FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas football team has multiple positions on defense that Sam Pittman thinks he and the coaching staff will have to fortify when the NCAA transfer portal re-opens on April 15 for a 15-day span.
One of those is not defensive end.
With a handy crop of veterans and some spring enrollee transfers already in place, Pittman touted the work done by the ends in last Saturday’s scrimmage as the first thing on his mind earlier this week.
Specifically, junior Landon Jackson was uppermost in his mind.
Pittman mentioned Jackson as having his best day as a Razorback, then added in strong play from Jashaud Stewart, Zach Williams, Nico Davillier and transfers Trajan Jeffcoat and John Morgan.
“I really like those defensive ends,” Pittman said. “Those guys, I think we’re coming along. We’re pretty talented there.”
“I would say we were really just getting to the quarterback and playing good ball all around,” Jackson said to describe the work of the defense last Saturday. “All around just kind of flowing. Our new defensive schemes are fitting very well. It all just kind of worked out Saturday.”
More from WholeHogSports: LB transfer Grier quickly earned teammates' respect
Transfer linebacker Antonio Grier, appearing on a video call in tandem with Jackson on Thursday, got a kick out of a reporter saying Pittman described Jackson’s play as being “a problem” for opposing offenses.
“I’ll say,” Grier volunteered while nodding his head with enthusiasm.
“I’m behind him watching. I get front row seats. … I’m going to give my man his flowers. He’s a dog, man. I ain’t going to lie to you, he’s a dog.”
Jackson’s play last season seemingly progressed right in step with his improving health, culminating in 23 tackles, 3 1/2 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a blocked kick while making 7 starts and playing in all 13 games.
A transfer last winter from LSU, Jackson was coming off knee ligament surgery and did not participate in spring ball. He was not full speed to start the season, even though he logged five tackles in the Hogs’ season-opening 31-24 win over Cincinnati. But his health and confidence rose in tandem, funneling into a good performance in Arkansas’ 55-53 triple-overtime win against Kansas in the Liberty Bowl.
Pittman said he felt Jackson was running at about 75% health for the majority of last season until bowl preparations began.
“I definitely agree with that,” Jackson said. “I feel like once the bowl game came around, I got a lot more confident in my abilities, in the knee, in the playbook, just getting [to be] a more confident football player all around. And I feel like that’s allowing me to finally play like I know I can play.”
Said Pittman, “I think if you look back, Landon had come off an ACL. He was tall and thin. I mean, he was skinny. He was playing about three-quarter speed and he got a little bit better as the year went on.
“Now he’s bigger, confident, long. He’s a problem, now. A good problem. He’s on our team, but he’s a problem if you’re an offensive lineman. It’s just his speed and his size right now that … I mean, he’s been hard to block.”
But Jackson wasn’t the only one in the scrimmage. Stewart won a starting role in six of his 10 games last season and he’s been pretty consistent with the starters this spring. Stewart, a 6-2, 249-pound senior from Jonesboro, has 21 career tackles.
More from WholeHogSports: Transfer receivers feeling their way into roles with Razorbacks
Williams, a 6-4, 246-pound bonus-year senior from Little Rock’s Joe T. Robinson and a legacy Razorback as the son of linebacker standout Rickey Williams, has 91 career tackles and 8 sacks. He has started 10 games.
Jeffcoat, 6-4, 280 pounds, racked up 85 tackles and 11 1/2 sacks in 48 career games at Missouri. He was a first-team All-SEC pick by The Associated Press as a redshirt sophomore in 2020.
Morgan, a 6-2, 273-pounder, has 53 career games at Pitt under his belt, during which he accumulated 74 tackles and 14 sacks.
Davillier, a 6-4, 273-pounder from Mamuelle, came out smoking in spring, drawing instant praise from Pittman after the first workout.
“Man, I really like him,” Pittman said. “I really have in the offseason. I think his mind is, ‘I didn’t get to play much last year and I’m sure going to this year.’ He’s chasing the ball as well as anybody that we have.
The Hogs’ ends are going to see more action than last season, when coordinator Barry Odom alternated between 3- and 4-man fronts. Pittman and new defensive coordinator Travis Williams are determined to stay with four defensive-line types up front.
“Just having four D-linemen on the field at all times, it really allows us to get to the quarterback more and that’s probably the biggest thing in my eyes,” Jackson said when discussing changes under Williams.
“I feel like it we’ve got enough guys to where if somebody gets banged up one game, we can just put the next in, and there won’t be a major fall off. … I think we had 42 sacks last year, and I think it’ll be a lot like that again.
“And I feel like that all starts with obviously with Coach T-Will, but then Coach [Deke] Adams, as well. Coach Adams works us like crazy in indy [individual drills]. And I feel like our pass rush is naturally getting better. And then, our ends this year, I feel like we’ll be able to stop the run a lot better, too, and setting the edge really well.”