I didn't do 'DW's Takeaways' because I honestly don't feel like I got a good enough look at certain things. I did something new during yesterday's scrimmage, updating the statistics on the site during the scrimmage, so that kept my head down quite a bit.
Anyway, there were a few standout performers that deserved to be mentioned:
- With Deatrich Wise out, Arkansas has to like what they saw from JaMichael Winston yesterday. He jumps in with the first group and they never missed a beat. In fact, he duplicated Wise-like numbers with 2.5 sacks and another tackle for loss. He probably could've been credited with another sack.
I think Winston is a very intriguing player. Remember, this is a guy who was a captain a year ago and was expected to have a breakout year. That obviously didn't happen, and now Wise is the guy that everyone's talking about. Because he disappeared last year, I'm hesitant to make any bold predictions for Winston this year, but he definitely looked very good yesterday beating Colton Jackson and Dan Skipper for sacks.
- Byron Keaton is a guy that never gets talked about -- and many have probably never even heard of him. But he got third-team CB reps yesterday and ended up with a couple of pass break-ups. Some credited him with three, for what it's worth. Regardless, Byron's a team favorite and it was good to see him do some good things with his opportunity yesterday.
- La'Michael Pettway has kind of become another guy that no one talks about in the loaded WR group, but he had a very good day Saturday with 2 catches for 41 yards and a 30-yard touchdown reception late in the scrimmage. Everyone knows the top five guys, and then you also hear about Deon Stewart and freshman Jordan Jones, so it was good to see Pettway remind us that he's still around and still capable of doing good things. Keep in mind, next spring all of these jobs are wide-open, so his time may be coming soon.
- I made a note of this on Twitter and elsewhere on the board, but I find it interesting that no one's saying much about Austin Allen's numbers in the two scrimmages of fall camp. He hit 30 of 40 (75%) for 309 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
All the talk has been about the No. 2 spot -- and rightfully so -- but here's ol' Steady Eddy Austin Allen just taking care of business. Granted, there's a lot of variables that go along with being in a green jersey this time of year, but I think about guys in the past like Ryan Mallett, Tyler Wilson and Brandon Allen. They all reached a certain point in their respective careers where it was just like automatic for them to complete 75-85 percent in scrimmages. Austin's been around for four years now and is looking like that type of guy, IMO.
- Twinkle Town's Austin Capps was very impressive Saturday. Everyone knows how freakishly strong he is, but you don't get a true appreciation for it until you see him push Frank Ragnow into the backfield. Last week I made my 'play or redshirt' predictions and had Capps as a RS. I got a call as soon as it was published and was told "No way he redshirts, he can help us." A couple days later, Bret said in a press conference that Capps will play. I'll gladly be wrong on that one because I love Capps.
- Kinda staying in line with the 'guys no one talks about' theme, I've seen enough of D'Vone McClure now to believe he has a chance to be a pretty good player for them. I asked Michael Smith about him earlier this week (you can go back and watch the video if you want), and he admitted McClure's still got a lot to learn, but you have to like his athleticism and his natural pass-catching ability. He's got an impressive body, he seems eager to figure it out, and like I said earlier, he'll have as good a shot as anyone with all of those jobs opening in the spring.
- Not sure if it was just kidding around or what, but I liked seeing Jeremiah Ledbetter and Austin Allen jawing back and forth during the scrimmage yesterday. It seemed like Leddy was probably more serious about it and Austin kept walking off when he'd get in his ear, but I could tell Austin was giving it back to him too. And if you're wondering, of course Dan Skipper made an appearance to separate the two.
- That's all I've got for now. Off to see how many bass can be caught before the preacher gets to preaching.
Anyway, there were a few standout performers that deserved to be mentioned:
- With Deatrich Wise out, Arkansas has to like what they saw from JaMichael Winston yesterday. He jumps in with the first group and they never missed a beat. In fact, he duplicated Wise-like numbers with 2.5 sacks and another tackle for loss. He probably could've been credited with another sack.
I think Winston is a very intriguing player. Remember, this is a guy who was a captain a year ago and was expected to have a breakout year. That obviously didn't happen, and now Wise is the guy that everyone's talking about. Because he disappeared last year, I'm hesitant to make any bold predictions for Winston this year, but he definitely looked very good yesterday beating Colton Jackson and Dan Skipper for sacks.
- Byron Keaton is a guy that never gets talked about -- and many have probably never even heard of him. But he got third-team CB reps yesterday and ended up with a couple of pass break-ups. Some credited him with three, for what it's worth. Regardless, Byron's a team favorite and it was good to see him do some good things with his opportunity yesterday.
- La'Michael Pettway has kind of become another guy that no one talks about in the loaded WR group, but he had a very good day Saturday with 2 catches for 41 yards and a 30-yard touchdown reception late in the scrimmage. Everyone knows the top five guys, and then you also hear about Deon Stewart and freshman Jordan Jones, so it was good to see Pettway remind us that he's still around and still capable of doing good things. Keep in mind, next spring all of these jobs are wide-open, so his time may be coming soon.
- I made a note of this on Twitter and elsewhere on the board, but I find it interesting that no one's saying much about Austin Allen's numbers in the two scrimmages of fall camp. He hit 30 of 40 (75%) for 309 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
All the talk has been about the No. 2 spot -- and rightfully so -- but here's ol' Steady Eddy Austin Allen just taking care of business. Granted, there's a lot of variables that go along with being in a green jersey this time of year, but I think about guys in the past like Ryan Mallett, Tyler Wilson and Brandon Allen. They all reached a certain point in their respective careers where it was just like automatic for them to complete 75-85 percent in scrimmages. Austin's been around for four years now and is looking like that type of guy, IMO.
- Twinkle Town's Austin Capps was very impressive Saturday. Everyone knows how freakishly strong he is, but you don't get a true appreciation for it until you see him push Frank Ragnow into the backfield. Last week I made my 'play or redshirt' predictions and had Capps as a RS. I got a call as soon as it was published and was told "No way he redshirts, he can help us." A couple days later, Bret said in a press conference that Capps will play. I'll gladly be wrong on that one because I love Capps.
- Kinda staying in line with the 'guys no one talks about' theme, I've seen enough of D'Vone McClure now to believe he has a chance to be a pretty good player for them. I asked Michael Smith about him earlier this week (you can go back and watch the video if you want), and he admitted McClure's still got a lot to learn, but you have to like his athleticism and his natural pass-catching ability. He's got an impressive body, he seems eager to figure it out, and like I said earlier, he'll have as good a shot as anyone with all of those jobs opening in the spring.
- Not sure if it was just kidding around or what, but I liked seeing Jeremiah Ledbetter and Austin Allen jawing back and forth during the scrimmage yesterday. It seemed like Leddy was probably more serious about it and Austin kept walking off when he'd get in his ear, but I could tell Austin was giving it back to him too. And if you're wondering, of course Dan Skipper made an appearance to separate the two.
- That's all I've got for now. Off to see how many bass can be caught before the preacher gets to preaching.
