Wide receivers still fighting for spots in rotation

FAYETTEVILLE — Bobby Petrino likes the options Arkansas has at wide receiver though he’s still waiting for the players to earn separation on the depth chart.

The Razorbacks lost some wide receivers to the NFL and another one to the transfer portal. So several new faces are in the mix for playing time this season. Charlotte transfer O’Mega Blake is one of newcomers the Hogs are hoping for a big impact. He had a good practice recently that caught Petrino’s attention.

“Yeah, he has,” Petrino said. “It’s taken him a while. I was hoping he would start quicker than that, but he has really come on in the last, I’d say three practices. Shown his explosiveness, his ability to make the plays, got him down the field I think the last two practices a lot, which is we need.

Blake played at South Carolina in the SEC prior to playing at Charlotte. Blake caught 32 passes for 795 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024. Petrino also talked about some other wide receivers.

“Monte (Harrison) is still that big body that can get open and catch the ball in traffic,” Petrino said. “He still gets tired sometimes. He’s got to get a little bit … We need to make a decision whether we’re going to have him drop some weight, but he’s got to get in better shape. Because sometimes he gets tired and doesn’t go like he can.”

Harrison came to Arkansas after previously playing professional football and is the oldest player on the team. Harrison caught two passes for 29 yards last season.

“Slot receivers, I feel great about Raylen Sharpe, really understands the offense,” Petrino said. “He’s been in it, he’s made a lot of plays in it. He’s very difficult to cover and he runs well after the catch. Also like our little punt returner (Kam Shanks) in there. He’s explosive. He’s going to make plays for us whether we throw it to him, hand it off to him or screen with him. We got to get the ball in his hands because he’s such a great runner doing it and Krosse Johnson keeps getting better. He’s got to get rid of the assignment errors, you know, he’s a freshman, his youth, his youngness shows up a lot, but he’s very, very talented.

“So, it’s fun to see that at the Z receiver. CJ (Brown) is is still got great talent and makes plays, he’s just not consistent enough right now and that’s youth also. So, he’s got to be more consistent. But he certainly has the ability to make plays for us. (Ismael) Cisse has shown up a lot, particularly in making plays down the field and competing and going and getting the ball. We need to get him running routes more consistently and better and at the right depth all the time. And I think he could take a huge step forward in the offense.”

One answer for a bigger wide receiver is freshman Antonio Jordan who is from the wide receiver factory at Warren. Jordan, 6-6, 230, isn’t on campus this spring, but will be in the summer. Can he possibly be the big wide receiver the Hogs are searching for?

“I’m hoping so,” Petrino said. “He certainly has that body and that talent and those traits that you want. It’s just going to be how quickly he can learn and put it together. I’ve been impressed by the young man every time I’ve been around him because he’s very, very serious. It wasn’t a whole lot of recruiting. He was like, ‘Coach, I want to come to Arkansas. That’s where I want to play.’

“That was great to have. We still have the young man coming in from California (Jace Brown) too that was Madden’s (Iamaleava) teammate that’s not quite as big as Jordan but he’s a good-sized guy that can go up and catch the ball too.”

Shanks, 5-8, 170, and Sharpe, 5-9, 165, are both talented wide receivers who transferred to Arkansas in January. Shanks came from UAB while Sharpe Fresno State after previously playing at Missouri State. Sharpe caught 73 passes for 991 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023 at Missouri State. Shanks pulled in 62 receptions for 656 yards and six touchdowns in 2024 including a touchdown reception against the Hogs. Both are small and is there a chance they could be on the field at the same time?

“Yeah, we have a package where they come out on the field together with a couple different tempos on it,” Petrino said. “One where we come out and go fast, and we have a couple different formations, but we know exactly where we’re lining up, what we’re running and how we execute there. That helps you see less and less of defenses in those packages, and then one we can change up where they align and the motion. How they carry the ball and how we throw it to them. Both of them have great traits in running with the football. They’ve got to be able to stay healthy, which is not taking big hits. I think they’re able to not get hit yet, so that’s a good thing to see.”

Petrino recruited Sharpe to Missouri State when he was the head coach there. Sharpe was running track for Houston previously. In high school, Sharpe was a quarterback at Allen (Texas).

“Yeah, when I first coached him at Missouri State, he had just came in,” Petrino said. “I think he came in the summer. Didn’t even have a spring ball. So as the year went on, he started playing more and more, made some big plays for us. But then when I left and he played for my son, he became their leading receiver. I think he was first-team all-conference, maybe an All-American.

“I thought he was going to stay there. Probably could’ve got him here, but I didn’t want to do that. Blood’s thicker than water, I guess they say. When he went to Fresno and I found out that he had one more year of eligibility left, I was like, well we need to bring him in because he really would be a great asset to our team. You know, he was an option quarterback out of high school. I’ve always had success with option quarterbacks playing other positions, whether it’s DB because they know football, or receiver, or some have played running back. But there is an advantage of getting an athlete that plays a different position when he played quarterback in high school. I like him a lot. I think he’s a really good player. He’s been good for our team because of his work ethic. He’s quiet, but he leads by example.”

As noted earlier, Petrino has a decision to make with Harrison. Petrino was asked how he would go about making the decision to lose weight or not?

“Yeah, how these next two weeks go,” Petrino said. “I felt like he’s made some really good strides, and I don’t want to… God gave him a big body, and he’s physical, and he knows how to use it. If he’s a little bit quicker twitch on a few things, on his releases and getting out of his break, does that make him that much better or does that hinder him because now we’re taking away one thing that’s different in him, his size. You always like those outliers that are a little bit different than anybody else, and his outlier is that he’s big and physical. So, it’s a decision we’re going to have to make after spring ball. I’ve talked to him about it before, and he’s talked to me about it. We’re like, ‘Okay, which way should we go?’ The decision was, ‘Let’s go through spring ball and see what your positives are, what your negatives are and then make a decision after that.’”

Arkansas will hold a scrimmage on Thursday inside Razorback Stadium.