While most have written discouraging lines about a Razorback team generally picked last in the SEC West, new coach Bobby Petrino spoke of some good Arkansas lines during Tuesday’s morning Football Media Day.

“ I would much rather, ” Petrino said, “ come into a new situation where we have experience on the offensive front and experience on the defensive front and have young, inexperience at the skill positions because we know the offensive line and the defensive line really control the game. ”

Petrino explained why he especially values his veteran fronts.

“[The offensive linemen ] give the quarterback an opportunity to have some time and space to throw the ball, ” he said Tuesday. “ I think our defensive line has a chance to really grow and get better. They’ve had a very good summer. They’re stronger, they’re faster and I thought that [defensive ends ] Adrian Davis and Jake Bequette had real good practices yesterday, and I’m looking forward to seeing our inside guys getting more work too. ”

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Asked if he’s ever been picked last before as a head coach, the former University of Louisville and Atlanta Falcons coach said, “ My first year at Louisville [2003 ] we were picked last or secondto-last. So it’s not the first time. We just have to prove everybody wrong. ”

That’s what his 2003 Louisville Cardinals did. They went 9-4 to finish third in Conference USA and set the table for his 11-1, 9-3 and 12-1 teams the next three years.

Even with a new offense to quarterback, Bobby Petrino and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino cite the experience of senior quarterback Casey Dick, a starter every game in 2007 and the starter his final four games of 2005 and much of 2006.

The Petrinos and players alike have said that Dick has taken undue criticism from the past when he had such a subordinate role in the McFadden / Jones-dominated offenses and that he’s ready to step up, including the captain’s responsibilities the team voted upon him.

Dick and senior Rimington Award winning center Jonathan Luigs were voted the team’s offensive captains, and senior outside linebacker Elston Forte, senior cornerback Jamar Love and junior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard the defensive captains by vote of the players and coaches, Petrino said.

Since the true freshmen also have been here all summer conditioning with the team, they voted, too, Petrino said.

Petrino said the defense has three captains instead of the traditional two “ because the voting was so close. ”

Though only a junior, Sheppard’s work ethic commands senior respect. And, as Petrino noted, he’s a major cog in the defensive line that joins the Luigs-led offensive line as the strength of the team.

“ We have to play to our strengths, ” Petrino said.

That Razorback postspring practice depth chart that presumably would hold pretty firm until after the first August preseason scrimmage already isn’t worth the paper it’s printed upon.

Petrino and his staff have quietly made some summertime moves including turning true freshmen Tenarius Wright at middle linebacker and true freshman free safety Elton Ford and true freshmen tailbacks De’Anthony Curtis and Dennis Johnson into instant second-teamers capable of challenging for first team.

Curtis of Camden and Johnson of Texarkana’s Arkansas High already are in the tailback mix right behind senior Michael Smith because junior secondteamer Brandon Barnett, also a Texarkana Arkansas High alum, is idled coming off knee summer knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

Wright of Memphis is challenging Marion redshirt freshman Jerry Franklin for middle linebacker freeing while Ford now challenges Matt Harris at free safety, freeing Rashaad Johnson to move to strong safety.

Offensive linemen Wade Grayson and Seth Oxner have also switched spots on the new depth chart. Grayson, the freshman from Harrison who lettered last year at guard while Oxner of Monticello redshirted as a freshman center, now works at center behind senior Rimington Award winner Jonathan Luigs while Oxner now is the backup strong guard to senior starter Mitch Petrus.

“ We are just trying to double-train some of these guys to create more depth, ” offensive line coach Mike Summers said. “ It means we can take the six best players, that the sixth- or seventhbest isn’t limited to just one spot. It’s a good thing for our depth. Once we go through a couple of scrimmages we’ll decide who is the best at which, that the best guy can play guard or center. ”