Arkansas still has some moving parts on offense, but the running back room is starting to look like a real strength, and the center of it is a two-man setup with very different flavors.
Fifth-year back Sutton Smith and junior Braylen Russell are expected to give the Razorbacks a true 1-2 punch. Smith brings the burst and the big-play threat. Russell brings the power, the chain-moving runs and enough agility to make defenders miss when he gets loose in space.
“They're different backs,” Arkansas running backs coach David Johnson said. “Sutton's a guy who could probably take you 60-70 yards, but Braylen's the back who's gonna push the pile, get first downs, move the chains for you, and you need that. You need somebody to understand that 'Hey, we can't block everybody.'
“You're going to have to run over somebody, and this is a tough league. I tell those guys all the time, you have to run tough when it's tough to run, and they understand that.
But Sutton is electric. When he gets in space, different things like that, and surprisingly really good in protection.
He knows exactly what is going on. He's not scared to stick his face in there.”
Smith, listed at 5-9 and 196 pounds, is the lighter, quicker style of back. Russell, at 6-1 and 227 pounds, fits the bruising role but has trimmed down enough to give Arkansas more than just downhill thump.
The depth behind them gives the room even more shape. Sophomores Cam Settles, Markeylin Batton and Jasper Parker all fit the same East-West Playmaker mold, and Batton already flashed with a 32-yard rushing touchdown in Arkansas’ first major scrimmage.
Smith arrives with a proven track record. In four years at Memphis with Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield, he ran for 1,116 yards on 197 carries, averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored 11 touchdowns in 36 appearances and 11 starts. Last season was his best yet, with 669 yards on 102 carries, a 6.6 average and seven touchdowns.
He followed Silverfield to Arkansas as a three-star prospect, ranked the 52nd-best running back and the 499th-best player in the portal last year. Smith recently dealt with a lower body injury, but he was back at practice Tuesday in a green no-contact jersey.
“The biggest thing is he understands the process,”Johnson said. “He helps those guys even when he's not in taking the physical reps like everybody else.
He's taking mental reps. He understands the big thing.
He knows what to do, how to do, and why he's doing it, and he gets those other guys involved. He's on those guys all the time about certain things.
“He takes great notes. I'm doing special teams, whatever he needs to do, he's trying to make himself better every day.
What he needs to do, special teams, return, kickoff team. We have to protect him from himself, and I think that's one of the biggest things.
My job is to get him to the game, get him fresh on Saturday, so we can roll.”
Russell is in his third season as a Razorback and has already piled up 640 rushing yards on 122 carries, along with eight touchdowns. Last season he had 286 yards on 55 carries and scored five times.
His body has changed, too. Russell is 25 pounds lighter than he was as a freshman two seasons ago, and he says the work has come with a sharper edge.
“It’s a marathon, not a race,” Russell said. “Just keeping your head down, grinding every day, going and meeting with the strength staff, and what I need to do, how do I need to do it, and just doing it the way they say to do it, and it worked out.”
Johnson says that urgency is showing up every day.
“You can tell there's a sense of urgency for him,” Johnson said. “He's been waiting for this.
Just didn't know how to go about it and now he's in a good light. I keep telling him I'm pushing him.
I try to push him sometimes just to see what he's going to do, how he's going to respond.
“I think he'd done a good job of responding the right way because I coach him extremely hard. I think he's excited about the season.
He wants to see what he's going to do, how he's going be productive, how he's going to lead this group. I think he's going to do a good job with it.”
Arkansas finished Day 13 of practice on Thursday, took Friday off and is set for its second preseason scrimmage Saturday night at 9:15 p.m. The Razorbacks open the regular season Sept. 5 against North Alabama at 3:15 p.m. CDT in Razorback Stadium.
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