Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams has been working overtime in the nickname business this spring. The senior has dubbed Arkansas’ tight ends “The Dog Pound.” He refers to himself as a mutt, calls Ben Cleveland the group’s German Shepherd and refers to the lanky Chris Gragg as a Great Dane.
But spring practice hasn’t been all fun and games for Williams, who briefly considered an early jump to the 2010 NFL Draft last winter before announcing he would return to Arkansas for his senior season. Here’s a brief Q & A I did with Williams after Wednesday’s practice, which covered topics like his work on leadership this spring, his expectations for Friday’s scrimmage and a long-awaited nickname for redshirt freshman tight end Austin Tate.
Q: Ben Cleveland is out now after undergoing an appendectomy. Since he’ll likely miss the rest of the spring, what kind of opportunity is this for a young guy like Austin Tate?
A: “It’s huge. He came out real strong with the fullbacks starting out. Now he’s getting more reps with the tight ends. That’s just tough for him in practice now because he’s going with the ones, twos and threes. But he’s a tough kid. I call him the ‘Kraken,’ that thing off of ‘Clash of the Titans.’ I guess that could be his new dog name. I’m not sure if it’s a breed, but it could be a new one.”
Q: How is Ben? He seems to have some hard luck with injuries?
A: “I would say the tough thing for him to do, he gets injured, works real hard, gets back ready to roll and something else happens. the tough thing is going to be for him, is to not let that get him down, to somehow get back into shape and just put that behind him and be back full speed.”
Q: How is the spring going for you?
A: It’s going all right. I’m just trying to work more on this leadership thing. It’s something I’m trying to put on myself. So far it’s all right, but I need to step it up in the leadership department.
Q: What kind of things can you do?
A: One, everybody says lead buy example. That’s the easy part. The hard part is being a vocal leader and the trick is not making people follow you, it’s getting them to want to follow you. It’s not that I’ve figured that out yet. But it will come to me.”
Q: Last spring the goal was to improve as a blocker. Still working on that this spring?
A: Yeah, I’m still working on it. I shed a couple of pounds to try to get speed back up and I didn’t think that would bug me much, but having that weight not on you it’s a little tougher to stay on the blocks. It’s just being a tough thing. Getting in there and not worrying about yourself and letting it all go and blast somebody.”
Q: How much did you shed? Just a couple of pounds?
A: “Something like that.”
Q: Why? Are you just trying to be a little sleeker?
A: “I’m trying to get down the field. Maybe get a little deep ball in every now and then.”
Q: You guys practice Friday, then have three days off. So are you expecting a long scrimmage?
A: “My mind has been ready for one of them 180-play scrimmages again. That’s just the way it is. That’s football. It’s tough. I’m not going to sit at home losing sleep over it. I’m going to sit at home, wake up and be excited to come out and play football.”
