For the last three years, over 90 percent of Arkansas’ 2,476 linebacker snaps have been taken by just three guys – the departed Brooks Ellis and current starters Dre Greenlaw and De’Jon “Scoota” Harris.
New Razorbacks defensive coordinator John Chavis, previously as Tennessee, LSU and Texas A&M, doesn’t plan on that being the case this season.
Harris (6-0, 244) had 115 tackles as a sophomore and then-junior Greenlaw 103 to lead Arkansas last season, but it could actually be better for the Razorbacks if they don’t match those numbers this season.
“Let me say this, with the idea that the number of snaps on defense could go up,” Chavis said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “A situation that I’ve been in, we played 260 snaps more than some teams did on defense.
“… I’m not just talking about fast-paced. We’ve got to get off the field. But right now there’s more and more possessions in football and, really, if you can keep a guy to 50 plays or less at linebacker, I don’t want it to go over that.
“And to be quite honest with you, in the past (the Razorbacks) haven’t had that kind of depth. Hopefully, we’re going to develop that kind of depth here.”
It appears the best possibilities to provide that depth right now include true freshman Bumper Pool (6-2, 223) and sophomores Grant Morgan (5-11, 220), Hayden Henry (6-2, 222) and Giovanni LaFrance (6-1, 248).
“There’s several guys, and I don’t know who they’re going to be yet,” Chavis said. “I feel real good about Bumper Pool. He’s having a heck of a fall camp. And LaFrance is much better than he was in the spring. So we’ll see.
“They continue to fight (for snaps). I don’t determine who those guys are going to be. They determine it by how well they play and perform when they get opportunities.”
Chavis has data that says once a linebacker gets over 50-60 plays, he - and the defense as well - are not as productive.
“You’re not the same football team (at that point),” Chavis said. “I don’t even like to think about that, but that is the truth. That is the truth. I’ve had some kids that have played 80, 90 snaps before. But you’re not the same football team.”
Greenlaw loves to play football, but knows he has been playing far more snaps than what would be optimal.
He believes the emergence of Henry, Pool, Morgan and LaFrance will mean he won’t have to play the 80-90 snaps he has become accustomed to playing.
“I think out of the last four years that I have been here with the linebacking group, I want to say that I feel like we have matured a lot mentally," Greenlaw said. "A lot of the guys that weren’t just quite getting it are really starting to pick it up.”
Greenlaw thinks the light has suddenly come on for LaFrance.
“Gio went from a guy who has always had the size to a guy that I think has been doing a real good job trying to pick it up and learn as much as he can,” Greenlaw said. “He is showing coach that he can run to the ball. He is busting his butt for his teammates, so I think that is really all you need.
“As the back-up, you really have to understand what you are doing, help and come out and play balls to the wall for a couple of plays and give us a break. That is going to be needed.”
Greenlaw lauded the preseason camp performance of Pool, who enrolled in January and went through spring practice.
“Bumper has really stepped up as a linebacker, especially as a freshman,” Greenlaw said. “I think he has made one of the biggest jumps. He is definitely going to give us a lot more help than we thought he was going to be able to do.
“He is a good athlete, he is smart. He understands what he is supposed to do and he has picked up on it. He has done things on film that you look at and say, 'That is really good as a freshman.’ So I think coach is excited about his progress and where he has been going, and I think Bumper has a good future ahead of him.”
Chavis likes what he sees out of Pool at the Will (weakside linebacker) and a little bit of the Mike (middle linebacker).
“He’s doing well,” Chavis said. “When I say doing well, I mean he’s playing the position well. He’s smart, he learns and he’s got some instincts. He’s just coming along. … I didn’t have enough opportunities in the spring to see that, but I’m seeing it now. And I’m pretty excited about it. … He’s working at Will most of the time right now and he’ll work some at Mike."
Henry played mostly on special teams last season, but would be the starter at Sam (strong side linebacker) if Arkansas started a game with three linebackers instead of its normal two in Chavis’ 4-2-5 scheme.
“Right now he is at our No. 1 SAM,” Greenlaw said. “He had a real good spring and is like a missile. He is always there and runs to the ball. He is going to bust his butt, and guys like that, like I said, it will eliminate a lot of your mistakes.
“If you have guys that can come in and run, give you that extra juice and know what they are doing, it is going to help our defense get better.”
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Chavis wanted to reserve judgement on individuals during Saturday’s scrimmage until after he had watched film of it.
“I could give you some answers, but it’s hard to say,” Chavis said. “I thought we played well at times. Obviously, we made some big plays. Obviously, we gave up some big plays. So we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and it’s going to be important that we continue to improve.
“The big deal is, how much are we going to improve from this first scrimmage to the second scrimmage? Then as the season starts. Obviously, we want to start the season right. But the biggest improvement is to be made — or should be made — from the first game to the second game.”
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Chavis would have loved to keep Austin Capps as a defensive tackle, but realizes an injury-riddled offensive line needed a reinforcement.
“It’s going to be next man up and it’s going to change,” Chavis said. “You have to make some moves to improve your football team and certainly this is what that did for us.
“Obviously, we would like to have Capps on defense, but he is going to help this team more on the other side of the football. I’m excited for the opportunity he’s getting. It’s a move that makes our football team better."
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Starting cornerback Chevin Calloway went high to pick off a pass during the scrimmage according to the coaches.
“Actually I did see it, I saw a little bit of it, but I couldn’t tell whether he was in or not,” Greenlaw said. “He made a sick catch and we are going to need some of those on Saturdays.
“He has been doing real good in practice and has definitely stepped up his game from last year to this year and you can see a big difference in him in the way he plays. So I urge him to keep pulling and just keep doing what he is doing. He is going to have a great season.”
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Chavis talked about the number of plays he would like to limit the other defensive spots to as well.
“The corners are going to play a little bit more,” Chavis said. “The guys that probably would … when I say ‘probably,’ when you’ve got the numbers to keep them fresh, we’d like to keep our D-line to 40 snaps.
“You figure if you do that, then they’re going to be able to play in the fourth quarter. It happens up front. That’s where you’ve got to be good. You’ve got to be good and you’ve got to have depth there. If you can keep it to 40 snaps, that’s good. But have we always been able to do that? No, we haven’t.
“We’re still building depth, and if you ask me, how many snaps do you anticipate (guys playing)? I don’t know. I don’t know. We’re going to have to see as we get into the season and see where it goes.”