Razorbacks' Dominique Johnson Just Trying to Work Back Up

Injuries knocked redshirt junior off top spot, but he's accepted that and is working back up

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Aug 5, 2023 8:35 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A couple of years ago, Arkansas running back Dominique Johnson was sitting at the top of the running back depth chart going into the Outback Bowl and then he injured a knee. That's old news to fans.

After recovering from ACL surgery, he got ready for the 2022 season, then had another ACL injury. That would have finished things for a lot of players, but the redshirt junior from Crowley, Texas has come back and he's well aware of where he's sitting in a crowded running backs room.

"Basically now again I’m the fourth running back," Johnson said. "So I don’t feel like I have to work harder to get my spot back. I just feel like if I keep doing what I was doing, play how I play, because you know, Coach Smith is going to give everybody a chance. Like he said with the rotation, everybody is going to get a chance to start or play more than somebody else.

"So it’s not a problem for me. I feel like as long as I keep doing how I do, run my way, my way is going to come into play. Gameday, we might need it, so I just do what I do. Encourage everybody else to keep going like that."

What he's been able to do after the last injury and with new strength and conditioning coach Ben Sowders is add more muscle and, hopefully, become a better player this year.

"His body is different," running backs coach Jimmy Smith said. "There’s more muscle. They took care of him. Even when he was hurt, he did a good job of doing stuff, just keeping the conditioning going. They did a good job of it. He’s kind of ahead of it because he was already in condition. When he started back running, he could do more running."

The results even caught his coach by surprise to a certain extent. It's part of a juggling issue for Smith, but at least he's got plenty of talented pieces to be moving around the board.

"Honestly, he surprised me because mentally, he’s doing a great job," Smith said. "No fall off. He was doing a good job of when he wasn’t playing, he was staying involved and I had him on the other field, kind of coaching the guys up and staying involved so he’d know what to do so when he did come back, he wouldn’t have any setback mentally."

It's made for a situation that could lower folks' numbers, all the way from top running backs Raheim "Rocket" Sanders and AJ Green plus the emergence of Rashod Dubinion last season has probably made the road harder to get huge numbers, but could result in more wins as a team. With the culture changes we've been hearing about, that's a big part of it.