The Rundown
Practice officially began at approximately 3:50 p.m. CT and we walked out around 5:50 p.m. CT. We watched individual drills, fastball, one-on-ones, seven-on-seven, red zone work, blitz drills and two-minute drills.
Running back room looked solid
We've seen what Braylen Russell is capable of after last season, but the running back room as a whole looked good on Tuesday. New Mexico State transfer Mike Washington Jr. runs hard and is really good at weaving through traffic.
Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino gave a lot of good nuggets on the offense during his press conference today. He spoke highly of the running back room and it sounds like there's a good battle for the top spot between Washington and Russell.
"I really like Mike Washington," Petrino said. "He’s got great size, he sees things and he’s explosive. I think we have a chance to make big plays. He also catches the ball real well, as does Braylen, out of the backfield. Braylen, I remember him in high school, they ran tight end routes with him and his ability to jump and turn and he’s been showing that this spring for us, too."
Another running back who caught my eye is freshman Cam Settles. The Little Rock Parkview product isn't huge, just 5-foot-11 and 204 pounds, but he's not afraid of contact and has really good vision when he gets the ball in space.
New look on defense
For the first time this spring, we saw them deploy a defensive look with three down linemen and three linebackers (3-3-5) and it was with the first team defense during the fastball period at the beginning of the viewing portion.
The usual two starters were Xavian Sorey Jr. and Stephen Dix Jr. with Brad Shaw added as the third linebacker. They ran with Quincy Rhodes Jr. as the only defensive end with Ian Geffrard and Danny Saili as the other two defensive linemen.
I have to say, I'm worried about the depth on the defensive line and the secondary. They've made it clear that those are two spots they'll prioritize in the post-spring portal, so it's a little early to panic, but there's too many walk-ons in the two deep.
National Championship-winning coach in attendance
Harding University football head coach Paul Simmons, whose son Wyatt is a linebacker for the Razorbacks, was in attendance for Tuesday's practice. His Harding Bison won the Division II National Championship in 2023.
Random thoughts
One player who has made a noticeable improvement of late is tight end Jaden Platt. The Texas A&M transfer has some work to do in order to make his way up the depth chart, especially with the recent surge from Rohan Jones, but I've seen his play improve and he's been making some tough catches after dropping passes in earlier practices. Bobby Petrino said Tuesday that Platt hasn't been fully healthy, so I'm sure that's played a role.
"He can be the big run blocker and also running catch," Petrino said. "He's a real talented guy."
There seems to be a little big of an injury bug going on in the offensive line room. We aren't allowed to write about injuries, per UA policy, but you can piece things together when looking at the very unofficial depth charts from the past two practices.
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Notable plays
— During the fastball portion of the practice, Taylen Green rolled out left on a play-action pass and found Ismael Cisse wide open for a touchdown.
— In the 11-on-11 portion of practice, Selman Bridges broke up a pass from Madden Iamaleava. Had he not broken it up, Caleb Wooden would have had a really good chance to pick it off.
— In the redzone portion of practice, KJ Jackson found Shamar Easter in the back of the endzone for a touchdown. Easter made a really nice play and caught it while he was smothered by Landon Phipps. The referee said he was out of bounds, but it didn't look like it to me.
— Jackson also had a touchdown pass to Monte Harrison during 11-on-11 work.
— Also during redzone work, Green hit O'Mega Blake for a touchdown. Blake made the catch over two defenders.
— During 7-on-7, Green connected with Raylen Sharpe and had really nice touch on the ball to get it over the defense, and dropped it right into the breadbasket for Sharpe.
— Blake Boda found C.J. Brown twice in a row for nice gains, and on the second catch Brown outran the defense to get into the endzone.
— Tight end Jeremiah Beck caught a pass from Blake Boda one-handed while he was running a crossing route.
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Depth Chart
These depth charts are unofficial and just a general list based on the fastball drills ran. They go with different personnel and different formations often.
FIRST TEAM
Offense
QB: Taylen Green
RB: Braylen Russell
TE: Rohan Jones
WR: O'Mega Blake, Ismael Cisse, Raylen Sharpe
LT: Corey Robinson II
LG: Fernando Carmona Jr.
C: Caden Kitler
RG: Keyshawn Blackstock
RT: E'Marion Harris
Defense
DE: Quincy Rhodes Jr.
DT: Ian Geffrard
DT: Danny Saili
LB: Brad Shaw
LB: Xavian Sorey Jr.
LB: Stephen Dix Jr.
NB: Caleb Wooden
CB: Jaheim Singletary
CB: Selman Bridges
S: Larry Worth III
S: Miguel Mitchell
SECOND TEAM
Offense
QB: KJ Jackson
RB: Mike Washington
TE: Andreas Paaske, Jeremiah Beck
WR: CJ Brown, Monte Harrison
LT: Kavion Broussard
LG: Bubba Craig
C: Kash Courtney
RG: Blake Cherry
RT: Marcus Dumervil
Defense
DE: Justus Boone
DT: Kevin Oatis
DT: Kaleb James
DE: Donovan Whitten
LB: Tavion Wallace
LB: Wyatt Simmons
NB: JJ Shelton
CB: Jaden Allen
CB: Keshawn Davila
S: Quentavius Scandrett
S: Ahkhari Johnson
THIRD TEAM
Offense
QB: Madden Iamaleava
RB: AJ Green
TE: Jaden PLatt
WR: Courtney Crutchfield, Shamar Easter, Kam Shanks
LT: Aaron Smith
LG: Alex Johnson
C: Tim Dawn
RG: Payton Parks-Smith
RT: Jonas Nantze
Defense
DE: Donovan Whitten
DT: JJ Hollingsworth
DT: Caleb Bell
DE: Charlie Collins
LB: Joseph Whitt
LB: Justin Logan
NB: Cade Fields
CB: Aidan McCowan
CB: Landon Phipps
S: Braylon Watson
S: Anton Pierce
