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Green Clearly Frontrunner at QB, but Not Without Competition

Originally posted on FanNation All Hogs | By Andy Hodges | Last updated 3/8/24

You don't have to be particularly bright to see Arkansas is counting on Boise State transfer Taylen Green at quarterback. He's getting an awful lot of first-team reps in spring practice that wrapped up a second practice at the indoor field in the football facility Friday morning.

The Razorbacks' offense is running fairly smooth, mainly because they've been working together a couple of months with the quarterbacks and receivers. That's due in part to the changes in rule in response to that transfer portal thing so that is a possibility now.

Especially with Green running things. He came in and appears to have just taken charge of the quarterbacks and receivers. That's due to him and being able tp pick up Petrino's offense quickly and it's probably a good bet they got an idea shortly after he was hired to replace Dan Enos in December.

"We've seen some out of him before with the walks and all this kind of stuff and meeting time he puts in and all that kind of stuff," Pittman said after practice. "It was different than throwing a guy in at the with the ones the first day of practice because of the rules have allowed us to do more before practice starts."

The quarterbacks seem to be getting a lot more attention as a group. We've all been so focused the last few years on primarily KJ Jefferson. There was probably no question or competition for the No. 1 spot after the Missouri game in 2020.

"They're battling in there," he said. "Malachi (Singleton) had a better day today than he did on Thursday, (Jacolby) Cris(well) is doing well. I like where KJ (Jackson) is at and Taylen’s doing a fine job. I like where they’re at. They like each other. They’re competing hard against each other. The one thing I’m seeing a little bit more out of them this year is they all seem to possess really good leadership qualities and take ownership of their own mistakes, but yet have really good leadership skills. That’s what you’ve got to have at the quarterback position."

At one point Friday morning, Petrino and Singleton had a little one-on-one coaching. It didn't appears to be one of Bobby's famous "chewings" but was coaching, Oh, we've seen Petrino still have the ability to be a little animated, but the drops seemed less than Thursday, but right now it's all about getting his offense installed and playing fast. Green has adapted quickly. Everyone has seen his speed.

""That dude can move," Jackson said. "He has a great arm, but I feel like he really can dominate you with running the ball. There were times where I had him out-leveraged whenever I was surfing. I had him out-leveraged, and he’ll still pull it and still get outside. When it comes down to it, if he really needs to, he’s going to use his speed and get those yards."

What he appears to have is quick feet and an aptitude for running the ball. There have been some really good quarterbacks for the Razorbacks over the years that had the speed, but not the knack for running. That goes back decades. Bill Montgomery wasn't the fastest guy in the world, but could get yards. Joe Ferguson had more speed, but simply didn't have that feel for running the ball. Green still has to get the job and that may not be completely settled right now.

"It’s fun watching them battle, fun having a discussion with them on the timing of routes, out routes, comebacks or a fade," wide receiver Andrew Armstrong said Thursday. "It’s overall fun. Everybody's got their different things, Malachi can throw it deep, he can run. They all can run, all can throw. There’s not really a point I can make for each one, they’re all just great."

They also need to get more than the one helmet they've got with what Pittman called a "walkie-talkie" to talk directly with quarterbacks while they are on the field. He's not putting it on any of them right now.

"There's a dot that goes out there and the officials are looking at it," Pittman said. "You can only have one, one light going on both sides of the ball. That's gonna be a little bit more of a challenge. Right now we're not using it on offense and I didn't want to go out there and put a helmet on one guy. We only have one unit right now and that's everybody. So, each quarterback doesn't have it right now. They will in the fall. II didn't want to just put that unit on one guy and just declare the guy right now."

It's a way to keep the competition going at quarterback, which is probably an actual competition right now. It probably won't be after spring practice. Unless someone really emerges, the guy start will probably be Green. At least as we see it right now.

• New Razorbacks' OL Coach Eric Mateos' graduate assistant catches everyone's attention

This article first appeared on FanNation All Hogs and was syndicated with permission.

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