FAYETTEVILLE — T.J. Hammonds, who rushed 15 times for 88 yards as a freshman, is being moved back to running back full-time after moving to receiver in the spring.
Hammonds' move comes after freshman Chase Hayden suffered a lower-leg fracture during Arkansas' 52-20 loss to Auburn on Saturday. The amount of touches Hammonds shares with senior David Williams and sophomore Devwah Whaley when the Razorbacks visit Ole Miss on Saturday will be determined the next few days in practice.
“He looked good today,” Arkansas running backs coach Reggie Mitchell said. “He really has got fresh legs it looks like even though he has been at wide receiver. The thing about him is he is that change of pace guy, has a burst, has good vision and I am excited to see what he is going to be able to do this weekend.
“We are going to find a role for him. How big that will be will depend on his learning curve as far as what he picks up. We want to put him in a position where he will be able to be successful of course.
“How much he is going to play is going to completely depend on how much he can learn and be able to play fast and be effective for us.”
It is obvious that Hammonds - who rushed 100 times for 1,404 yards and 22 touchdowns, and had 27 catches for 662 yards and 6 touchdowns as a senior at Joe T. Robinson - is ready to go.
“He is excited,” Mitchell said. “The one thing about it is he wants to play football, he wants to help us win and if that means him being at running back helping us win then he is going to do that.
“The one thing about it is last year you saw glimpses of what he could do. He didn’t play a lot because you had Rawleigh, Devwah and Kody Walker, but now he has a chance where he is going to be contributing.
“He is going to get probably about 10 to 15 carries and we will go from there.”
Mitchell said Hammonds volunteered to move back to running back.
“He has got great vision,” Mitchell said. “He has got great quickness and great acceleration. He was recruited as a running back and has all the intangibles to be a really good player.”
Hayden is Arkansas' leading rusher this season with 326 yards and he was averaging 5.3 yards per carry. He had the Razorbacks' biggest play against Auburn - a 40-yard run in the second quarter.
“I feel bad for Chase because he was just starting to hit his groove and it seemed like he was getting more comfortable playing with his role and he was able to play on all three downs," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said neither he or Razorback head coach Bret Bielema can worry about injuries that have hurt the offense. In addition to Hayden, running back Rawleigh Williams, receiver Jared Cornelius and center Frank Ragnow have suffered season-ending injuries, and quarterback Austin Allen is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury that has caused him to miss the past two games.
“When you think about it, we have lost a 3,000-yard passer, the leading rusher in the SEC, the top receiver and probably the best center in college,” Mitchell said. “And that’s not to say what we lost on defense as well. We don’t use that as an excuse. It’s the next man up."