By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK — Already short-changed by the Southeastern Conference coaches, Arkansas’ receivers might be too plentiful to win individual honors.
The coaches passed up Greg Childs, Jarius Wright and Joe Adams when they picked their all-conference preseason team. Maybe the Razorbacks split the vote.
Extremely consistent, Childs had three to five catches per game with five for 140 yards vs. Georgia, four for 135 vs. Florida and five for 124 vs. LSU. Wright caught 10 of his 41 in the first two games; Adams was most impressive against Alabama with six catches.
If one does enough this fall to make All-SEC, Childs is the pick. Offensive coordinator Garrick McGee has said he doesn’t think there is a better receiver in the country when Childs is spot on with his attitude and concentration.
The coaches settled on Georgia’s A.J. Green and Alabama’s Julio Jones on the first team, and named Auburn’s Darvin Adams and South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery to the second unit.
Green and Jones are extremely talented, but both play on teams that prefer the run over the pass and both are head and shoulders above their teammates. Childs, Wright and Adams caught a total of 137 for almost 2,500 yards and 22 touchdowns last year and Adams missed three games.
If Ryan Mallett is as productive as expected, they’ll have excellent numbers again this year, but on a team with more than a dozen receivers, their stats might be inferior to those of Green and Jones. In Auburn’s offense, Adams could have dozens of catches.
Later this week, the SEC will release the media’s preseason all-conference teams.
When absorbing the election outcome, note the unwritten disclaimer, the one that says this is only opinion and that voting was based primarily on history, reputation and expectations.
Arkansas had a total of four players on the coaches’ first and second units, and should fare as well or better with the media.
Mallett will be a near unanimous choice. He has little competition. Alabama’s Greg McElroy will get support for his winning ways and South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia will be the pick of a few mavericks.
Anticipating big numbers from Arkansas’ offense, tight end D.J. Williams, a receiver, and an offensive lineman will get votes. At the very least, senior tackle DeMarcus Love should be on the second team.
Arkansas defenders will not be as popular as their counterparts on offense. End Jake Bequette and linebacker Jerry Franklin are the Razorbacks’ prime candidates.
Two players on the first two defensive units would be an improvement over last year when second-team lineman Malcolm Sheppard was the only representative.
Matching up preseason teams with postseason teams, failures are most notable among skill players.
Last year, Arkansas’ Williams and Mississippi wide receiver Shay Hodge made the preseason team and were not on The Associated Press’ first two units released after the season. Same for running backs Charlie Scott of LSU and Michael Smith of Arkansas, both done in by a dramatic drop in production. They were replaced by Mark Ingram of Alabama and Anthony Dixon of Mississippi State.
Ingram, the Heisman Trophy winner, and Dixon were second teamers in the preseason along with quarterback Jevan Snead of Ole Miss. Postseason, Mallett was on the second team along with running backs Dexter McCluster of Ole Miss and Montario Hardesty of Tennessee.
Release of the preseason teams just means we are one step closer to Sept. 4.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
