1) RIP Mitch Petrus - Hutch
Former Arkansas offensive lineman Mitch Petrus tragically passed away from a heat-related illness Thursday. He was just 32.
Petrus lives the dream of many Arkansas kids, leaving a small town (Carlisle) and joining the Razorbacks as a walk-on only to eventually earn a scholarship and become an All-SEC caliber player who was drafted into the NFL.
Opening holes for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, Petrus was a second-team All-SEC guard in 2007. Playing in an entirely different system under Bobby Petrino, he was a first-team selection in 2009. With the Giants, he won a Super Bowl.
In the summer of 2017, I did a project I called the “Arkansas All-SEC Team.” In honor of the Razorbacks’ 25 seasons in the conference, I asked fans to vote for Arkansas’ best players from the SEC era. Even though he hadn’t played in nearly eight years, Petrus was still so highly thought of that he earned a second-team nod.
It’s always sad when an Arkansas legend passes away, but especially when so young. HawgBeat’s thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
2) Potential Commits this Week - Nikki
Just 4/5 days away from the big cookout. If you remember back to last year, this is when they sweeped and picked up 5 commits in one week. Since they had the two this past weekend, when writing stories about how epic the BBQ was, I'll include those and they might be able to beat last year.
Starting with the birthday boy tomorrow - French - 99%
Catrell Wallace - 75%
Bryson Eason - 45%
Aaron Moore - 70%, I feel like he could be ready to decide but could also wait for OV
Brady Ward - Idk, still seems like there's more battling to do here
3) Danny Kanell with a...good idea? - Hutch
Very rarely does Danny Kanell - a former Florida State quarterback who previously worked at ESPN - post anything on Twitter that I’d consider a good idea. In fact, it’s usually anti-SEC propaganda. However, this is an interesting thought:
I’ve heard it mentioned before and have always loved the idea. Spring games are basically glorified practices right now and hardly ever provide any worthwhile insights on the team. The biggest reason is the classic question, “Is the offense great because the defense is terrible?” (And vice versa.)
It’s not a great product, but thousands of people still attend the usually free event. I bet more people would come if there was a real opponent, even if tickets were $20. Likewise, more people would buy tickets to regular-season games against the non-FCS replacement.
From a football standpoint, it would allow coaches to get some work against a team that hasn’t already seen all of their plays in practice a million times. They could adjust the rules and still treat it as a scrimmage - such as altering the kicking game, working two-minute drill, running clock in second half, etc. - or they could hold a full-fledged game. Players’ health would be at the same risk as if it were an intrasquad scrimmage because coaches would still limit starters’ reps, but backups and third-teamers would get more productive reps. It seems like a win-win to me.
4) Worst Commitment Times Ever? - Nikki
Apparently kids these days don't know much about social media peak times but posting commitments at 11:30 pm Saturday and 7am Sunday have to be two of the worst announcement times ever.
I had heard initially that they'd commit soon on Saturday, which was pretty out of the blue, so I got stories ready, heard that they were waiting until Sunday afternoon, went out to George's to see a Freddy Mercury tribute band, luckily had notifications on for Francis and boom, published the story from my phone. Then I published Edwards' story as soon as I woke up, pretty hung over, also from my phone in bed lol.
I don't think even most of you party animals were awake for one or either of the commitments which kinda defeats the point. But, Tyrece and Drew have never been very active on social media, or very talkative with the media, so maybe it's just their style.
5) Hogs’ Biggest Preseason All-SEC Snub
Hundreds - thousands? - of media members converged in Hoover, Ala., last week for the annual SEC Media Days. One of their tasks was to vote for the preseason All-SEC teams.
Two Arkansas players made the three squads, with linebacker De’Jon Harris getting a second-team nod and defensive tackle McTelvin Agim earning a spot on the third team. There is definitely a case to be made for Harris deserving to make the first team, but I have an even bigger gripe.
With three teams, there is no reason Cheyenne O’Grady should have been left off. Albert Okwuegbunam of Missouri and Jared Pinkney of Vanderbilt are really talented tight ends and deserving of the top two spots. However, there was a tie for the third-team tight end and neither have near the resume of O’Grady.
Alabama’s Miller Forristall has missed huge chunks of the last two seasons because of injury and has caught only six passes for 85 yards...in his career. Georgia’s Charlie Woerner has 25 receptions for 298 yards in his three seasons. Both players are expected to take on larger roles this year, with Irv Smith Jr. and Isaac Nauta gone to the NFL, but neither have much of a proven track record.
In fact, their combined career numbers - 31 receptions, 383 yards and no touchdowns - are less impressive than O’Grady’s statistics from last year: 400 yards and six touchdowns on 30 catches. It’s also worth noting he did that despite being suspended the first two games of the year and not catching a pass until Week 5.
There is no doubt it my mind that if he focuses on football and doesn’t have any off-the-field issues, O’Grady can be an All-SEC caliber tight end for the Razorbacks.
Former Arkansas offensive lineman Mitch Petrus tragically passed away from a heat-related illness Thursday. He was just 32.
Petrus lives the dream of many Arkansas kids, leaving a small town (Carlisle) and joining the Razorbacks as a walk-on only to eventually earn a scholarship and become an All-SEC caliber player who was drafted into the NFL.
Opening holes for Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, Petrus was a second-team All-SEC guard in 2007. Playing in an entirely different system under Bobby Petrino, he was a first-team selection in 2009. With the Giants, he won a Super Bowl.
In the summer of 2017, I did a project I called the “Arkansas All-SEC Team.” In honor of the Razorbacks’ 25 seasons in the conference, I asked fans to vote for Arkansas’ best players from the SEC era. Even though he hadn’t played in nearly eight years, Petrus was still so highly thought of that he earned a second-team nod.
It’s always sad when an Arkansas legend passes away, but especially when so young. HawgBeat’s thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
2) Potential Commits this Week - Nikki
Just 4/5 days away from the big cookout. If you remember back to last year, this is when they sweeped and picked up 5 commits in one week. Since they had the two this past weekend, when writing stories about how epic the BBQ was, I'll include those and they might be able to beat last year.
Starting with the birthday boy tomorrow - French - 99%
Catrell Wallace - 75%
Bryson Eason - 45%
Aaron Moore - 70%, I feel like he could be ready to decide but could also wait for OV
Brady Ward - Idk, still seems like there's more battling to do here
3) Danny Kanell with a...good idea? - Hutch
Very rarely does Danny Kanell - a former Florida State quarterback who previously worked at ESPN - post anything on Twitter that I’d consider a good idea. In fact, it’s usually anti-SEC propaganda. However, this is an interesting thought:
I’ve heard it mentioned before and have always loved the idea. Spring games are basically glorified practices right now and hardly ever provide any worthwhile insights on the team. The biggest reason is the classic question, “Is the offense great because the defense is terrible?” (And vice versa.)
It’s not a great product, but thousands of people still attend the usually free event. I bet more people would come if there was a real opponent, even if tickets were $20. Likewise, more people would buy tickets to regular-season games against the non-FCS replacement.
From a football standpoint, it would allow coaches to get some work against a team that hasn’t already seen all of their plays in practice a million times. They could adjust the rules and still treat it as a scrimmage - such as altering the kicking game, working two-minute drill, running clock in second half, etc. - or they could hold a full-fledged game. Players’ health would be at the same risk as if it were an intrasquad scrimmage because coaches would still limit starters’ reps, but backups and third-teamers would get more productive reps. It seems like a win-win to me.
4) Worst Commitment Times Ever? - Nikki
Apparently kids these days don't know much about social media peak times but posting commitments at 11:30 pm Saturday and 7am Sunday have to be two of the worst announcement times ever.
I had heard initially that they'd commit soon on Saturday, which was pretty out of the blue, so I got stories ready, heard that they were waiting until Sunday afternoon, went out to George's to see a Freddy Mercury tribute band, luckily had notifications on for Francis and boom, published the story from my phone. Then I published Edwards' story as soon as I woke up, pretty hung over, also from my phone in bed lol.
I don't think even most of you party animals were awake for one or either of the commitments which kinda defeats the point. But, Tyrece and Drew have never been very active on social media, or very talkative with the media, so maybe it's just their style.
5) Hogs’ Biggest Preseason All-SEC Snub
Hundreds - thousands? - of media members converged in Hoover, Ala., last week for the annual SEC Media Days. One of their tasks was to vote for the preseason All-SEC teams.
Two Arkansas players made the three squads, with linebacker De’Jon Harris getting a second-team nod and defensive tackle McTelvin Agim earning a spot on the third team. There is definitely a case to be made for Harris deserving to make the first team, but I have an even bigger gripe.
With three teams, there is no reason Cheyenne O’Grady should have been left off. Albert Okwuegbunam of Missouri and Jared Pinkney of Vanderbilt are really talented tight ends and deserving of the top two spots. However, there was a tie for the third-team tight end and neither have near the resume of O’Grady.
Alabama’s Miller Forristall has missed huge chunks of the last two seasons because of injury and has caught only six passes for 85 yards...in his career. Georgia’s Charlie Woerner has 25 receptions for 298 yards in his three seasons. Both players are expected to take on larger roles this year, with Irv Smith Jr. and Isaac Nauta gone to the NFL, but neither have much of a proven track record.
In fact, their combined career numbers - 31 receptions, 383 yards and no touchdowns - are less impressive than O’Grady’s statistics from last year: 400 yards and six touchdowns on 30 catches. It’s also worth noting he did that despite being suspended the first two games of the year and not catching a pass until Week 5.
There is no doubt it my mind that if he focuses on football and doesn’t have any off-the-field issues, O’Grady can be an All-SEC caliber tight end for the Razorbacks.
