Sam Pittman pleased with spring drills to this point

FAYETTEVILLE — The Razorbacks were set to conduct their sixth practice Thursday before taking off for spring break.

Sam Pittman seemed pleased with his team to this point as he met with the media prior to Thursday’s practice. The wide receiver spot is where Pittman has several new players this spring.

“I think we’re going to be pretty special in the slot,” Pittman said. “That’s not what your question was, but I think we’ll be pretty special with (Raylen) Sharpe, (Kam) Shanks and Krosse Johnson. I think we’ll be pretty special in there. On the edge, I would say CJ Brown, (Ismael) Cisse would be the two guys that’s probably stood out the most, right now. We need O’Mega Blake to keep coming on, which I believe that he will. Monte Harrison made a couple of really nice one-handed grabs the other day. I think probably to answer your question, we’re probably seven-to-eight… seven or so deep, right now.

“We need that elite big man, whether that be Blake takes that, Harrison takes that. But we need that elite, physical 1-on-1 presence guy, and I believe they’re on the team, they’ve just got to show up for us. I think they will. But I think we can throw and catch the football. I think probably you said it the best, we’re just going to be a little bit different. We’ll even have, and we have had, opportunities to have Sharpe and Shanks on the field at the same time. Now, you’re not going to be big when that happens. So we’ve got to find that one dominant — Andrew Armstrong obviously, Treylon Burks was that way — And I believe we have them on the team, they just have got another 10 practices to get that done.”

Taylen Green can obviously get the football to the receivers, but Arkansas doesn’t have an experienced backup like they had last season with Malachi Singleton. But Pittman likes the group of KJ Jackson, Madden Iamaleava, Grayson Wilson and Blake Boda.

“I think KJ Jackson, I think he’ll be ready,” Pittman said. “He’s done a lot of good things, and again I think he’s improving. It’s good competition in there, but I like KJ, and he’s made some good throws. Learning continues. Continues to learn, but I think we’ll all feel really comfortable when he goes in the football game.”

Iamaleava didn’t play last season due to a transfer rule.

“He didn’t play last year, you know, so I think his development and his improvement is going to go a little bit faster than even if he had,” Pittman said. “We really like him, like him a lot. He’s got a strong arm, works extremely hard at the craft, big-time technician. Spends extra time learning his responsibilities. But you’re right, right now he’s gotten not all but most of the three reps. So we’re trying to find —  really right now KJ would be the two — and then we’re just trying to find out who that three is. Boda is getting some reps in there, Grayson is getting some reps in there. Grayson’s actually improving, as well. But I like him. He’s talented. He’s what we thought we’d get when we signed him late.”

Harrison has made some progress since last season as a 28-year-old freshman who came to the Hogs from baseball.

“I think that he’s improving,” Pittman said. “I think that he may improve because of his age and, and he was in baseball and all that. I think he may have more of a gradual improvement, which I think maybe you’re alluding to or that’s what I’m alluding to. How about that? I’m seeing that. The younger they are, it seems to me like they jump faster, you know? So, I think the more he practices, the more he gets used to playing football. Again, it’s not only that he never played football for that many years, but it’s, he was playing sports but it was another sport and age, age, age. But he had two really nice catches on – what’s the day – Tuesday. And I think the competition that he’s in right now with these other guys, I think that will help him continue to strain and get better.”

Courtney Crutchfield transferred to Arkansas from Missouri. Pittman feels he’s making some strides and improving at wide receiver.

“He’s getting better,” Pittman said. “He’s pushing himself better than what he did early. A lot of that has to do with understanding the system, understanding the route tree, all that, all those things. How they group together. He’s doing a better job. I’ll say that. He’s doing a better job. He’s coming on each day and as long as he continues to work, I think he’ll be a fine player for us.”

Rohan Jones was an outstanding addition from the transfer portal to help the Razorbacks at tight end.

“Yeah, that’s another thing, we’ve got to get him the ball more this spring, because he’s very, very capable,” Pittman said. “But I just like the man. I like his work ethic. He’s a willing blocker, and obviously he can run and catch. I haven’t felt him as much at practice. We haven’t gotten the ball to him as much. But he’s very, very talented and he’s actually more physical than what I thought he would be when he came in.”

The Razorbacks also added some help at running back with the addition of Mike Washington from New Mexico State.

“He’s good,” Pittman said. “I mean, he’s fast. He can break tackles. Never says a word. He made a run the other day in the scrimmage. I don’t know if we blocked many people from about the 6 yard line that, I mean, was special. On tape, watching him on tape, my only question was, can he break tackles? Because he’s fast and he’s big and he makes good cuts and all that, and that’s been answered. I mean, he’s broken a lot of tackles, and we’ve had opportunities, situationally, to tackle. We’ve got to find about our team, and in those situations, we’ve stayed fairly healthy. But I’m high on Mike Washington.”

Arkansas will hold its spring game on Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m.