CAMDEN — FAYETTEVILLE - Some of the seven December high school graduates enrolled at the University of Arkansas since January as freshman Razorbacks are getting more than a semester head start on their football careers.
They are getting an instant head start on the 2017 depth chart.
For instance with senior 3-year letterman Dwayne Eugene moved from No. 2 middle linebacker to No. 2 Razor outside linebacker, Kyrie Fisher, the 6-2, 235 January enrolled freshman from Tulsa’s Union High School, suddenly is in the thick of it at backup middle linebacker behind sophomore De’Jon “Scoota” Harris.
Fisher posted eight tackles, one for a loss of a yard, when the Razorbacks last scrimmaged on April 15 and will be monitored going against the first offense in Saturday’s noon Red-White spring game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“Kyrie has been fun, man,” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said when asked about Fisher after last Saturday’s practice.
“First as a linebacker - I’m an old linebacker coach - he loves contact and he is not afraid to hit people. Very explosive player who has made some nice run throughs.”
There are some high school habits he must break.
“One bad habit we are trying to get out of him he has a tendency - and I think he was able to do this in high school - i he runs behind some blocks when he can’t get over the top where we need him,” Bielema said. “He’ll duck under and run.
Obviously the players here are a lot faster. He is making strides in that regard and playing within the scheme, but he is a nice athlete to have in the program and a fun guy to watch.”
Eugene, between the 4-3 defense that he was in at Arkansas from 2014-2016 and the 3-4 that Bielema and defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads invoked this spring, has played, or at least practiced, at about every linebacker position conceivable.
“Bless him, he is an extremely, extremely pleasing soul,” Bielema said. “One of the more conscientious guys on our team.”
Razor, more the hybrid safety/outside linebacker position compared to the more defensive end/outside linebacker position that Bielema calls Hog, better suits Eugene, Bielema believes.
“He's playing to the field outside backer,” Bielema said. “Really has played pretty well.
I think that's a natural position for him. He played safety in high school. I'm liking what I see. I think him and Randy (Ramsey, the first-team Razor) can be a nice little tandem out to the field there.”
Few things more fluctuate in spring drills more than the precocity scale that coaches believe certain young players have in their readiness to play right away.
For instance, when December high school graduate offensive linemen Kirby Adcock 6-5, 300, of Nashville, Ark., Shane Clenin, 6-6, 295, Festus, Mo. and Dalton Wagner, 6-9, 330 of Spring Grove, Ill., started spring practice, Bielema predicted off the winter workouts that Clenin would most apt to emerge second team.
That’s changed, for now.
“Dalton Wagner of the three guys that came in probably showed the most possibility of playing next year as a true freshman,” Bielema said. “He gets it. He’s intelligent.
He’s tough. He’s gifted. So he’s been working there as well at No. 2.”
Ideally, all three will redshirt. Generally that’s what nearly offensive linemen should do.
For offensive line not only mentally can take the longest to grasp of any position but physically, too, whether blocking behemoth tackles inside or defensive ends and outside linebackers with track speed on the perimeter.
Even junior college transfer offensive linemen, obviously initially recruited to contribute immediately, can benefit redshirting.
Arkansas has two, guard Deion Malone and especially tackle Paul Ramirez, better off for redshirting upon transferring to the Razorbacks in 2016.
Since returning from his absence for his grandmother’s funeral, Ramirez has practiced second team at both left and right tackle while Malone tries to crack the depth chart at guard.
““Paul Ramirez has taken a big step even after coming back from the funeral of his grandmother, who he was real close to,” Bielema said.