The 2008 Season in a Box: At times, Arkansas probably felt like they were the last decent gift in a White Elephant gift exchange.  First, they run Houston Nutt out of town (I still don’t like that, by the way), then they somehow luck into Atlanta castoff Bobby Petrino.  Now, Petrino also inspires his own set of White Elephant jokes since he’s apparently contractually bound to not serve out his contracts, but that’s neither here nor there – the important thing is that he’s still at Arkansas.  Once the season began, they were a bit out of place running Petrino’s system with the Dick brothers, but somehow things worked out as well as they could and the Hogs ended up at 5-7.  It wasn’t some kind of hot mess, but it wasn’t something to be particularly proud of.

Ryan Mallett before his transfer to Arkansas (photo courtesy Icon SMI)

On Offense: Mercifully, the Casey (and Nathan) Dick Era is over.  That in turn leaves the offense in the possibly-capable hands of Ryan Mallett.  Mallett had a previous life at Michigan, but transferred after Lloyd Carr retired; back in ’07, he was pretty ineffective as a true freshman.  It’s probably a decent chance that Mallett’s figured a few things out and grown up a bit since transferring; in addition, Petrino’s always done a good job of developing QBs, so Mallett should be in good shape all around.  Given Mallett’s pedigree and Petrino’s history, Mallett is actually a pretty decent QB option in deeper leagues.  While his numbers won’t be outstanding,

 It should only help Mallett’s development that nearly everyone who caught a pass returns this season.  TE DJ Williams is one of the best pass-catching TE in the country; there aren’t many TEs out there who can make a claim to over 500 yards receiving in a season, but Williams is one of them with room to spare (700+ yards and 3 TDs last year).  It goes without saying (but’ll be said anyway) that he’s one of the best fantasy TE options available.  At this point though, Williams is the only consistent receiving option; Lucas Miller. Jarius Wright, and Greg Childs are the only receivers with more than 12.5 ypr last year.  That’s a sign that the defenses weren’t getting stretched enough unless the Razorbacks were rolling out packages with two of those three guys.  Mallett should help add a legitimate downfield threat to the Hog offense, which – from a passing standpoint, at least – they haven’t seen in at least a few seasons.  Until that happens, though, none of these guys are worth following.

Michael Smith, who was named preseason 2009 All-SEC First-Team by various publications (photo courtesy Icon SMI)

Arkansas’ rushing attack was pretty much a one-man show last year with RB Michael Smith racking up nearly 1,100 yards and 8 TDs in only 10 games played.  If Smith can’t come through, then the rushing game’s success will be contingent on one of Broderick Green, De’Anthony Curtis, or Ronnie Wingo stepping up to fill the gap.  None of these guys are particularly known; of the three, only Curtis has seen PT with the Razorbacks, and he was limited in action last year thanks to a knee injury.  There’s plenty of talent in here – if he holds onto the job all season, Smith is a legitimate RB in all formats – so stay tuned.

In 2008 Alex Tejada went 20-of-21 on extra points and 4-of-9 on field goals (photo courtesy Icon SMI)

 On Defense and Special Teams: Personnel-wise, this defense will look a lot like last year’s; they return their top 10 tacklers, and among the starters, only SS Dallas Washington departs.  That’s a blessing and a curse for a team who turned in one of their worst statistical performances of the 21^st century; their 31.2 ppg allowed was the highest in six years, the 4.4 ypc allowed was the worst since the 6-6 campaign of 2004, and while the pass defense wasn’t quite as bad as the numbers made it out to be, it certainly wasn’t good.  They’re also a bit marginal at the sack / INT numbers aside from Malcolm Sheppard up front.  This defense pretty much screams waiver wire material in all but the deepest leagues; if there’s improvement to be found it’ll be in 2010.

Special teams returns a pretty decent K in Alex Tejada, who somehow got the yips last year when passing 40 yards and got replaced for a period of time by the now-departed Shay Haddock.  Provided Tejada returns to form he’s a sneaky-quality option; Arkansas’s offense will be better but may not quite be ready to take the leap, which means FG opportunities ahoy.

Related posts:

1. SEC Preview: Arkansas Razorbacks
2. Whacked by the Draft: Arkansas and Kentucky must rebuild
3. Ole Miss Rebels 2009 Preview
4. Alabama Crimson Tide in 2009
5. South Carolina Gamecocks in 2009

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, SEC