FAYETTEVILLE — There are still a couple of weeks until the start of the 2024 Arkansas football season, but the depth chart appears to be taking shape as fall camp winds down.
Following their final major preseason scrimmage, the Razorbacks seemed to take a little bit off the physicality of practice on Day 15 of camp. They moved their operations inside Walker Pavilion to get out of the heat and worked out in “spiders” – light padding, opposed to full shoulder pads.
Head coach Sam Pittman also shortened practice by about 45 minutes, which meant a smaller portion open to the media.
Reporters got to see only the first three periods Friday, but luckily one of those was Arkansas’ “fastball starts” team period. That gave us a look at how the first-, second- and third-team units shook out after that scrimmage, which typically hints at how things will look in the opening game.
The full three-deep depth chart is listed below, but here are a few notable takeaways:
- While Andrew Armstrong (hamstring) participated, Tyrone Broden (turf toe) was held out of the team period again. That meant there was one open wide receiver spot with the first unit and freshman CJ Brown filled it, indicating he might be fourth in the pecking order at that position, behind Armstrong, Broden and Isaiah Sategna. He was noticeably ahead of returners Jaedon Wilson, Isaac TeSlaa and Davion Dozier, as well as Monte Harrison, the 29-year-old freshman who has also received first-team reps recently.
- They may not have settled on it until this week, but it appears E’Marion Harris has locked down the left guard spot while Patrick Kutas (back) is out. He took reps with the first-team offense during the media viewing periods all week and has been hyped up by all of the coaches and players who’ve spoken to reporters this week. If Kutas isn’t back until the Monday of game week, which Pittman said is possible, then Harris seems to be the frontrunner to start against UAPB.
- Perhaps the most notable thing on either side of the ball was Jaheim Singletary working as the first-team cornerback opposite of Jaylon Braxton. He is seemingly in a three-man battle with Kee’yon Stewart and Marquise Robinson for that one spot. Those other two got second-team reps, which is where Stewart has been for the past week or so, but Robinson got first-team work at a couple of practices earlier in the week.
- Pittman mentioned after the scrimmage that Anton Juncaj and TJ Metcalf are both really pushing for starting spots, even singling out the two players they’re chasing, but Nico Davillier and Hudson Clark were still with the first-team defense on Friday.
For more discussion on what unfolded in Thursday’s scrimmage, check out the latest episode of Hoggin’ the Mic:
Fall Camp Observations — Day 15
Here are a few other observations from the media’s viewing period of the 15th day of fall camp…
- Running back Ja’Quinden Jackson, the projected starter, did not dress out for practice. Instead, he was spotted walking along the sideline. The Utah transfer has been dealing with an ankle injury during fall camp and was pulled out of Thursday’s scrimmage early on for precautionary reasons. That’s not particularly surprising considering how physical of a runner he’s been, as seen in this clip from the scrimmage:
- Another noteworthy absence was offensive lineman Ty’Kieast Crawford. Sam Pittman said he had to leave the scrimmage early with a minor shoulder injury. He was not spotted at practice Friday. Despite some hope that he’d push for a starting job, Crawford has been the second-team right guard all fall camp, at least during the periods seen by the media.
- The only player in a green non-contact jersey Friday was walk-on defensive tackle Elijah Brown, who had missed several previous practices with an undisclosed injury.
- During the aforementioned “fastball starts” period, two of the four reps by the first unit were completions by Taylen Green to Andrew Armstrong. That shows his importance to the offense and his absence – along with Tyrone Broden’s – in the scrimmage might have played a part in the Razorbacks’ struggles on that side of the ball.
- With the third unit, walk-on Jabrae Shaw jumped in front of a pass intended for Krosse Johnson for another interception. He had one of the four interceptions by walk-on defensive backs in the scrimmage.
- It’s also worth noting that Larry Worth III got second-team reps at safety Friday morning. It was the first time reporters had seen that, but he has apparently worked the position previously in fall camp, including when he picked off Malachi Singleton in Thursday’s scrimmage.
- With Patrick Kutas, Ty’Kieast Crawford, Luke Brown and Zuri Madison all out with various injuries, the Razorbacks are down to only nine healthy scholarship offensive linemen – and one of those is a former walk-on. That meant one current (Brooks Edmonson) and one former (Josh Street) walk-on worked with the second unit and the entire third unit was made up of walk-ons.
Arkansas Football Injury Report
Here’s a rundown of several Arkansas football players who are dealing with injuries…
- OL Patrick Kutas (back): Has been out since Day 3 of fall camp with a back issue.
- OL Ty’Kieast Crawford (shoulder): Left Thursday’s scrimmage early with a minor shoulder injury, not spotted at Friday’s practice.
- RB Ja’Quinden Johnson (ankle): Participated in the scrimmage, but did not dress out Friday.
- WR Tyrone Broden (turf toe): As has been the case for about two weeks, he was limited in Friday’s practice, only participating in individual drills… Also held out of both scrimmages because of turf toe.
- WR Andrew Armstrong (hamstring): After being held out of the second scrimmage, he went through everything Friday and didn’t appear to be limited during the media’s viewing period.
- K Vito Calvaruso (groin): Did not participate in either scrimmage because of a pulled groin muscle… Specialists weren’t spotted Friday, so no update on his status.
- OL Luke Brown (knee): Still not at practice… He’ll be out a couple of weeks after having some cartilage trimmed last week.
- LB JuJu Pope (hamstring): Returned to practice Wednesday and was back out there Friday… Missed the scrimmage because he’s still going through the acclimatization period, where players work up to full pads… Pittman mentioned on before fall camp that Pope would be limited for the first week of camp because of a hamstring injury.
- DB Jaden Allen (knee): Pittman said the freshman had “cartilage repair” done on his knee and that he’s not expected to play this season.
- LB Justin Logan (shoulder): After being limited and wearing a green non-contact jersey during the spring, Pittman said he probably won’t play this season.
- OL Zuri Madison (ACL): Missed the spring and will miss the 2024 season with a torn ACL suffered in a scooter accident.
Arkansas Football Depth Chart
Here’s how the Razorbacks lined up during the “fastball starts” team period, which consisted of the first, second and third units running four 11-on-11 plays apiece…
Offense
| POS | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Taylen Green | Malachi Singleton | KJ Jackson |
| RB | Rashod Dubinion | Rodney Hill | Tyrell Reed Jr. |
| TE | Luke Hasz | Andreas Paaske Tyrus Washington | n/a |
| WR | Andrew Armstrong | Jaedon Wilson | Krosse Johnson |
| WR | Isaiah Sategna | n/a | Bryce Stephens |
| WR | CJ Brown | Davion Dozier | Isaac TeSlaa Rykar Acebo |
| LT | Fernando Carmona | Josh Street | Aaron Smith |
| LG | E’Marion Harris | Brooks Edmonson | Tommy Varhall |
| C | Addison Nichols | Amaury Wiggins | Tim Dawn |
| RG | Joshua Braun | Kobe Branham | Alex Johnson |
| RT | Keyshawn Blackstock | Joe More | Jonas Nantze |
Defense
| POS | First | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE | Landon Jackson | Quincy Rhodes Jr. | Kavion Henderson |
| DT | Cam Ball | Keivie Rose | Kaleb James |
| DT | Eric Gregory | Ian Geffrard* Danny Saili* | JJ Hollingsworth |
| DE | Nico Davillier | Anton Juncaj | Charlie Collins |
| LB | Brad Spence | Stephen Dix Jr. | Alex Sanford |
| LB | Xavian Sorey Jr. | Anthony Switzer | Bradley Shaw |
| CB | Jaheim Singletary | Kee’yon Stewart | Aidan McCowan |
| NB | Doneiko Slaughter | Tevis Metcalf | Jabrae Shaw |
| S | Hudson Clark | Larry Worth III | Ahkhari Johnson |
| S | Jayden Johnson | Miguel Mitchell | Christian Ford |
| CB | Jaylon Braxton | Marquise Robinson | Selman Bridges |
Post-Practice Interviews
Following Day 15 of fall camp, reporters spoke to linebacker/defensive back Larry Worth III and center Addison Nichols:
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More coverage of Arkansas football and fall camp from BoAS…
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