Silverfield’s Arkansas offensive line plan has a catch before A&M

Quarterback and running back aren’t the only spots where Ryan Silverfield has some sorting out to do.

The Arkansas offensive line just got added to the pile.

I’d argue that’s the bigger deal. Outside of the quarterback room, no group on this roster carries more weight than the five big fellas up front.

Anybody who’s watched much football knows how this goes. If the line can’t win up front, it doesn’t matter much who’s lining up behind it.

Through four games, the Hogs’ line has been good at one job and shaky at the other.

The same five guys have lined up first in every game this fall, and they’ve been a unit since spring ball.

Silverfield wants to keep them together. He’s also smart enough to know that plan has an expiration date if the run game stays stuck.

Two very different report cards

Pro Football Focus grades tell a split story for the Razorbacks up front.

The line’s pass protection grade is a 76.4, which is plenty good enough to keep a quarterback upright most Saturdays.

Its run blocking grade is 53.5. That one’s a problem.

That gap goes a long way toward explaining why this offense has looked the way it has.

Nobody’s grades have taken a bigger hit than Bryant Williams’.

The right tackle came over from Louisiana and sits at the bottom of the group at 54.8. When he’s run blocking, it drops to 44.8.

That’s not what anybody pictured. Williams earned All-Sun Belt honors a year ago with the Ragin’ Cajuns. He didn’t show up here as a project.

Hawkes gets his shot

The Hogs finally made a move while beating Tulsa 34-6 on Saturday.

With the third quarter winding down, Adam Hawkes came in for Williams at right tackle, and the Oregon State transfer never came back out.

Hawkes has now played in two games. That’s just 39 snaps, so let’s not build him a statue yet.

Still, what he’s put on tape grades out well. He’s at 74.1 overall, 77.2 as a run blocker and 61.5 in pass protection.

Read that middle number one more time. Run blocking is exactly where Arkansas has been hurting.

Two games of spot duty is a long way from a full season, though, and Silverfield isn’t ready to hand anybody the job.

Silverfield sticks with his five for now

Silverfield stood by the switch when he met with the media Monday.

“I think in-game that was the right decision to make at the right tackle spot,” Silverfield said. “We’ve got great faith that Bryant’s going to continue to progress, and he’s one of those guys … There’s some good, some things that he continues to do.”

He didn’t pretend Hawkes was perfect, either.

“Adam Hawkes gave us a decent spell, and there’s some things he’d look back and say, ‘I’ll get this done better,'” Silverfield said.

He’s still leaning toward the group that opened the season.

“As much as we can, we’d love to keep the five guys that have originally started the season (on the) offensive line as the core group because there was some positive some steps in the right direction,” he said. “Certainly not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.”

That last sentence is about as honest as Monday press conferences get.

Competition is the message

Silverfield didn’t slam the door, though.

“So, we tell them every week and we told the offensive line, guys, the five guys that started last game, the plan is to start them,” he said. “But man there’s got to be some competition. We’ve got to find ways to continue to improve.”

So the starters keep their jobs until somebody takes one from them.

Don’t count on Tim Cramsey to spill the details. Arkansas’ offensive coordinator and his boss have both been pretty tight-lipped about any shakeup.

I wouldn’t expect a press release on it before Texas A&M. Whatever happens will get sorted out on the practice field this week.

Williams gets a chance to hang on to his spot, and Hawkes gets a chance to take it. Honestly, that’s how it ought to work.

The bigger picture for the Hogs

There was good news on Saturday, too. The offense finally woke up against Tulsa.

Nothing Arkansas had done through four games looked better. Chris Marshall piled up a big day at wideout. KJ Jackson hit the 300-yard mark through the air for the first time.

That lines up with the pass protection grades. Jackson had time to throw, and he made the most of it.

But the Razorbacks are 2-2 and 0-1 in the SEC. Airing it out won’t bail them out every weekend.

Somebody’s got to move people in the run game, and that starts with the guys up front.

Whether it’s Williams, Hawkes or somebody else at right tackle is Silverfield’s call.

Either way, the quarterback and running back debates have some company now.