This hog team is looking to improve on their 3 wins (over Tenn, MSU, and Ole Miss) last year.
Returning starters: 7 on offense, 9 on defense, punter.
Key losses: DT Jonathan Marshall, (Round 6, Jets), QB Feleipe Franks, CB Jerry Jacobs, RB Rakeem Boyd, WR Mike Woods (transfer to Oklahoma), DL Isaiah Nichols.
Top returnees: WR Treylon Burks, WR Trey Knox, QB KJ Jefferson, RB Trelon Smith, TE Hudson Henry, C Ricky Stromberg, LB: Grant Morgan, DB Jalen Catalon, OL Myron Cunningham, LB Bumper Pool. (the highlighted guys are on par with our talent level--in Burks and Catalon's case, maybe even better)
Top newcomers: projected starting DL John Ridgeway (transfer from Illinois State), projected starting DE Tre Williams (from Missouri), DL Markell Utsey (from Missouri), former 4-star OT Ty’kieast Crawford (from Charlotte).
QB: Felipe Franks is gone, so KJ Jefferson will be the QB. Jefferson is like a low-talent version of Sam. He's a big (240lb) QB who likes to tuck the ball and do some power running, and he's fast for a guy that size. He's ok on the RPO. The problem is, he has nowhere near Sam's talent level. Also, apparently Briles is trying to make him a pocket passer--a role he looks uncomfortable in. It doesn't seem that KJ Jefferson is the right QB for what the hogs are trying to do. They've got some personnel issues here. And the QB runs the show. Again, defending big sized run-pass QB KJ Jefferson should be like going against a much less talented version of Sam. Contra-point: KJ Jefferson played pretty well against Missouri last year. You can put lipstick on the pig, but KJ Jefferson is a downgrade from Felipe Franks. If the suckage gets too bad, Coach Briles can put in speedy backup QB Malik Hornsby.
RBs: Trelon Smith (fast) and Dominique Johnson (big) bring the speed and power.
OL: The OL has experience, but they're mediocre at best. Not as good as the Cajun OL that gave up 4 sacks, and many QB pressures, to us. And we only gave up 77 yards on the ground to the Cajuns. Arkansas allowed 36 sacks last year, and that was with the faster Felipe Franks at QB, rather than the big bruiser QB Jefferson. Oh yeah, the pigs just lost their OL coach in June to LSU. If we can get 6 sacks against a capable UL line, we oughta really tattoo Jefferson.
WR: The hogs best WR, Mike Woods, transferred to Oklahoma. WR Treylon Burks is 6'3" 225 lbs, so they like them big; he's the playmaker of the bunch and is good. The rest of the WRs are pretty pedestrian. Cover Burks well and stop big plays to him.
TE: Hudson Henry
is probably the starting TE. Not bad, but nothing special. Same with the other main TE Blake Kern--although there's at least one mention of Kern on a future NFL watch list.
Overall -- this is just the sort of O that Pete Kwiatkowski can shut down. I don't see them scoring much. Note: THEY LIKE TO RUN SOME UP-TEMPO HERE-AND-THERE.
DL: They're big, but they had difficulty generating any pass rush last year. This is a big part of the reason the hogs gave up 35 points per game. The leading sacker had 2.5 sacks last year... Bunch of no-talent a$$ clowns. Exactly what we need our OL to face after an underperformance against Z'yon Hill and his Cajun friends. The swine are having to rely on some transfers (John Ridgeway from Illinois State and Markell Utsey and DE Trey Williams from Missouri) to bolster a weak unit. If we handle them even reasonably well, Bijan (and Roschon and the other Robinson) will roll. Definitely one of the weaker DLs we'll face all year. They'd better hope their transfers from Missouri and Ill State come through for them. Else, they're just awful on the D front.
LB: Now here's a pretty good unit with Bumper Pool and Grant Morgan. They'll have to blitz to make up for the lack of DL/DE pass rush, and they're fairly capable on that front.
DB: S Jalen Catalon is good, real good. The other safeties, Foucha and Brooks, aren't bad. There's a noticable drop off when it comes to CBs though. THEY LIKE TO RUN ZONE COVERAGE - so look for guys like J. Whitt to find their soft spots and make plenty of grabs. Some of this may be due to their lack of confidence in their CBs. Good safeties/lousy CBs.
Overall: Good LBs and Safeties; not so good DL and CBs. I think Sark will work the running game until they stop us, play action may be interesting against good safeties and LBs, but lackluster CBs. Maybe some play action deep and to the outside; and I love our play action to Bijan in the flats--that's probably our best consistent play thus far. Sure they have plenty of returning starters, but they finished 106th in total defense and 97th in scoring defense.
So feel free to say it: ARKANSAS SUCKS!!! The linked Alabama website below has them losing every SEC game except Miss State. Oh yeah, they really, really hate us--Good. We will savor our victory over the haters that much more. That, and it's time to bring back a heated, hated rivalry that's been mostly dormant in recent decades.
Barry Odom (Missouri) is the new DC. He's got some work to do allright. Meanwhile, the fan base has soured on OC Kendal Briles--he's taking a lot of flak on the message boards.
There's a lot to this picture...
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2021 SEC Football Preview: Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2021 season
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Returning starters: 7 on offense, 9 on defense, punter.
Key losses: DT Jonathan Marshall, (Round 6, Jets), QB Feleipe Franks, CB Jerry Jacobs, RB Rakeem Boyd, WR Mike Woods (transfer to Oklahoma), DL Isaiah Nichols.
Top returnees: WR Treylon Burks, WR Trey Knox, QB KJ Jefferson, RB Trelon Smith, TE Hudson Henry, C Ricky Stromberg, LB: Grant Morgan, DB Jalen Catalon, OL Myron Cunningham, LB Bumper Pool. (the highlighted guys are on par with our talent level--in Burks and Catalon's case, maybe even better)
Top newcomers: projected starting DL John Ridgeway (transfer from Illinois State), projected starting DE Tre Williams (from Missouri), DL Markell Utsey (from Missouri), former 4-star OT Ty’kieast Crawford (from Charlotte).
QB: Felipe Franks is gone, so KJ Jefferson will be the QB. Jefferson is like a low-talent version of Sam. He's a big (240lb) QB who likes to tuck the ball and do some power running, and he's fast for a guy that size. He's ok on the RPO. The problem is, he has nowhere near Sam's talent level. Also, apparently Briles is trying to make him a pocket passer--a role he looks uncomfortable in. It doesn't seem that KJ Jefferson is the right QB for what the hogs are trying to do. They've got some personnel issues here. And the QB runs the show. Again, defending big sized run-pass QB KJ Jefferson should be like going against a much less talented version of Sam. Contra-point: KJ Jefferson played pretty well against Missouri last year. You can put lipstick on the pig, but KJ Jefferson is a downgrade from Felipe Franks. If the suckage gets too bad, Coach Briles can put in speedy backup QB Malik Hornsby.
RBs: Trelon Smith (fast) and Dominique Johnson (big) bring the speed and power.
OL: The OL has experience, but they're mediocre at best. Not as good as the Cajun OL that gave up 4 sacks, and many QB pressures, to us. And we only gave up 77 yards on the ground to the Cajuns. Arkansas allowed 36 sacks last year, and that was with the faster Felipe Franks at QB, rather than the big bruiser QB Jefferson. Oh yeah, the pigs just lost their OL coach in June to LSU. If we can get 6 sacks against a capable UL line, we oughta really tattoo Jefferson.
WR: The hogs best WR, Mike Woods, transferred to Oklahoma. WR Treylon Burks is 6'3" 225 lbs, so they like them big; he's the playmaker of the bunch and is good. The rest of the WRs are pretty pedestrian. Cover Burks well and stop big plays to him.
TE: Hudson Henry
is probably the starting TE. Not bad, but nothing special. Same with the other main TE Blake Kern--although there's at least one mention of Kern on a future NFL watch list.Overall -- this is just the sort of O that Pete Kwiatkowski can shut down. I don't see them scoring much. Note: THEY LIKE TO RUN SOME UP-TEMPO HERE-AND-THERE.
DL: They're big, but they had difficulty generating any pass rush last year. This is a big part of the reason the hogs gave up 35 points per game. The leading sacker had 2.5 sacks last year... Bunch of no-talent a$$ clowns. Exactly what we need our OL to face after an underperformance against Z'yon Hill and his Cajun friends. The swine are having to rely on some transfers (John Ridgeway from Illinois State and Markell Utsey and DE Trey Williams from Missouri) to bolster a weak unit. If we handle them even reasonably well, Bijan (and Roschon and the other Robinson) will roll. Definitely one of the weaker DLs we'll face all year. They'd better hope their transfers from Missouri and Ill State come through for them. Else, they're just awful on the D front.
LB: Now here's a pretty good unit with Bumper Pool and Grant Morgan. They'll have to blitz to make up for the lack of DL/DE pass rush, and they're fairly capable on that front.
DB: S Jalen Catalon is good, real good. The other safeties, Foucha and Brooks, aren't bad. There's a noticable drop off when it comes to CBs though. THEY LIKE TO RUN ZONE COVERAGE - so look for guys like J. Whitt to find their soft spots and make plenty of grabs. Some of this may be due to their lack of confidence in their CBs. Good safeties/lousy CBs.
Overall: Good LBs and Safeties; not so good DL and CBs. I think Sark will work the running game until they stop us, play action may be interesting against good safeties and LBs, but lackluster CBs. Maybe some play action deep and to the outside; and I love our play action to Bijan in the flats--that's probably our best consistent play thus far. Sure they have plenty of returning starters, but they finished 106th in total defense and 97th in scoring defense.
So feel free to say it: ARKANSAS SUCKS!!! The linked Alabama website below has them losing every SEC game except Miss State. Oh yeah, they really, really hate us--Good. We will savor our victory over the haters that much more. That, and it's time to bring back a heated, hated rivalry that's been mostly dormant in recent decades.
Barry Odom (Missouri) is the new DC. He's got some work to do allright. Meanwhile, the fan base has soured on OC Kendal Briles--he's taking a lot of flak on the message boards.
There's a lot to this picture...
Arkansas Razorbacks: CFN College Football Preview 2021
Arkansas Football: 2021 Razorbacks Season Preview and Prediction
Razorback Football with Sam Pittman: Season Preview
2021 SEC Football Preview: Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2021 season
SEC Football Preview: Arkansas Razorbacks on the rise
Predicting the 2021 SEC Football Season: Arkansas Razorbacks Preview & Picks
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