FAYETTEVILLE -- Before addressing Wednesday's meeting of the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club at Mermaid's Restaurant, Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema fielded questions from media.
The questions started with third-year reserve sophomore quarterback, Rafe Peavey's decision to transfer to SMU, which Peavey announced Tuesday night. In addition, Bielema said Wednesday that junior reserve cornerback Cornelius Floyd also is transferring and that junior reserve defensive tackle Ke'Tyrus Marks has transferred to Samford.
Bielema also disclosed that true freshman tight end Grayson Gunter has surpassed redshirt freshmen Will Gragg and C.J. O'Grady on the varsity depth chart behind starting senior Jeremy Sprinkle.
Marks, who was nearing UA graduation and never cracked the 2-deep roster, had indicated he might try to transfer as a graduate student, Bielema said earlier this month.
Floyd has lettered two years on special teams but was running third-team behind redshirt freshman walk-on cornerback Byron Keaton.
Peavey and Floyd both discussed their transfer intentions with Bielema Sunday night, Bielema said.
Bielema said players' decisions to transfer often prove what's best for them and shows the caliber of the team they are departing and also can end with surprises furthering their career in the NFL.
"When I was at the University of Wisconsin, I had a running back who couldn't get in our three deep who I allowed to transfer out," Bielema said. "He went to Pittsburgh, ended up playing at Pittsburgh and ended up playing two or three years in the NFL. Couldn't get on the field for us. The part that I always refer back to is, as you build depth to your roster, you're gonna have these problems come up. Part of a program is gaining strength."
Bielema wished well all three departing players and said he would help "C. Floyd find a home."
Peavey, redshirted in 2014 and never getting in a game last year though practicing behind graduated starting quarterback Brandon Allen and current starting fourth-year junior quarterback Austin Allen, never got behind in preseason after injuring his back lifting weights in July. The injury required minor surgery. However, Peavey practiced every day until Bielema withheld him from Saturday's scrimmage to get more reps for redshirt freshman Ty Storey and true freshman Cole Kelley.
Bielema said Saturday night he decided on Storey as the backup.
"I would say that Ty has had his best camp by far," Bielema said. "He's throwing the ball extremely well. He just manages the situation very well."
Kelley, 6-7 and displaying the strongest arm of Arkansas' quarterbacks but needing to improve his touch on short passes, will practice with the varsity as the third-team quarterback like Peavey did in 2014 behind the Allen brothers. Like Peavey in 2014, Kelley likely will redshirt unless circumstances require him to play this season.
Gunter's ascension is somewhat a surprise as redshirted freshmen tight ends Gragg and O'Grady, now both on the scout team running season-opening opponent Louisiana Tech's offensive plays against Arkansas' varsity defense, were both highly touted out of high school.
"He (Gunter) has done a great job," Bielema said. "He came in and knows the offense, knows where it's at. C.J. and Will have done a lot of really good things. It's not ability driven or anything like that. They've just got to get to know our offense a lot better and become a lot more dependable."
Bielema stressed Gragg and O'Grady remain in his future plans if they live up to their potential.
"I tell them the scout team is a starting point," Bielema said. "I played (at Iowa) with a guy named Marv Cook who played tight end. He played scout team for three years. His fourth year he was all Big 10, his fifth year he was All-American and played in the league 10 years. O'Brien Scoffield was a kid of mine (at Wisconsin) who played on scout team for three years, ended up being a third-round draft pick and is still in the league. The guys that need mental and physical development, they need time."
Bielema was asked the status of senior receivers Dominique Reed and Keon Hatcher, senior cornerback D.J. Dean, redshirt freshman offensive tackle Jalen Merrick, senior running back Kody Walker, freshman running backs Devwah Whaley and T.J. Hammonds and tight end Antwine after all sat out the last scrimmage or are practicing in green no-contact jerseys.
Bielema said both Reed and Dean practiced the first part of Tuesday's practice them went to rehab.
"Today, Dominique's had no regression, neither did D.J," Bielema said Wednesday. "So we'll progress them a little bit further. Friday we'll have a mock game and the goal is to have both those guys in there on Friday. Keon Hatcher as well as Anthony Antwine and Devwah are all out of their green and are full go now. T.J. Hammonds practiced and Kody Walker was out there, too."
Sports on 08/25/2016