FAYETTEVILLE — For much of last season, De’Vion Warren didn’t know what his kickoff return numbers were, and special teams coach Tanner Burns never told him.
Warren may not have known, but they were impressive enough to earn a spot on the All-SEC Freshman Team. At the end of the year, Burns presented Warren a glass trophy, recognizing him as one of the league’s top first-year performers.
He finished the season second in the SEC in return average at 26.38 yards and provided Arkansas with dynamic special teams play it had been without since early in Bret Bielema's tenure. His 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Auburn in 2017 was the Razorbacks’ first since Korliss Marshall’s 97-yard score against Northern Illinois in 2014, a span of 41 games.
“It was a blessing at the time,” Warren said of producing as a freshman. “I was just playing my role for the team. I didn’t know much about the guys before me. I’m about being a team player and doing what the coaches say to do.”
Warren recorded 765 return yards in 2017, good for third most in a single season in school history behind only Dennis Johnson's 905 in 2008 and 1,031 in 2009.
The speedster said most people assume his touchdown against Auburn is his favorite return, but personally, he points to a 45-yard fourth quarter run at Ole Miss as the Razorbacks rallied from 24 points down.
Following the Ole Miss game, in which he totaled 141 return yards, Warren became the first Razorback to earn SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors since Johnson in 2011.
“I got the ball on the other side of the field and almost scored,” he said. “It was that rush of, ‘Ah, I almost had another one.’ We came back and won that game, so having that moment of changing the game is really big.
“You have to take a certain amount of pride in whatever you do. You can’t be like, ‘Ah man, I have to do this.’ You get to do this. It’s another opportunity for me to be on the field and help the team.”
Warren, Arkansas’ top returning player in terms of all-purpose yards, said the competition at kickoff return is deep with himself, Gary Cross, Jonathan Nance, Deon Stewart, T.J. Hammonds, Chase Hayden and Britto Tutt all in the mix.
Chad Morris has an affinity for players who can run a hole in the wind. Warren fits that bill.
“We’ve got a lot of fast guys on the team. I’m versatile, so hopefully I still get back there, but it’s the coaches’ decision,” he said. “It’s something I had a good year in last year, and I just want to improve on it and do more just to help the team out.”