Arkansas’ linebacker room has spent most of fall camp in the background, but that doesn’t mean it lacks punch.
While plenty of spots on both sides of the ball still come with questions, the Razorbacks may have one of their steadier groups tucked inside the defense. They return four linebackers from last season, led by juniors Bradley Shaw and Wyatt Simmons, and also added a wave of experience through the transfer portal with junior Ja’Quavion Smith from Howard, fifth-year seniors Phoenix Jackson from Baylor, Ben Bogle from West Virginia and Jeremy Evans from Baylor.
That mix matters in Ron Roberts’ defense. Arkansas is installing a 3-4 nickel look, which means the “Jack” and the “Star” count as two of the four linebacker spots. The two true inside linebackers are the “Mike” and the “Will,” and Roberts said the battle there is already shaping up around a small core of players.
"There's really, probably six linebackers we think are going to be fighting out," Roberts said. "I mean, it's Shaw and [Smith], those two guys, and then there's four guys really fighting out for who's going to take the next snaps."
Before camp even got rolling, Ryan Silverfield pointed to Shaw and Smith as the two who have separated themselves from spring to now. He also singled out Bogle, who was limited in the spring by a hamstring issue, and Simmons as players with a chance to carve out bigger roles.
"Ben Bogle has had a lot of production in college football, played a lot of different places," Silverfield said. "Ben was battling a hamstring through some of the spring. ...
Is he able to step up and get in the rotation at linebacker? We certainly think so.
"A guy like Wyatt Simmons, can he go in and play? So that's kind of neat to be able to watch what those guys are doing and I think we're going to get a good feel who else can get in there. ...
But it's good to have a comfortability of a guy like a Ben Bogle that you can feel comfortable if he had to go into a starting role and play football. Wyatt Simmons, no different.
So throwing those guys all in the mix and see what happens."
Jackson also lost valuable spring reps because of injury, but Roberts said he’s shown enough to push for a spot in the rotation.
Smith, though, has been the name drawing the strongest praise from spring through summer and into camp. At Howard last season, the 6-1, 227-pound linebacker posted 49 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Arkansas beat out Auburn and several other Power 4 programs for him, and so far he’s looked the part.
"I think Smith is another guy," Silverfield said. "He came from FCS football and you got to watch his film ... can he handle the SEC?
We think so. He has stepped up tremendously.
So, I've been so pleased."
Roberts said Smith’s path is a reminder that recruiting misses happen, but Arkansas is happy to have landed him.
"Obviously one thing about recruiting, it's not a science. It's really not.
Guys miss all the time," Roberts said. "One thing about the portal thing is it's harder for guys to fall through the cracks because they don't get recruited coming out of high school and then they go, you know, step on a field, and everybody's going to pick them up now.
DII, FCS or DIII, now they're not staying there for four years anymore. But [Smith]'s a pleasure to be around.
He's a pleasure to coach, and I'm glad he's here."
Arkansas will return to practice Sunday afternoon for Day 4 of fall camp, with 22 practices left before the season opener against North Alabama on Sept. 5.
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