SEC Preview: Arkansas Razorbacks
August 19th, 2008 by Chris Pendley
Arkansas is the latest team to fall into the “we think we’re a better program than we actually are” trap. After Mitch Mustain and Gus Malzahn threw hissy fits in 2007, the fans inexplicably sided with them, running Nutt out of town on a rail.
Nutt left a strong tradition at Arkansas, compiling a 58-42 record since 2000, including five bowl games and a 3-10 record against teams that were in the Top 10 when they played. (That looks worse than it actually is; that includes going 0-6 in 2004 and 2005, when they weren’t a good team at all.) Not only is Nutt gone, so is most of the offensive and defensive talent … and the Razorbacks are looking for success?
Bobby Petrino inherits this mess, which is fitting in more ways than I can even begin to count. He brings his brother Paul in as the OC, and their DC (Willy Robinson) was the 2nd choice of Petrino’s; original selection Ellis Johnson left for South Carolina.
Petrino’s first unenviable task will be making something of Casey Dick, who’s been a SEC punchline for years now.
Don’t expect that to change anytime soon, although he did put together a 57.3% completion percentage when nobody on the defense was paying attention to him. Drafting Dick in all but the deepest leagues is a clear sign you’ve given up on the season – or that you believe in Petrino beyond the point of sanity.
Michael Smith should be main RB in this offense, but that should only mean he’ll make people miss McFadden and Jones. Expect passably decent numbers, but by the same token he may not fare that well. Hotshot freshman De’Anthony Curtis could infringe on his numbers sooner rather than later, as Smith gives up three inches and 38 pounds to Curtis. Petrino prefers larger backs in his offense. Curtis is definitely worth owning in dynasty leagues, as if he doesn’t end up as the leading rusher this year he probably will next year.
Once again, there isn’t a lot of talent returning at the WR position – sense a trend yet? However, since this is a Petrino offense (even if Dick is at the helm), there’s a good chance at least one of these guys could be viable. London Crawford is the most likely option to succeed, but Carlton Sanders could figure into the offense early. True frosh Joe Adams should be the best option looking past this season. TEs DJ Williams and Ben Cleveland should return healthy this season, and may pick up a couple of receptions a game plus a few scattered TDs – that’s passable from a TE especially with the upside of Petrino’s love for throwing to the big guys.
K Alex Tejada displayed solid accuracy last year and should see about the same opportunity for points in ’08 that he did in ’07. Granted, most of those will come from field goals this time around, but he’s a solid selection in most leagues.
The Arkansas defense should probably be avoided; most of the talent is gone and the return game is ..well, lacking. Losing the entire secondary can’t be a good thing.
Summary
Arkansas should really only be paid attention to in dynasty leagues; there’s some talent here which will be good a couple years down the road, but this year could be painful. The schedule doesn’t do the Hogs any favors, as they get to play at Texas in September and get Tulsa for homecoming – meaning Gus Malzahn is back in town. Yikes.
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