Practice Reports - 8/22/2005

U of A SID: Arkansas Makes Position Changes After Watching Scrimmage

"We made a few moves after the scrimmage as we turn the corner and get ready for our game in a couple weeks," Nutt said. "Dedrick Poole will be strictly on offense. He can play tailback, but we’re going to get him a little more involved in an h-back slot. Which is really a third receiver coming out of the backfield, shifting out. I think that’s going to be a great role for him. He can run screens and reverses.

"Defensively we moved Matterral Richardson from a corner to a safety and now there’s going to be some competition between him and Randy Kelly," Nutt said. "We moved Clarke Moore. He was a second team defensive end and now he’s second team middle linebacker. He’s played linebacker before.

"We moved Kevin Thornton back to safety, his natural position," Nutt said. "We appreciate his attitude. We tried to move him up and it didn’t work out so we moved him back. All these moves were made because we’re trying to put the best 11 on the football field."

So is it a good thing or a bad thing that this many moves are happening less than two weeks before the season opener? Yeah...uh oh. It looks like Randy Kelly is the odd man out. The fact that they stuck a yellow jersey on Dedrick Poole and tried him on defense for a couple of plays at the end of Saturday's scrimmage tells everyone that the coaches are searching hard to find a free safety. Maybe Richardson is the guy...but you better find out soon.

Also:

Trey Biddy: Hawgs make moves (subscription)
Clay Henry: Monday Grid Update, 8/22 (subscription)
Nate Allen: Hogs trio returns to practice; defense gets shake up
Bob Holt: Razorbacks Report
Mike Capshaw: Herring Announces Changes On Defense

Updated 8/23/05 10:00 a.m. - Added additional links.