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Some key takeaways from Bielema's presser

Danny West

Recruiting Analyst
Oct 24, 2004
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www.hawgsports.com
Here are some things that I think were the key takeaways today:

- Jeremiah Ledbetter moving inside as a 3 technique. This is a guy we've always seen as someone they can do a lot of things with, and I think we saw that last year when they played him inside at times (and even as a linebacker in a certain look). Probably one of the most gifted athletes on the roster, pound-for-pound, and you have to like Bielema even comparing him to Darius Philon.

T.J. Smith, who will be behind Ledbetter, has also received a lot of praise lately, including today by Bielema.

- At the R defensive end position, you've got three Arkansans in veteran Tevin Beanum, followed by Jamario Bell and McTelvin Agim. Well, Agim is from Texas, but he still counts as an instate product. By the way, those are three very good athletes.

- Bielema said he expects "3 or 4" of the true freshman linebackers to help add depth when they arrive this fall. For those who don't remember the names, they signed DeJon Harris, Giovanni LaFrance, Alex Jean-Baptiste and Dee Walker at the position. With Josh Williams, Dre Greenlaw, Brooks Ellis, Kendrick Jackson, Randy Ramsey, Dwayne Eugene, Khalia Hackett, Nicholas Thomas-Smith, Tyler Phillips and Josh Harris already there, this is the first time in a long time that Arkansas actually has plenty of depth at the position. Now it's a matter of finding out the quality of the depth.

- Kind of got overlooked a little bit, but we've finally seen what we expected all along with Nate Dalton going to safety and Willie Sykes going to corner. I think everyone could see that coming.

- Bielema said the guy that jumps out the most on the OL is Colton Jackson. That's notable with what should be a great competition at the LT spot this spring and fall. Also, Johnny Gibson getting bigger and being in the mix at RG (in addition to RT) stood out to me.

- Kody Walker was listed at 251 on today's new roster, but Bielema said he's down to about 243 after being right at 260 last year. Bielema added that they'll try to get Kody below the 240 mark, too, so he's not done slimming up yet. I ran into Kody at the mall on Saturday and talked for a minute. He finally gave up on the hairline and just shaved it all off, so he's the team's old man in more ways than one. He told me I should go ahead and give up on mine too, for what it's worth, and he's probably right.

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