HawgBeat - Monday Practice Observations
HawgBeat's takeaways from Arkansas football's practice on Monday afternoon.
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Arkansas had its first practice of the school year on Monday afternoon and the media was let in to view six periods of action for around 30 minutes total. The team practice indoors in the Walker Pavilion with the temperature being 100-plus degrees outside.
Here are a few takeaways and tidbits from what I was able to see:
Monday's practice takeaways (8/21):
~ Arkansas practiced in shells and shorts today.
~ Left tackle Devon Manuel was participating at practice again after missing time with an undisclosed injury. Manuel also participated in Saturday's closed scrimmage.
~ Wide receivers Jaedon Wilson and Bryce Stephens were both sporting green jerseys during practice, though neither seemed to be limited in any drills. Freshman linebacker Carson Dean was also in green, though he also didn't seem to be limited.
~ The team began with a passing drill that primarily featured quarterbacks throwing a quick swing pass over the right side of the field. After that, they transitioned into a fastball period, which is an 11-on-11 period that features generally four plays each for the first, second and third team offense and defense.
~ After fastball, the team transition into individual drills and then they finished with a two-on-two slot drill and gap scheme drills on opposite sides of the field.
~ A couple of general takeaways include Jaheim Singletary continuing to come along as a physical cover corner, Jaedon Wilson being a little more shiftier than I thought he was and the quarterbacks were on the money during the slot drill (more on that below).
~ There was a scout from the Denver Broncos in attendance.
Fastball Depth Chart
*Not an official depth chart*
OFFENSE (First Team/Second Team/Third Team)
QB: KJ Jefferson / Jacolby Criswell / Cade Fortin, Malachi Singelton
RB: Rocket Sanders / Rashod Dubinion, AJ Green / Isaiah Augustave
TE: Luke Hasz / Ty Washington / Var'keyes Gumms
WR: Andrew Armstrong / Davion Dozier / Dazmin James
WR: Isaac TeSlaa / Tyrone Broden / Marlon Crockett
SWR: Isaiah Sategna / Jaedon Wilson / Bryce Stephens
LT: Andrew Chamblee / Aaron Smith / Brock Burns
LG: Brady Latham / Amaury Wiggins / Paris Patterson
C: Beaux Limmer / Josh Street / Eli Henderson
RG: Josh Braun / E'Marion Harris / Brooks Edmonson
RT: Patrick Kutas / Ty'Kieast Crawford / Cole Carson
DEFENSE (First Team/Second Team/Third Team)
DE: Landon Jackson / Zach Williams / Nico Davillier
DT: Eric Gregory / Cam Ball / Ian Geffrard
DT: Taurean Carter / Keivie Rose / Kyle Thompson
DE: Trajan Jeffcoat / John Morgan / Quincy Rhodes
LB: Jordan Crook / Brad Spence / Mani Powell
LB: Jaheim Thomas / Brooks Both / Alex Sanford
CB: Dwight McGlothern / LaDarrius Bishop / Aidan McCowan
CB: Jaheim Singletary / Kee’yon Stewart / Courtney Snelling
S: Jayden Johnson / Malik Chavis / TJ Metcalf
S: Al Walcott / Hudson Clark / Dylan Hasz
Nickel: Lorando Johnson / Jaylen Lewis / Jabrae Shaw
Fastball play-by-play
FIRST TEAM
- Rocket Sanders takes run-pass option right and gains a few yards
- Sanders runs middle for short gain
- KJ Jefferson rolls left, throws for Andrew Armstrong, Jaheim Singletary breaks up pass
- Jefferson pass complete to Armstrong on left side
SECOND TEAM
- AJ Green run at left guard for short gain
- Jacolby Criswell pass incomplete, but way low intended for Jaedon Wilson
- Green runs left for short gain
- Criswell rolls right, looks and decided to tuck and run
THIRD TEAM
- Draw play to Isaiah Augustave up the middle
- Augustave draw play again, good gain at right end
- Cade Fortin pass incomplete deep intended for Marlon Crockett
- Augustave runs at left end, decent gain
- Malachi Singleton throws complete to Dazmin James on right side
Two-on-two slot takeaways
The final period of the media viewing portion featured quarterbacks throwing to receivers and running backs with defensive backs and linebackers dropping in coverage. The quarterbacks threw from midfield and I recorded just two incompletions for all of them combined — Jacolby Criswell had one and Cade Fortin had one.
~ KJ Jefferson threw a touchdown to Isaiah Sategna on the left hash. There seemed to have been a blown coverage by Courtney Snelling.
~ Jefferson threw a nice touchdown on the right sideline to AJ Green, who ran a perfect wheel route with John Paul Pickens trailing in coverage.
~ Jefferson placed a perfect deep ball touchdown in the hands of Andrew Armstrong, who beat Jaylen Lewis in the middle of the field.
~ Cade Fortin found Davion Dozier on a pass over the middle with Jaheim Singletary in coverage. Dozier continues to impress me.
~ Malachi Singleton threw a touchdown deep over the middle to Dazmin James with Adain McCowan in coverage.
