Rawleigh Williams Injury puts Heavier Emphasis on Arkansas to Find Top Running Backs in 2016 Class

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

There was a bitter-sweet takeaway from Arkansas’ 54-46 four-overtime win over Auburn on Saturday. The Hogs remained in the race for a possible shot at a share of the SEC West title and a bowl berth but lost true freshman running back Rawleigh Williams for the season due to a neck injury.

In the third quarter, Williams ran right towards the sidelines when an Auburn player grabbed his facemask turning his head to the side and then another Tiger player hit him cleanly for a tackle. Which part of the play caused the injury is not known. The Dallas area native was carted off the field and taken to the hospital for “precautionary reasons” that later turned into a needed surgery on Sunday.

On Monday, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema spoke to the media about Williams’ injury status stating, “Every report says that he’s probably going to be able to play again. It won’t be until next year. When you’re talking about the severity and the injury that it is, there’s a lot of time between now and then to figure out what he wants to do and what his family wants to do.”

Williams took on a bigger role in the offense after senior Jonathan Williams suffered a season ending foot injury during fall camp. Rawleigh was not expected to make up the 1,190 yards and 12 touchdowns Jonathan posted in 2014, but was on pace for a nice season of around 470 yards if the Hogs played in a bowl game at season’s end.

The need for the Razorbacks’ offense from Williams was to spell starting junior running back Alex Collins. Collins has 787 net rushing yards averaging 112 yards a game but is now without his top backup. Junior Kody Walker has missed parts of the last three seasons with various injuries, including this year with a thumb injury, but played significant minutes against Auburn rushing eight times for 32 yards with two touchdowns, both key scores in the second and third overtime and a two-point conversion on the winning score off a Brandon Allen pass.

Walker, when healthy, is a load listed in the neighborhood of 6’2”, 255 pounds. Trouble is he is oft injured. The depth behind Walker leaves freshman Juan Day, who is trying to come back from consecutive years with knee injuries, and Denzell Evans. Day nor Evans has a carry in a game this season. Evans had seven carries in 2014 for 36 yards appearing in nine games but primarily on special teams.

Arkansas is now 3-4, 2-2, fighting for a bowl berth with five regular season games left to play making Alex Collins a much bigger and more critical piece for the team’s potential success going forward.

The attention is turned back to recruiting since the 2013 season to try to figure out how the Hogs, a run-first team could be essentially down to two running backs. Another focus for the Hogs team going forward is who will they hand the ball off to in 2016? Jonathan Williams is expected to decline the option of a medical redshirt and declare for the 2016 NFL Draft and Collins is expected to be an early NFL entry.

There is no doubt that Bielema’s first recruiting haul in 2013 was his best in the running back department. Collins, Evans, and Korliss Marshall were signed. The loss of Marshall due to dismissal after six games last season was a heavy blow to the Hogs’ depth then and now. Marshall was a game changer with breakaway speed, something the team desperately lacks now.

The 2014 class went heavy on defensive backs (6) and wide receivers (4). The lone running back taken was Juan Day, a 3-star commitment out of North Little Rock. The Hogs signed 23 recruits in the 2015 class but only one running back, Rawleigh Williams.

Arkansas has 12 reported offers out for the 2016 recruiting class with seven of those players now committed to other teams. The Hogs could be in-line for Aubrey White (Wylie East HS), Kyle Porter (Katy HS), Matthew Falcon (Southfield HS), Devwah Whaley (Central Senior HS), and Devin White (North Webster HS); the five offered who remain publicly uncommitted.

The Hogs have one verbal commitment who could line up at running back next season, Robinson High School’s T.J. Hammonds. The Little Rock native, listed at 5’11”, 196 pounds, is a scoring threat very similar to Alabama’s Kenyan Drake. Hammond can line up an I-back set or slide out to the slot creating mismatches with linebackers and safeties.

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Rawleigh Williams’ future is unclear on the collegiate gridiron due to his injury forcing a greater emphasis for the Razorbacks to add more running backs to the mix, and the need was already really high before Williams’ unfortunate injury. Arkansas has 14 verbal commitments to the 2016 class. A fourth receiver might soon verbally commit but what is needed is two more running backs that can be counted on next season should another injury bug strike the Hogs.

Fans of every collegiate football fan base are told to trust the coaches, they are paid millions to know what they are doing, but that does not always translate onto the field or on the recruiting trail. In past recruiting classes Arkansas has rolled the dice in an effort to firm up other areas of need bypassing recruiting the running back position, a focal point of the team identity and success. Fingers crossed that the coaching staff can land the players needed that will not only be the foundation for years to come but very well could be the key to a successful 2016 season.

Arkansas Razorbacks 2016 Verbal Commitment List

SS Deon Edwards, 6’0”, 195 lbs, Lake Minneola HS, Minneola, FL

SS Alexy Jean-Baptiste, 6’3”, 205 lbs, Coconut Creek HS, Coconut Creek, FL

DE McTelvin Agim, 6’3”, 269 lbs, Hope HS, Hope, AR

DT Austin Capps, 6’4”, 306 lbs, Star City HS, Star City, AR

DT Briston Guidry, 6’3”, 275 lbs, Rummel HS, Metairie, LA

LB Dejon Harris, 5’11”, 235 lbs, John Ehret HS, Marrero, LA

OT Jake Heinrich, 6’5, 290 lbs, Urbandale HS, Urbandale, IA

QB Cole Kelley, 6’7”, 235 lbs, Teurlings Catholic HS, Lafayette, LA

RB T.J. Hammonds, 5’11”, 196 lbs, Robinson HS, Little Rock, AR

FB Hayden Johnson, 6’3”, 252 lbs, Rock Bridge HS, Columbia, MO

TE Grayson Gunter, 6’6”, 230 lbs, Madison Central HS, Madison, MS

WR Kofi Boateng, 6’1”, 175 lbs, Arlington Lamar HS, Arlington, TX

WR Jordan Jones, 6’2”, 175 lbs, Smackover HS, Smackover, AR

WR Kiel Pollard, 6’1”, 228 lbs, Colquitt County, Moultrie, AR

 

Photo credit: fansided.com; Rawleigh Williams finds running room against Auburn.