Three things we learned about Arkansas football following fall camp

With fall camp officially in the books, the 2023 season is right around the corner for Arkansas football. Two weeks and 15 practices later, we’ve gotten a lot more clarity on how Sam Pittman’s team will look this season.

Naturally, though, we won’t get answers to all of our questions until Sept. 2 when Western Carolina rolls into War Memorial Stadium. However, fall camp did offer us glimpse of what we should expect in 2023.

Here’s three things we learned about Arkansas football following camp.

Plenty of weapons in passing game

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One of the biggest questions Arkansas faced entering 2023 was in the passing game. The Hogs were tasked with replacing 72.5% of their receiving production from 2022. Through fall camp, however, it’s become apparent that they’ll have no issues doing that.

Wide Receivers

Transfer wideout Isaac TeSlaa has quickly emerged as one of the most reliable options. Wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton had some high praise for Teslaa following fall camp.

“I mean, one of those guys you never have to worry about if he knows what’s going on” said Guiton. “He knows what to do, knows why we’re making a play call, knows where he needs to end up on a play. And when that ball is in the air and it’s around No. 4, expect a play to be made.”

Another standout was transfer Andrew Armstrong, who has the speed and athleticism to get loose in the secondary. However, Guiton says that, most importantly, Armstrong has become a leader in the receiver’s room.

“The main guy that’s stepped up has been Andrew Armstrong,” Guiton said. “He’s been a guy that, like I said, even though he’s been here since January, he’s been in college. He’s an older guy. He understands it, he knows what it takes to be great, so when he sees it not happening, he steps up and is vocal about it.”

Isaiah Sategna and Bryce Stephens are two returning guys that will likely split time in the slot. Sategna has been one of the wideouts mentioned most by Pittman and Guiton. He’s been extremely impressive throughout spring and up to now.

Tyrone Broden, a 6-7 transfer from Bowling Green, is another piece that could factor into the passing game. He entered fall camp healthy after missing most of spring practices. He’s got a big frame with sneaky athleticism that could makes him a prime target in redzone situations.

Tight Ends

With Dan Enos at the helm, Arkansas will utilize tight ends a lot more than in years past. Var’Keyes Gumms, an all-conference transfer from North Texas, is projected to be the starter and has earned the trust of the coaching staff through fall camp.

“He’s at the point where we’re going to trust him,” new tight ends coach Morgan Turner said. “I mean, he’s got good hands, gets open. So there’s a lot of things we’ll be able to do.”

Talented freshman Luke Hasz will likely figure into the main rotation as well. Hasz is someone the staff is extremely high on going forward.

It’s safe to say that between the wide receivers and tight ends, KJ Jefferson should have his fair share of reliable options in the passing game this season.

Offensive line will determine offense’s ceiling

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While it’s true that Jefferson has plenty of weapons in the passing game, will he have enough time in the pocket to utilize those weapons?

Following the first scrimmage of fall camp, Sam Pittman didn’t mince words in regards to the offensive line.

“Our protection has to get better,” Pittman said. “We have to give (the quarterbacks) more time.”

While there was a lot of talk regarding Pittman’s comments, the offensive line did come out and perform much better in the second scrimmage. Though, that really doesn’t temper the major concerns with that position group.

Arkansas is very experienced on the interior – at guard and center – with senior Brady Latham and junior Joshua Braun flanking senior center Beaux Limmer. However, they’re much less experienced at the two tackle spots.

Devon Manuel and Patrick Kutas are the projected starters and, while they’re very talented, they lack meaningful reps. When Pittman took the podium at SEC Media Days, he mentioned the inexperience.

“At tackle, we have very talented tackles. Devon Manuel and Patrick Kutas, we like those guys a lot,” Pittman said. “But they’re not proven on Saturday afternoons yet. Are they talented? Yes. These guys, I know they can play, but they haven’t yet because we’ve had older guys on the team in front of them.”

Can talent overcome inexperience? That important question needs to be answered this season. Having KJ Jefferson, Rocket Sanders and a handful of other talented skill players won’t matter if the line can’t give them time and room to operate. A large part of the offense’s success this year will be determined by the offensive line playing up to their potential.

Deepest defensive line in program history?

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Some might mistake this statement for saying this is the “best” defensive line in history. That’s still very much TBD, but I am willing to say this is the deepest.

Through the transfer portal, Sam Pittman and Deke Adams added Anthony “Tank” Booker (Maryland), Trajan Jeffcoat (Missouri), John Morgan III (Pittsburgh) and Keivie Rose (Lousiana Tech). All four are seniors and have experiencing facing SEC-level competition.

On the flip side, the Hogs return a very solid group from last season in Cameron Ball, Eric Gregory, Landon Jackson, Jashaud Stewart and Zach Williams. Those five guys combined for 121 tackles and 12.5 sacks in 2022. That’s without mentioning sophomore Nico Davillier and redshirt senior Tauren Carter – who missed all of 2022 with a knee injury.

“I think it’s really good right now. We’ve got some older guys, we’ve got some plus-one year guys in there,” said Adams regarding the depth up front. “We’ll see how that goes, but right now we’re going to take one step at a time and one game at a time and we’re going to go out and put the best four on the field and get our rotation rolling. Hopefully we can wear some people down and play well.”

You can expect to see a rotation of eight or nine guys each game, which is a luxury that Arkansas has rarely ever had. Couple that with the overall experience and leadership up front and it’s a very good recipe for success. Right now, the pieces are there for the Arkansas defensive line to have a really special season.