Arkansas heads into its season opener against North Alabama with a depth chart that looks mostly settled, but a few spots still carry real intrigue.
At quarterback, KJ Jackson has grabbed the starting job outright, with AJ Hill listed as the backup. Silverfield said the decision was made with the offense in mind and with the idea that the players around Jackson needed clarity.
“More than anything is the confidence for that signal caller. I think that’s so important,” Silverfield said.
“In this situation, once it became clear, I didn’t think it did us any good to just keep waiting because, hey, North Alabama’s not going to know. I think ultimately, you want the players, the receivers to know ‘here’s the guy.’”
Jackson, a rising junior, was described as locked in throughout fall practice and drew strong reviews from Silverfield and the offensive staff in drills. The concern is less about his command than his accuracy, which can still wander at times. His film in another offense suggests he can keep plays alive when things start to unravel, and Arkansas is hoping that carries over once the games count.
That confidence will matter because the Razorbacks also need their receiving group to sort itself out quickly. CJ Brown, Jamari Hawkins and Ismael Cisse are part of the mix, but Arkansas is also counting on Antonio Jordan, Courtney Crutchfield, Donovan Faupel and Jelani Watkins to make their presence felt. Even 31-year-old Monte Harrison showed up on Monday’s depth chart behind Brown and Faupel after working back from a broken foot suffered in last season’s opener.
Silverfield expects North Alabama to present a different kind of test for the wideouts than what they’ll usually see in the SEC. He said the matchup may take a few series to settle into as Arkansas figures out the coverage and the angles.
“I've got confidence in our wide receivers that they'll be able to get the job done. But it's going to be a challenge,” Silverfield said on Monday.
“We're going to see different techniques. We're going to see a different defensive scheme than we faced.
“North Alabama, in essence, they face … even though they may list themselves in a 4-2-5 structure, it's more of a 3-3 stack with another middle safety runner, No. 22, that can play a variety of different deals. And so, whether they're playing zone coverage or man, we’ve got to be able to find the holes in it and make it work.”
There’s also some uncertainty up front on defense, where the line rotation remains fluid. One notable wrinkle is the “-or-” at defensive tackle between David Oke and USC transfer Carlon Jones, a setup that may not have been expected earlier in the offseason.
Silverfield said the defensive front is likely to rotate heavily depending on the opponent and the situation, whether Arkansas is dealing with tempo or a 13 personnel look. He added that he feels good about the group in the two-deep, even if the snap distribution ends up being more fluid than the depth chart suggests.
That rotation will be worth watching, especially after Silverfield made it clear he does not want his linemen taking on the kind of workload Cam Ball handled last season. It could also be a chance for Jones to live up to the recruiting reputation he brought with him when he signed as a top-200 prospect with the Trojans two years ago.
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