Legendary - The Career of Porter Davis

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2018 Arkansas Football Spring Practice Report
Day Four and Five
By DeAndrew Davis

The last couple of days of spring practice are a wrap and today my report will focus primarily on the defensive side of the ball.

Porter Davis' defense shows a number of looks and uses a ton of players. I counted 20 different players rotating during a live 11 on 11 situation yesterday. Mistakes are less frequent but still happen, I imagine there's a lot to wrap your head around as a defensive player.

Wilson, Davies and Jones have gotten most of the reps at defensive end with Wilson rarely coming off. Wilson has moved inside in some formations as well. All three get off the ball quickly and have been trouble for the offensive line with their ability to get off blocks both as pass rushers and run defenders.

Inside at tackle there's even more to like with Whitaker and Hayes plugging things up. Both have proven to be tough to move off the line and freshman Concepcion has picked things up reasonably well. Whitaker has a quick first step and a strong bull rush while Hayes relies more on handfighting and spins to get past pass blockers. Both are fighting through run blocks as well. Defensive line certainly appears to be the most talented unit overall.

The linebacker rotation has been a handful to keep track of. Jones has been on the field a ton as has Little. Lucas and Smith have shuffled in and out. Bowser gets a good number of reps as does Merritt. Brian Browne, a former WR, has played there as well in certain packages. On the rare occasions they line up in a base 4-3 it's Jones, Little and usually Smith with Lucas coming in on more obvious running downs. This position is not as talented as the defensive line but there are a number of guys who can contribute in different ways and Davis and the rest of the defensive should have them ready to play.

In the secondary it's been quite a rotation as well. Davis and Young don't come off the field period. Davis is clearly CB1 and it's a big gap between him and Anderson and Parker who have rotated inside and outside. I don't think Parker has the speed to cover SEC receivers outside so that probably makes Anderson CB2. Browne and Everson seem to be the next two.

Browne's position is apparently WR/TE/S/LB/CB/RET. It will be interesting to see what kind of season he can put together. Everson has always been listed at safety. Cabral has been the other safety a lot of the time but Browne and Everson get a lot of reps too. CB is probably the weakest position on the team and also has the least depth with freshmen Sims and Billips clearly not ready to play yet. Young is looking like the best player on the team and that's good because he could have his hands full bailing out the corners.

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2018 Arkansas Football Spring Practice Report
Spring Football Showcase
By DeAndrew Davis

In what could hardly be called a traditional spring game Arkansas head coach Porter Davis presented his "Spring Football Showcase" yesterday to a large crowd.

Davis and his staff seemingly selected players at random for each possession on both sides of the ball and the event featured loud music and a breakneck pace.

As for the actual football it was a small sampling with the defense staying in base formations and the offense quite obviously watered down.

The first play was electric with D'Eriq Robinette connecting with Chuck Harris down the seam for a long touchdown (official stats were not recorded).

Cornerback Bryon Davis read a screen perfectly and picked it off in stride to end the next possession.

Cornelius Rivas III threw a nice touchdown pass to Jonathan Ford.

Rivas III badly overthrew a wide open Bryan Brant then underthrew him on the next play and was picked off by Davis.

The offense ran several jet sweeps and a number of receivers got the ball on handoffs, including Manuel Weber who broke off a long gain on one of his.

Brian Browne looked crisp at WR and may get more reps there than initially planned.

Joey Christodoulou, Charlie Payne and Uche Okocha all took turns kicking and punting between possessions. Christodoulou put four or five field goals of various lengths right down the middle while Payne hit three out of four. Okocha made one out of two.

The coaching staff seemed to be taking turns calling plays of different possessions and head coach Porter Davis appeared to be very hands off and in observation mode frequently with analyst Maya Collins by his side fervently typing and swiping a pair of tablets.

After the event wrapped I spoke with Davis briefly.

"We have a ton of depth in some places and very little in others." Davis explained when I asked about the choice to do things this way as opposed to a traditional spring game. "We've got guys that play a bunch of different spots and we just didn't feel the spring game format would be the most conducive to learning for the players and for us as a staff. We all worked together to come up with this."

All of my attempts to get depth chart information were quickly shut down by Davis who did his best James Harden impersonation to end the Q and A session.

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2018 Arkansas Football Roster Released
By DeAndrew Davis

##	POS	Last	First	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
26	DB	Anderson	Cam	6'1"	176	SO-R	Lyndon, KY
13	QB	Anderson	Ryan	6'5"	207	SO-R	Richmond Heights, OH
14	WR	Anderson Jr	James	6'2"	206	FR-R	Baytown, TX
98	DL	Bates	Trey	6'3"	277	FR	Bellair, FL
31	DB	Billips	Henry	6'1"	168	FR	Humble, TX
40	LB	Bowser	Derrelle	6'4"	230	SO-R	Greenwood, AR
11	WR	Brant	Bryan	6'0"	195	SO	Vidor, TX
73	OL	Brown	Amir	6'1"	306	FR-R	Grenada, MS
81	DB/WR	Browne	Brian	6'3"	233	SR-R	Franconia, VA
18	DB	Cabral	Joey	6'2"	193	JR-R	West Allis, WI
42	RB	Calhoun	Jayrone	6'2"	260	SR-R	Kilgore, TX
94	DL	Callahan IV	William	6'3"	284	FR-R	Bethpage, NY
4	K/P	Christodoulou	Joey	5'10"	176	SO	Deer Park, TX
64	DL	Concepcion	Justin	6'1"	280	FR	New Orleans, LA
95	DL	Davies	Cornelius	6'4"	282	JR-R	Helena, AR
2	DB	Davis	Bryon	6'0"	187	SR-R	Farmers Branch, TX
88	WR	Davis	Kentrell	6'4"	211	FR	New Smyrna Beach, FL
29	DB	Everson	Kendall	6'0"	198	SR	Hobart, IN
56	LB	Ewing	Jeffery	6'2"	242	FR	Plainview, TX
20	RB/TE	Ford	Jonathan	6'1"	233	JR	Galveston, TX
76	OL	Freedman	Anthony	6'5"	291	FR	Duncanville, TX
17	WR	Garcia	Jovon	6'2"	183	SO	Aransas Pass, TX
57	DL	Graham	Anthony	6'4"	229	SO-R	West Monroe, LA
30	DB	Harrington	Dirk	6'1"	193	FR	Crystal City, TX
87	TE	Harris	Chuck	6'5"	256	JR-R	Ocala, FL
19	DL	Hayes	Randall	6'5"	289	SR-R	Gulfport, MS
63	OL	Henderson	Matthew	6'3"	275	JR-R	Amarillo, TX
59	OL	Hodge	Marvin	6'1"	309	SR-R	Seagoville, TX
61	OL	Holden	Jacob	6'4"	277	JR-R	Fort Benning South, GA
21	DB	Jackson	Darren	6'0"	191	SO-R	Athens, TX
32	DB	Jamison	Percy	6'2"	196	FR-R	Dallas, TX
48	DB	Johnson	Jimmy	5'11"	180	FR-R	Avondale, LA
96	DL	Jones	Brandon	6'6"	252	SO	Pine Bluff, AR
8	LB	Jones	Derek	6'3"	242	SR-R	Forest Park, OH
33	LB	Little	Antwuan	6'1"	242	SO-R	La Porte, TX
5	RB	Long	Marques	6'1"	195	SO-R	Jefferson, LA
7	LB	Lucas	Warren	6'2"	215	JR	Flower Mound, TX
82	WR	Martell	Matt	5'11"	192	FR	Grenada, MS
51	LB	McCutcheon	Ryan	6'2"	224	SO	Fordyce, AR
91	DL	McMahan	Lorenzo	6'2"	244	SO	Waxahachie, TX
52	LB	Merritt	Terrence	6'0"	256	JR-R	North Little Rock, AR
67	OL	Montgomery	Antoine	6'6"	297	FR	Vivian, LA
37	K	Okocha	Uche	6'3"	190	FR	Nigeria
68	OL	Overstreet	Jeff	6'6"	298	SO	Meraux, LA
90	DE	Owens	Samuel	6'3"	245	FR	Bella Vista, AR
24	RB	Palmer	Justin	6'3"	188	SO-R	Kerrville, TX
12	DB	Parker	Lance	6'1"	185	JR	Denton, TX
60	OL	Paulsen	Leon	6'5"	287	SR-R	Walnut Ridge, AR
69	P	Payne	Charlie	5'11"	163	FR	Lockhart, TX
28	RB	Powell	Jaquez	5'11"	206	SO-R	Copperas Cove, TX
9	QB	Rivas III	Cornelius	6'2"	202	SO-R	Colleyville, TX
10	QB	Robinette	D'Eriq	6'5"	221	SO-R	Vidalia, LA
92	DL	Rose	Alberto	6'0"	316	SO-R	Lake Providence, LA
89	TE	Ryan	Rannell	6'7"	240	FR	Sidney, AR
23	RB	Scott	Edwin	5'8"	177	FR-R	Amarillo, TX
25	RB	Shaw	Austyn	5'9"	202	FR	Weatherford, TX
22	DB	Sims	Justin	6'0"	160	FR	Hewitt, TX
76	OL	Smith	Jamal	6'5"	261	FR	Temple, TX
77	OL	Smith	Mark	6'4"	297	JR-R	Dallas, TX
55	LB	Smith	Roger	6'0"	212	SR-R	Gardendale, AL
6	QB	Spencer	Jaylon	6'2"	203	SO	Steubenville, OH
54	DL	Spurlock	Micah	6'5"	228	SO-R	Marion, AR
44	LB	Tyler	Julian	5'11"	207	SO-R	Newton, MS
85	TE/WR	Weber	Manuel	6'6"	250	FR	Dubuque, LA
99	DL	Whitaker	Caesar	6'2"	283	JR-R	Picayune, MS
15	RB	Williams Jr	Kelvin	6'2"	196	FR-R	West Chester, PA
1	DL	Wilson	Bart	6'7"	293	SR-R	Corsicana, TX
97	DL	Woodard	Jamie	6'3"	284	FR-R	Dunlap, TN
3	DB	Young	Pernell	6'4"	214	SR-R	Vallejo, CA
27	RB	Youngblood	Chuckie	6'1"	247	JR-R	Smithville, TN

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2018 Arkansas Football Depth Chart Released
By DeAndrew Davis

With less than a week before the season opener against Colorado State the Arkansas Razorbacks coaching staff has finally released a depth chart.

Notably Louisiana transfer D'Eriq Robinette has won the starting QB job over
Cornelius Rivas III and Jaylon Spencer.

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ESPN's Skip Bayless Rips Porter Davis, Again
By DeAndrew Davis

"I'm looking forward to seeing Arkansas head coach Porter Davis finally be exposed!" Skip Bayless shouted on ESPN yesterday.

He continued: "Davis was terrible as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan. He fell *** backward into the Louisiana DC job then he inherited the best team in a bad conference and lucked his way into a job as a head coach in the SEC!"

Stephen A. Smith made a face like he may have smelled something putrid but was unable to get a word in edgewise.

Bayless attacked Davis a few years back, saying then that Louisiana was overrated in the polls and should have been lower than, ironically, a 6-4 Arkansas team at the time.

At the time Davis retorted that Bayless should “stick to basketball since he was so good at that.” Mocking the "analysts" failed career.

When I texted Davis for a comment he only sent back a clown emoji.

Later he elaborated: "Skip's job is to be entertaining, he gets paid the same regardless of accuracy. He's a "hot take" guy."

Maya Collins tweeted suggesting that Skip may be lacking in a certain part of his anatomy that I can't reprint here.

Arkansas opens their season this Saturday at 3:30pm at Colorado State.

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SEC Preview
Week One

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2018 Arkansas Football Game Preview
Game One

@
Arkansas @ Colorado State
August 25th, 2018 3:30PM
Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium - Fort Collins, Colorado
Last Three Meetings: 9/29/90 Ark 31-20, 9/15/79 Ark 36-3, 10/26/74 Ark 43-9
Colorado State 2017: 5-7(2-7 MWC)
Head Coach: Jim McElwain 28-45 @ CSU, 28-45 Career
Key Players (PFF Grade)
FS Zach Thomas (84)
DE Kyle Nobles (82)
CB Joshua McDougal (81)
Outlook: Arkansas looks to have the advantage on paper but they are on the road and it's their first game with a new coaching staff. I think we get the win but it could be ugly.

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Playing around with some recruiting "guidelines". Here's what I have so far:

Can only recruit pipeline players that start with me in their top 5. (Once we've done something I can branch out and "chase" players.)

Can only over sign by 3 players the first few years. (If I have 18 seniors I can only sign 21 players, after the first few years I can't over sign at all.)

I can't add any players to my board after recruiting starts unless my board drops below the number of players I can sign. (Set my initial targets and run with them, no adding lightly recruited players late.)

All top five interested players from Arkansas must be targeted until my roster has at least 25 players from Arkansas. Once I'm at or over 25 I need to maintain that number and don't have to target all interested Arkansas players.

Once I fall behind by 1,000 I have to remove the player from my board. Once we've done something I can choose whether or not to continue chasing these players.