FAYETTEVILLE - The better that Montaric Brown preseason scrimmages the less action he might receive at corner back when the Razorbacks start their season.
Opposing offenses tend to avoid throwing to the side featuring an outstanding corner back. Fourth-year junior corner back Brown of Ashdown apparently has been outstanding throughout Arkansas’ two weeks of preseason practice including last Friday’s full-scale scrimmage.
“Busta,” which his teammates call him more often than Montaric, apparently busted the offense throughout Friday’s fracas that was closed to media.
“Busta actually caused and recovered a fumble down close on the goal line,” Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said following the Razorbacks scrimmage on the grass practice field. “A magnificent, wonderful play.”
Junior college transfer defensive end Julius Coates has impacted from Day One and apparently did in Friday’s scrimmage. Pittman said the scrimmage started well for the whole team but deteriorated a bit at the end in the humid 90-degrees heat in 120-plus plays including special teams.
“Defensively, Coates is still really hard to block and he’s on some special teams as well,” Pittman said. “So we kind of ran him out of gas a little bit. But the D-line, again, they put pressure on the quarterback and I was pleased with that group.”
Pittman has touted the defensive line and the secondary but not so much the linebackers in between.
“We haven’t really had a guy going, ‘This is my job, and I’m going to take it from you,” Pittman said. “That position right there is still a wide-open position of who’s going to be our starters.”
They don’t lack for candidates.
“There are a lot of guys there at that position,” Pittman said. “You’ve got Bumper (Pool) and of course (Grant) Morgan and (Deon) Edwards and (Andrew) Parker … (Levi) Draper …(and senior Hayden Henry). There are a lot of guys there.”
There just aren’t that many guys at tight end. Redshirt freshman Hudson Henry, the brother of Hayden Henry and eldest sibling Hunter Henry, the Los Angeles Chargers star and former Razorbacks Mackey Award winning All-American tight ends and fifth-year senior Blake Kern are the lone tight ends who have played in a Razorbacks games.
Depth is so thin that two freshmen from defense, Blayne Toll of Hazen and Eric Thomas, have moved to tight end. Toll has moved three times, from defensive end to tight end, tight end to defensive end and back to tight end Friday.
“To be honest with you, we’re trying to find two really good tight ends,” Pittman said. “And if we can get three and four, that would be great. But right now, I can tell you I don’t have a clue who the starting tight end is yet.”
Henry, highly touted of Pulaski Academy, seems the best bet. He caught two Feleipe Franks touchdowns in Friday’s portion of red zone drills.
“He broke a tackle and got in the end zone,” Pittman said of one of Henry’s two short reception touchdowns. “It was good to see him have some success.”
