Three Things Roberts Said About Arkansas Razorbacks' Defense in Spring Practices

Hogs' new coordinator discusses key numbers, effort, new schemes, pass rusher doing something he's never done.

Arkansas Razorbacks defensive coordinator Ron Roberts at a spring practice. | Munir El-Khatib-allHOGS Images

Ron Roberts doesn't sugarcoat things.

When the first-year Razorbacks defensive coordinator sat down with reporters Monday for nearly 30 minutes, he was direct about what's working, what still needs work and exactly where his defense stands heading into Saturday's Red-White game.

Here's what stood out.

1. Effort First, Scheme Second

Before Roberts ever got to depth charts or schematic installations, he made one thing clear. The foundation of everything he's building at Arkansas starts with how hard his players play.

He doesn't just want technically sound defenders.

He wants a group that plays so relentlessly that the opposing running back thinks there are 15 guys on the field. He wants players who cover each other's mistakes not with perfect assignments, but with pursuit that never stops.

"When you play like your hair's on fire and you play 100 miles an hour and you play relentless and you're not inhibited by anything, you can correct a lot of mistakes by how you play," Roberts said. "And you can cover another person's mistake by how hard you play."

The numbers back it up.

In one live tackling session, the Hogs ran 109 snaps and finished with just 10 missed tackles — right in the range Roberts is targeting every time the pads come on.

He called the tackling progress "pleasing," but was quick to pump the brakes on any celebration.

"You can't pat yourself on the back," Roberts said. "We've got work to do. They know that."

Roberts said the last six practices specifically have shown the biggest jump in tempo and pursuit.

It's not a coincidence that those are also the practices he described as the most encouraging of the spring.

2. Scheme Installation Surprised Even Roberts

When Roberts arrived in Fayetteville, he knew he was bringing a defense Arkansas hadn't run in years.

That included asking players to learn new concepts, new terminology and new responsibilities, including wrinkles that had some of his own defenders shaking their heads at first.

Among the most notable are defensive linemen and "Jacks" being asked to drop into pass coverage. For a player like end Quincy Rhodes Jr., it was completely uncharted territory.

"I've never dropped at any time of my life until this year," Rhodes said earlier this spring.

That's the kind of adjustment that can slow an entire unit down. Roberts knew it going in and built his expectations accordingly.

What he didn't expect was how fast his young roster would absorb it all.

By practices four and five, he was pulling his staff aside to tell them something he hadn't anticipated saying so early.

"I was telling the other coaches, 'They're soaking this stuff up like a sponge,'" Roberts said. "They're a lot further along than several other spots at this point in time."

He said the Hogs are schematically ahead of where he projected they'd be at this stage of spring and that the bigger remaining challenge isn't installing the playbook, but continuing to sharpen the tempo and execution that brings the scheme to life at full speed.

"I think our guys did a really good job with that stuff," Roberts said. "It's really that and then establishing the tempo, which I thought we got better at, especially the last six practices."

Arkansas Razorbacks defensive back La'khi Roland during spriing practice. | Munkr El-Khatib-allHOGS Images

3. Depth Target a Number They Haven't Reached

Roberts is a numbers guy when it comes to roster evaluation and he's not pretending otherwise.

His stated goal for this spring was to identify 22 defenders he's fully confident can line up and execute at a high level in a game setting. After 12 practices, he put the honest count at 17 or 18.

That gap isn't panic-worthy. It's a project — and Roberts already has the timeline mapped out.

"Are we at 22? I don't know if we're at 22," Roberts said. "I would say if we stopped right now we're at 17, 18 guys you're real comfortable with. But we're going to keep hunting that number and I think between now and summer being involved — that mental aspect — then fall camp involved, I would love to see if we can get it to 24."

The jump from 22 to 24 is telling. Roberts isn't just trying to hit his original benchmark, he's already thinking beyond it.

Summer workouts and the mental reps that come with them represent a real opportunity to push players who are close to crossing the line of full confidence and fall camp gives the staff one more extended look before the season arrives.

He said the defensive staff is "pretty close" to where they hoped to be through 80% of spring drills and the unit has turned in encouraging work in live periods by recording several interceptions in team sessions and forcing two fumbles during goal-line work last week.

The Red-White game Saturday is the next measuring stick.

Roberts has already split the defense into two balanced sides with the two-deep interspersed across both rosters, setting up the most competitive evaluation possible before the Hogs break for the summer.

Seventeen or 18 he's comfortable with. He's hunting 24. Saturday is the next step in finding out who's in that number.