Arkansas Football Spring Game 2017: 5 things to watch for
By John Buhler
The Arkansas Razorbacks will host their annual Red-White spring game on Saturday afternoon. Here are the five biggest storylines heading into the scrimmage.
2017 will be a pivotal year for the Arkansas Razorbacks football program. It will be the fifth year of the Bret Bielema era in Fayetteville. While Arkansas does play in the same SEC West with the blue-blood powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide, this should be a year where Arkansas could make some serious noise in the SEC.
Arkansas may have gone only 7-6 (3-5) last fall, but the Razorbacks should be one of the more seasoned teams in the SEC this upcoming season. They return much of their starting offensive line and second-year starting quarterback senior Austin Allen.
Arkansas will hold their annual Red-White spring game on Saturday. Here are the five biggest storylines surrounding the Arkansas football program heading into this glorified intra-squad scrimmage.
5. Replacing Deatrich Wise Jr.
Though Arkansas will have to adjust in its new defensive scheme under Paul Rhoads, the Razorbacks will certainly miss a productive defensive lineman in Deatrich Wise Jr. While he was inconsistent during his time in Fayetteville, Wise offers great upside in an NFL defensive line rotation as a day three selection in the upcoming draft.
Winning in the trenches is important across all levels of football, but Arkansas can’t afford to be lackluster in the front-seven again in 2017, even with Wise’s departure to the NFL. So who do the Razorbacks lean on to get it done up front for them this fall?
Though he may be more of a defensive tackle, senior Bijhon Jackson could be the guy that the Razorbacks hitch their wagon to along the defensive line. He’s the most experienced guy along the Arkansas defensive line. Jackson could play some 3-technique and maybe even some 5-technique defensive end in certain situations.
Replacing Wise will not be an easy task in the slightest. However, the move to the 3-4 defense could allow the Razorbacks to get better penetration out of their superior linebacking corps. It’s not going to be a smooth transition up front for Arkansas, but hopefully these schematic changes will be beneficial to the program in the long run.