What Competition? — As good as Tyler Wilson and Jim Youngblood have done this spring, there really is no contest as to who the starting quarterback will be in the fall.  Those that say there is a competition are either a) just trying to be nice, or b) hoping that if they say it enough, Wilson and Youngblood will choose to stay around and wait, rather than leave to find playing time right away.

Don’t get us wrong…we think Wilson and Youngblood are going to be good quarterbacks eventually, but Ryan Mallett is clearly (and literally) head and shoulders above the pack.  With his arm strength and leadership qualities, he should give Bobby Petrino the trigger man he needs to have a super offense.  Mallett’s accuracy needs improvement, as he has finished with a below 50% completion percentage in two of the scrimmages.

There’s No “D” in “Razorbacks” — Normally at this stage of the year across the country, defenses are dominating offenses…unless you’re at Arkansas.  If the second scrimmage held on April 4th is any indication, we’ll have to outscore most everyone this fall.

In the 165 plays that day (the equivalent of roughly two games), the Hogs defense allowed 14 touchdowns.  Doing the math, that’s 40+ points/game…troubling stats to say the least.  Now granted, that was both the first and second team defense giving up those points.  But the 1′s were always going against the 1′s, and the 2′s vs. the 2′s.  Is the offense really that good, or is the defense going to struggle again?

Newcomers like defensive tackle DeQuinta “D.D.” Jones (6-4, 305), cornerbacks Darius Winston (6-0, 180), and David Gordon (5-11, 170), along with safties Anthony Leon (6-4, 230) and Rudell Crim (6-0, 190) will have to help shore up this unit in the fall.

Finding Their Way — In the wake of losing starters Jonathan Luigs and Jose Valdez from the O-line, Coach Mike Summers’ group looks to still be searching for the right chemistry.  Even with the two senior stalwarts, the Hogs gave up a staggering 46 sacks last year, ranking them 117th (next to last, Hawaii – 57) in the nation.

Despite having six lineman back that have started a game, this continues to be an area of concern.  Several players, including returning senior Mitch Petrus, have been shuffled around in an effort to get the right players in the right spots.  They are still searching.  Save for an 80-yard jaunt by fullback Mitchell Bailey in the second scrimmage, the rushing lanes have not been plentiful.

Assistant Coach of Everything — One of the fun sidebars of attending practices this spring has to be getting the chance to watch new assistant coach John L. Smith.  The 60 year-old Smith is all over the practice field, and has been highly visible during scrimmages.

It’s obvious that Coach Petrino has told Smith not to limit himself to just outside linebackers and special teams — the two areas he “officially” coaches.  He’s in the middle of everything…on both sides of the ball.  Admonishing at times and encouraging at times, Smith has the energy of 24 year-old GA, but the experience of a head coach who has 218 games on his ledger.  What an incredible resource for Coach Petrino.

All in all, the coaches have to be pretty pleased with the work they’ve gotten in this spring.  And with few major injuries so far (knock on wood), they should be at full strength come August.  RazorFest activities start around noon Saturday and run until 5:30, with the Red-White game following at 6:00.  Should be a fun time on The Hill this weekend.

We were not disappointed.  What a pleasure it is to watch a Bobby Petrino team practice.  Organized, fast-paced, attention to detail…it was all there.

Here are a few of our casual observations made while watching the two hour practice:

– Freshman wide receiver Jarius Wright and running back De’Anthony Curtis were expected to impress…and did not disappoint.  Both look like major contributors.

The newcomer that really surprised me, though, was freshman running back Dennis Johnson of Texarkana.  Johnson (5-7, 195) is cat quick and showed an elusive burst that is going to make him hard to bring down.  For those who have not seen him, just imagine a younger, less experienced version of Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Chip Gregory also looked much improved at running back after his injury-hampered spring.  Running hard and breaking tackles with strength is not a problem.  Hanging onto the ball, however, continues to be as Gregory fumbled again during one of the Hogs tackling drills.

– As for the quarterbacks, Tyler Wilson and Jim Youngblood are good prospects.  Both have strong arms and showed flashes.  But both probably need to redshirt if the Hogs can get by without playing them.

Wilson needs to improve his strength (especially in his lower body) and Youngblood needs to improve his mechanics.  Both of those deficiencies, of course, are pretty typical for most incoming freshman quarterbacks.

Ryan Mallett is just off the charts.  He will be a superstar when his time comes.

Finally, while other units were running their drills, quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee was taking two five-minute periods to work with all the quarterbacks on making the proper pre-snap check (audible) after a defensive shift.  Very interesting and fun to watch.

– On the defensive side, I felt a little better about the linebackers after getting a closeup view of Ryan Powers, Jermaine Love, Jerry Franklin, and Freddy Burton.  These four along with senior captain Elston Forte might be okay as a group, but they are so ‘smallish’ by SEC standards that it’s still an area of concern.

Some of the tackling drills on Saturday seemed to indicate that true freshman Tenarius Wright (6-2, 230) was taking a small step back for the moment.  It’s obvious that junior Wendel Davis needs to get healthy again over the next few weeks.

Heavy rains in the Fayetteville area forced the Hogs inside for the second practice on Saturday.  Expect some shakeups (like the move of Wade Grayson to first team) after the coaches review the film of Sunday’s scrimmage.  It should be a fun week to watch the depth chart.