Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

News and notes from Arkansas spring football practice on Wednesday...

I. Corners Lack Consistency
Cornerbacks Darius Winston and Isaac Madison are Arkansas’ most experienced players at the position. Both spent valuable time on the field last season and are talented enough to start.

Naturally, they’re holding down starting spots at the corners, right? No.

Instead, Winston and Madison are pitted against each other in practice each day. And so far, the resulting competition and consistency from the two leave a little bit to be desired, defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said.

When Madison starts, he performs well. When Winston starts, he performs well. Otherwise, the two aren’t giving coaches what they want.

“When I do move one up, he performs even better,” Robinson said. “We are not getting what we want. I want a consistent, consistent performance from both.” 

II. Unevenly Matched

Arkansas often matched all-SEC defensive linemen Jake Bequette against all-SEC offensive lineman DeMarcus Love in practice last season. It created some epic battles in practice and ultimately made the two better players.

Coaches saw similar benefits from one-on-one battles between evenly matched offensive and defensive linemen. It’s something the team is doing again this year, even if the experience levels for players aren’t equitable for the first-team battles on the outside.

Experience is much greater at the defensive end than offensive tackle spots. Both starters from last year are gone and 17-year-old freshman Brey Cook is getting a good number of first-team reps.

Still, defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell sees benefits for his unit.

“The more we can work against them, the better we’ll get, yes,” Caldwell said. “Our guys right now, maybe they have an advantage on them because they do have a little more experience, but they’re … getting better every day. It will make us all better.”