Learning on the fly
Speedy Brooks provides early depth
The 14th in a summer series featuring newcomers to the University of Arkansas football team. Read previous stories at arkansasonline.com/2019hogs/
FAYETTEVILLE — A big test for Greg Brooks Jr. in the University of Arkansas secondary came early.
Not long into spring drills in March, veteran nickel back D’Vone McClure suffered a concussion that kept him off the field for a while.
Enter Brooks, a 5-11, 180-pound freshman and one of the gems in the Razorbacks’ well-regarded 2019 signing class.
Brooks, rated the No. 35 cornerback prospect in the country by ESPN, earned himself first-team reps during McClure’s absence, and he hopes to parlay that into substantial playing time this fall.
“That’s the plan,” Brooks said earlier this summer. “I’ve got to hold [a starting job] now. It’s all on me.”
Coach Chad Morris said he thinks the learning experience Brooks gathered was valuable.
“First of all, I thought Greg had a really good spring,” Morris said. “He was very active. He came in and just embraced being a college student and learning and all that.
“Man, he took care of business in the classroom. Just his ability to come in and provide depth for us and make plays throughout the course of spring, I think he’s going to be an unbelievable football player for us in time, and I’m excited.”
Arkansas cornerbacks coach Mark Smith said Brooks has natural gifts.
“The first thing I think of with Greg is just his speed and his quickness,” Smith said. “He may be the fastest guy on the team. I know we tested these guys early on, and his numbers were really great. He can run. He can flat out fly.”
“He’s got instincts. His change-of-direction is really like a cat the way that he moves. That’s the guy you’re looking for to play in this league, guys that can run the way that he can run.”
Brooks said his decision to enroll early was worth it.
“It helped me a lot,” he said. “It helped me show what I could do to the coaches and helped me get on the depth chart. It was the best thing I could do. I’m definitely glad I did it.”
Brooks, who hails from talent-rich southern Louisiana, is the son of Greg Brooks Sr., a college defensive back at Michigan and Southern Miss and a sixth-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2004.
As a freshman at West Jefferson, Brooks played against John Ehret High School and its star linebacker De’Jon Harris, who is now a senior leader for the Razorbacks.
“Sometimes I joke that I came here because of him,” said Brooks, who is close friends with Harris’ brother. “Really, he told me how it was and I came here.”
Brooks was committed to Mississippi State for six months before publicly switching to the Razorbacks on national signing day. The reason for his flip was pretty simple.
“Just the in-home visit really,” he said. “The one we had with Arkansas was way better than the one we had with Mississippi State.
“I just felt like [the Arkansas campus] was home. I already knew they had a whole bunch of New Orleans dudes here.”
Indeed, the pipeline from Fayetteville to the New Orleans metro area has been flowing steadily for a number of years, with former assistant Michael Smith landing a stream of talent including Harris, Henre Toliver, defensive lineman Briston Guidry (now medically retired), Giovanni LaFrance and others, and the current staff signing Andrew Parker, Joe Foucha, Brooks and Devin Bush, who are good buddies and fellow defensive backs.
“What’s he gonna do?” Bush said of Brooks. “This season my dude is gonna ball out. I could call a couple of picks [interceptions] on him.”
Brooks said he and Bush, friends since the ninth grade, had been talking for several years about playing together in college.
“Our sophomore year we told each other we were going to the same school,” Brooks said. “Remember that? … We had a group chat. It was like, ‘It’d be crazy if we went to the same place.’”
Brooks said he rules Bush in Madden NFL video games — “You know I’ll be busting him up, but it’s all good,” Brooks said — though that account is disputed by Bush, who says he has better hands than Brooks.
“He can’t catch better than me,” Bush said. “But you know my dude is gonna be on those lists for those freshman honor teams, all that type of stuff.
“His skills, they’re top notch. He was one of the best DBs in the state, both of us. Greg’s got sweet feet, if that’s what you want to call it. He can move. And he’s a student of the game. He’s always watching film and stuff, trying to get those tendencies down for our opponents this season.”
Brooks said he arrived at Arkansas in January weighing less than his posted weight of 179 due to an injury that impacted his senior season.
“I had broke my wrist,” Brooks said. “That happened in July and I didn’t really get over it, I wasn’t fully cleared until December. I played when I wasn’t fully clear.”
Brooks said he was hyped about being able to participate in spring drills with the Razorbacks.
“Just experiencing spring ball, I feel like that was a great challenge for me,” he said. “Experiencing meetings, practice and how it goes, just so I could be ready for this summer. I feel like going into fall camp I have more of an advantage than the new incoming freshmen.”
His top goal for the 2019 season is pretty straightforward.
“Just make big plays for my team and help us win,” Brooks said.