Inside Sports
Jones looking to make name for himself.
FAYETTEVILLE Arkansas Razorbacks redshirt freshman wide receiver Jordan Jones expects hearing folks talk smack over him hailing from Smackover.
“I say I’m from Smackover and everybody looks at me like I’m crazy and nobody knows where that is,” Jones said.
Probably true of many young and even middle-aged Razorbacks football fans outside of the Smackover/El Dorado/Camden vicinity unless they are also Razorbacks basketball fans remembering Smackover’s Jonathon “Pookie” Modica, lettering from 2002-2006.
But older Razorbacks fans or those younger knowing Razorbacks history know well that Smackover produced one of the greatest athletes in UA history. Clyde “Smackover” Scott, starred as College Football Hall of Famer and star halfback of John Barnhill’s surprising 1946 Southwest Conference champions and the 1948 Olympic 110-meter hurdles silver medalist. Also in 1948, Scott became the Razorbacks’ first and only NCAA Outdoor track champion until John McDonnell’s coaching era ignited nationally from the 1980s past the century’s turn.
“Oh, yeah,” Jones said of knowing about Clyde Scott. “He has jerseys and awards all across the campus. He’s the big thing from Smackover.”
Current Razorbacks football players have
athletic light years to go before catching up to Clyde Scott’s Razorbacks legend. But, from Smackover itself, it seems Jordan Jones could come the closest.
At least some of Jones’ home folk must think so.
“My hometown gives me a lot of credit when I go back home,” Jones said. “It’s been fun.”
Jones hasn’t officially caught a pass in a Razorbacks game having redshirted coming out of Smackover High in 2016, but he’s caught Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema’s attention catching deep passes this preseason camp heading into the Aug. 31 season opener against Florida A&M in Little Rock.
“Jordan Jones stood out,” Bielema has said constantly throughout preseason camp
Particularly when Jones catches what quarterback Austin Allen throws deep.
Praise echoes from Bielema, offensive coordinator Dan Enos and Allen, too.
“I saw that guy who took that next maturity step,” Allen said early in the preseason. “He’s a guy that has all the talent in the world.”
Enos exuded, “He’s really flashed and shown speed and run by guys and made explosive plays.”
Bielema and receivers coach Michael Smith kept up the deep ball catching praise but tempered it that Jones can’t put all his performance in the deep ball basket.
“Jordan can catch the long ball and our guys are definitely deathly afraid of his speed,” Bielema said. “But he needs to play all the other things, too. He needs to be a good run-blocker. He needs to be great on some plays that maybe doesn’t involve just running down the field.”
Receivers coach Smith knows that well.
“I’m not worried about my guys’ talent,” Smith said of a young receiving corps that got younger with lone senior Jared Cornelius sidelined all preseason with back problems. “My job and their job is to continue the nuances to lead us to the championship.”
Jones learned about nuances, shut out on deep passes the first preseason scrimmage after previous practices setting up nearly permanent lodging in the end zone.
“No, I didn’t have any,” Jones said of the first Saturday scrimmage and then next two practices thereafter. “They’re backing up deep. Everybody’s deep.”
The staff couldn’t have asked for more compelling Jones to do other things.
“Right now I just have to keep working on getting separation and asking my coaches what else I can do in practice,” Jones said. “Coach Smith tells me every day, ‘You can’t just be a deep threat.’ So right now I’m mainly focusing on getting out of my break and getting right on my routes. You just can’t a 9-route (deep pass) every time.”
Increasing Jones’ versatility short makes him more dangerous deep. “Coach Smith told me if I can run a comeback or run shakes and things like that it’s going to open up my deep ball,” Jones said.
Jones has learned a lot starting with last season’s redshirt year smacked over from Smackover to the scout team.
“Yeah, a lot of hard work on the scout team but I took that as a chance to perfect my craft and do better,” Jones said. “When I first got here I thought I was going to come out here and play. And then I got to practice and I thought, ‘Woe! Everything is moving too fast!’ I really wasn’t in my playbook like I should have been. So now I’m coming out here knowing what to do and knowing where to line up and helping the younger guys.”