'Hornsby Hype' Continues After Making Big Plays in Thursday Practice

Backup quarterback showing he can make plays catching passes, too, in final tuneup before weekend scrimmage

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Much of the buzz after Arkansas' practice Thursday was about Malik Hornsby.

The bottom line after an indoors practice to get ready for Saturday's scrimmage was everybody is fascinated with his speed and trying to get it on the field.

In the spring, when everything is about experimenting and development, don't try to draw too many conclusions. That will also continue into the first couple of weeks in August.

Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images

Check back a week before the Sept. 3 opener against Cincinnati to find out who might really be playing where.

According to reports, Hornsby scorched cornerback Hudson Clark for a 55-yard pass completion from KJ Jefferson and followed that up with a 75-yarder.

Saturday's open practice inside Razorback Stadium before it probably gets torn up for a Garth Brooks concert will be the last time anybody gets to see anything until the Razorbacks open fall camp in August.

There will be enough to speculate about with Hornsby, who will get a lot of speculation for the next few months.

The guess here is they are going to try and get the ball in his hands in the open as much as possible. The straight-ahead speed is really good, but he's not the most elusive guy on the field.

But he might be the fastest guy on the field.

Andy Hodges / allHOGS Images

Sam Pittman and Kendal Briles want to take advantage of that, but it wouldn't be that shocking to see Cade Fortin get a lot of reps if Jefferson goes down. All bets are off at that point, really.

Thursday's practice reports had a lot of guys getting shuffled in various spots, which probably won't mean much in August.

The guess here all of this is about evaluation and looking at different things to see what might work and what they don't want to do. They are getting a lot of video to look at and will spend a couple of months doing that.

Maybe the biggest question, though, is figuring out how to get the ball in Hornsby's hands and using his speed to stretch the field to keep defenses from crowding the box to stop what will likely be a featured running game.

As I said, check back in August.

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