beneficial for the offense, given Hammonds' playmaking ability. He showed off his big-play ability in limited action as a true freshman, running for 88 yards on 15 carries. It’s a small sample size, but the 5.9 yards per carry was first among the team’s running backs. He had three runs of 10 or more yards among his 15 carries — a 13-yarder against Alcorn State, 15-yarder against Florida and 30-yarder at Mississippi State.

Hammonds lined up in the Wildcat on several occasions last year. Playing him at receiver just adds to the unique ways Arkansas can get him the ball.

“He's really explosive and he's going to really thrive at that position just because of the athleticism that he has,” Williams said. “He's going to make a lot of plays for us.”