Arkansas to Play a 6'0", 176 Pound Defensive Lineman?

The latest update to the Razorback football rosters seems to think so

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Feb 22, 2023 10:18 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – So this time of year around the allHogs offices, we start pondering what some of the big questions are surrounding this Arkansas football team as we get ready for spring practices.

Basketball is hitting its most important stretch of the season, baseball has cranked up, so figuring this stuff out requires a two or three weeks to squeeze in, hence why it's mid-February and we're asking these questions.

Literally the first question that came up was whether we even know for sure who is on the team. We've checked in on the roster a few times since signing date, and if you've also been doing that from home, you know that for quite a while, there were only a couple of names from the signing class.

It wasn't even the entire signing class. It was tight end Luke Hasz and one other name and that was it.

However, a nice President's Day visit to see how the roster is shaping up to at least give us a starting point proved more interesting than glancing at a line-up ever should.

The roster at the moment ends with No. 67, Josh Street, a 6'6" redshirt sophomore offensive lineman from Bentonville. So, it isn't a full roster, but at least it's a starting point.

Quarterbacks Jacolby Criswell and Malachi Singleton don't show up yet, but based on the available numbers, Criswell won't be wearing the No. 6 jersey that he wore at North Carolina. As for Singleton, his No. 3 from high school is available for the offensive side of the ball if the Razorbacks don't mind doubling up on the same number at that spot.

However, just a little bit below where those two should have been is where the biggest curiosity on this roster lies. Now, let's preface by saying this is most likely just a typo by some poor intern trying to get enough money from stipends to cover the cost of books for the semester, thus it's not a big deal at all.

At least we're 99.9% sure.

You see, Bryce Stephens, all 6'0", 176 pounds of him, is listed as a defensive lineman. I'll give you a second to wipe that spit take off your keyboard.

Bryce Stephens roster listing as of Feb. 20, 2023 shows him as a 6-0, 176 pound wide receiver. — Razorback Communications

Like I said – 99.9% sure.

However, there have been times when those of us who cover athletics have been 99.9% sure in the past and been wrong.

So, it's February. It's President's Day. I'm not in need of a new mattress at 30% off or looking to drive away in a new car at this week's rock bottom prices despite the most value on my trade-in, so let's explore why that .1% is still there.

The last time we thought there was a typo on a released roster, Trey Knox, a 6-5, 200-pound wide receiver, was listed as a tight end. If you're looking for a way to picture whether that's skinny for a tight end, think of the grown man in your church walking around at normal height with a 181-pound frame.

If you need another comparison, look no further than Bryce Stephens and basketball's Joseph Pinion. Stephens has almost the same proportions as far as pounds per inch as Knox did when he began his unimaginable journey, and Pinion is almost exactly the same height and weight as Knox was at the time.

Yet, Arkansas coach Sam Pittman was desperate, so he lined Knox up across SEC defensive ends, wished him the best, and hopefully at least promised a few extra chicken breasts and a biscuit at the next team meal.

To his credit, Knox made the most of it and dedicated himself to putting on a lot of weight over the next year. He truly transformed his body into a serviceable tight end.

That leads us to reason No. 2 that .1% is hanging around. Football coaches, especially old school ones, really like to show off what's being done in the weight room.

This is even more common when a new strength and conditioning coach is hired. Coaches like to show off to the public that they made a great executive decision in getting rid of the previous guy and bringing in the greatest trainer in all of college sports as his replacement.

Well, wouldn't you know, that exact same thing is playing out with the Razorbacks. The firing of former strength coach Jamil Walker was a rather noisy one for a position that typically dwells in obscurity.

Pittman will be anxious to highlight what Ben Sowders can do while showing off physical proof that it's getting done.

The staff and team situation often determines when and how often you get updated weights on players. Typically, all teams will bring the guys in to get new weights on them just prior to the season starting so things can be up to date in the program heading into the season.

However, you'll sometimes get a weigh-in during the spring for the sake of spotlighting the work guys are putting in during the offseason. With Sowders having come on, that might be the case this year.

We know the weights aren't currently updated because quarterback KJ Jefferson is still listed at 242 pounds, which he claims he wasn't even at heading into last season.

So, who know?. Maybe Bryce Stephens has been pounding Creatine, ripping through the weights and massive plates of chicken and turkey all off-season long. He could walk out onto the practice field and be a nice 6'0", 190 pounds when spring practice starts for all we know.

Maybe he keeps it up and by August he's rolling at 215. It should be noted that Jashaud Stewart played his freshman year as a 6'2", 223 pound defensive lineman. That's almost the exact same height per pound ratio as Stephens in this scenario if that were to happen.

Reason No. 3 is to hang on to the sliver of uncertainty is that new coaches bring in strange philosophies at times. Arkansas essentially has an entirely new staff on the defensive side, so you never know what's gonna get thrown into the stew.

Still, it seems a bit absurd. Until you remember Chad Morris once coached here.

When Morris starting recruiting offensive linemen, there was definite concern some of the weights listed for the guys he was bringing in had to be typos. Arkansas was coming off several years of having the biggest offensive lines in football, and say what you want, but offensive line play had been one of the strong suits of the Bielema era.

He recruited monsters and proved that those monsters could hold the line against SEC defenses. But Morris didn't like the idea of having a bunch of Brock Lesnars and Braun Strowman's on his front line. He wanted a line filled with Rey Mysterios and Shawn Michaels.

This isn't a joke. He came into the SEC believing that if he went much smaller so his linemen could be faster, he would dominate SEC defenses. He reportedly ordered the strength coaches to make the remaining linemen smaller also.

As everyone found out over the next 21 months, quickly running into a giant truck doesn't do much to slow down the truck. It was an absolute disaster.

So, as stated numerous times, there's a 99.9% chance that this is a very minor mistake that made a boring Monday a little more enjoyable for a bit of good-hearted fun. Yet, there's that .1% that's I'm going to hang onto just to cover my backside.

Because, after all, it is Arkansas.