FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas held a rigorous, heavy-hitting morning workout in moderate heat in practice No. 12 of training camp on Thursday at the Walker Pavilion and practice fields.
The Razorbacks worked in full pads as a prelude to today's "spider" pads day, followed by scrimmage No. 2 on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
"It was a solid day," defensive coordinator Barry Odom said. "To me, it was our most physical day of camp so far, and our guys responded. It was a competitive battle.
"I'm excited to go dig into the video to see. I think I know what I saw on the field but really want to back that up. And I thought that there was great competition."
Odom said there are position battles going on at multiple positions on defense, though he only specifically discussed a few.
The only Razorbacks on defense with seemingly nailed-down jobs are middle linebacker Grant Morgan, safeties Jalen Catalon and Joe Foucha, cornerback Montaric Brown and nickel back Greg Brooks Jr.
Seniors Hayden Henry and Bumper Pool are engaged in what could be a season-long competition at weak-side linebacker, with Henry working with the top unit the most recently in drills open to the media. LaDarrius Bishop has been holding down the top spot at cornerback opposite Brown, though Hudson Clark has also rotated with the ones there.
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The competition for spots on the front four is so fierce that position coach Jermial Ashley simply described it as "experiment and rotation" on Wednesday.
"We're just rotating guys just to try to look for different matchups and just see who we've got to go to battle with," Ashley said.
On the front, returning starters Isaiah Nichols, Eric Gregory and Zach Williams are all being pushed, particularly by graduate transfers Markell Utsey, Tre Williams and John Ridgeway.
"You know there are ... competition battles that we've got going on at each position," Odom said. "One of the great things, Coach [Sam] Pittman puts the plan together, he presents it, and then our guys have just gone and done it. And they have done absolutely everything that we've asked from them, and that's a lot of fun, and it's a good group."
'Fastball' fade
The defense clearly controlled each of the three "fastball" starts inside the Walker Pavilion on Thursday.
KJ Jefferson went 0 for 3, throwing high on short passes for Jaquayln Crawford and De'Vion Warren, then launching a deep pass for Crawford versus safeties Simeon Blair and Jalen Catalon. Crawford got a hand on the ball, but Blair broke up the play. The first play of Jefferson's rack was a short run by Rocket Sanders.
Malik Hornsby completed 1 of 3 throws, a swing pass to Bryce Stephens over the left side in which corner Hudson Clark was there to tag up for a tackle for loss. Hornsby also threw high on a slant for Ketron Jackson and low on a slant for Stephens on which defensive back Trent Gordon was in strong defensive position. The other play in Hornsby's rack was a short run at left guard by Josh Oglesby.
John Stephen Jones ran the third set of plays and started it with a keeper on a run-pass option play. The next snap resulted in a failed mesh between Jones and tailback AJ Green and Jones recovered the fumble in the backfield. Green had a run up the middle on the third snap, then Jones hit Green with a swing pass over the left side for a positive gain.
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Personnel report
Running back AJ Green returned to the group on Thursday wearing a green (no-contact) jersey. Trelon Smith was not available for the fourth day this week, though sources inside the program said Smith was OK and would be back before the season opener. The same holds true for TJ Hammonds, who has missed time this week and has not been at the workouts. Offensive lineman Ryan Winkel was not visible during the open viewing period.
Dalton Wagner ran with the first team at right tackle during the "fastball" start, but then got some extra stretching in for the start of a group period, giving Ty'kieast Crawford some first-team reps, with Marcus Henderson behind him.
Joining Green in green on Thursday were center Ricky Stromberg, defensive backs Jalen Catalon and Kevin Compton, and linebacker JT Towers.
Walk-on tailback Donte Buckner was with the group, but he was not dressed out for the full-pads practice.
Call him 'Cam'
The Arkansas defensive backs are so impressed with freshman safety Jayden Johnson they've given him a respectful handle.
"We call him Kam Chancellor," safety Joe Foucha said, referencing the long-time Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowler and former Virginia Tech star. "He's an 18-year old and I feel like he's physically there. Mentally, he's coming along every day in fall camp just being around us."
Safety Simeon Blair said Johnson is learning how to capitalize on his physical tools in camp.
"Jayden is a young guy, but he has a body like he's been in college three years already," Blair said.
Foucha said the reference to Chancellor has to do with his frame.
"He's got the body type," Foucha said. "He's very physical. He's 6-3, and he's back there at 220."
Inside-out
Sophomore Eric Gregory, who started seven games at defensive end last year, is working at three different spots in camp: End, tackle in four-man fronts and nose in three-man fronts.
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"To me, it's definitely more difficult," Gregory said. "I'm taking on double teams. ... At end, I really wasn't watching out for them, looking for that, except when the tight end comes.
"I wasn't really prepared for double teams, so just trying to figure that out. And also the pass rush is different. ... Everything is quicker inside, so I had to learn to adapt to that and fight off that from just moving from the outside to inside."
Gregory said other players working outside and inside are Markell Utsey, a senior transfer from Missouri who played at Little Rock Parkview, and junior Zach Williams.
Carter improved
Defensive line coach Jermial Ashley said redshirt sophomore Taurean Carter is having a strong camp.
Carter played in eight games last season and started against LSU when a covid-19 outbreak sidelined several defensive lineman.
"He's getting better every day," Ashley said. "The technical side of things, I've seen the change from spring to now. He's taking coaching and applying it and it's showing up on film."
Old vs. Old
When the defensive linemen and offensive linemen go against each other in drills or team work, there's no shortage of experience.
Both units are loaded with seniors, juniors and redshirt sophomores.
"We've got a whole bunch of older guys on the D-line and a whole bunch of older guys on the O-line," said defensive end Dorian Gerald, a sixth-year senior. "And it just makes us better."
Hold on
Special teams coordinator Scott Fountain said punter Reid Bauer had never held on field goal and extra-point attempts prior to last season.
"I said, 'Man, we've got to get you to hold. You're a punter, you've got to learn to do that trade,'" Fountain said. "And now he's gotten really good at it."
Fountain said Bauer did a good job of handling a bad snap by one of the younger snappers in practice recently.
"He gets it down and we make the kick," Fountain said. "He's done a really good job. That's helped us."
Punter Sam Loy and Bauer are both working as holders to see who will replace Jack Lindsey.