Petrino impressed with second-year receivers C.J. Brown, Monte Harrison
FAYETTEVILLE — The Razorbacks have a bevy of different options to use at wide receiver this coming season, but two receivers are starting to rise to the top ahead of Week 1.
Arkansas brought in a total of seven transfer receivers over the offseason, but two returners that have stolen the show for the Hogs in recent days — C.J. Brown and Monte Harrison.
Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino met with the media on Tuesday and said both Brown and Harrison stood out in the Hogs’ second closed scrimmage of fall camp.
“Monte still had another big game, or big day out there,” Petrino said of last Saturday’s scrimmage. “Made a lot of catches, did a good job of running routes, ran after the catch, so I was happy with him. C.J. had a big touchdown for us and run after the catch.”
Brown and Harrison are both second-year players, though Harrison’s situation is a little unconventional as he’s 30-years-old.
Monte Harrison turning heads for Hogs
Harrison played professional baseball for 10 years before returning to football last offseason when he joined the Arkansas program as a walk-on. Petrino admitted he didn’t know much about him when the Hogs signed him last year, but Harrison is exceptionally talented on the football field.
“Did go back and watch his high school tape and very, very impressive the different things he did on high school tape,” Petrino said. “He was a good punt returner in high school. He lined up at quarterback a little bit in high school. All those things were exciting. Then this summer when you put up on the board all our players and their size, strength, speed, jumping ability, he just pops off the board.
“You’re going, ‘This is unbelievable how talented this young man is, or old man is.’ I don’t know what you call him, young or old. He’s still young to me, I can tell you that. But he is an unbelievable talent. Now he understands football. He’d been away from it for a long time, so he’s done a great job for us so far. We got to keep it going.”
Harrison spoke with the media earlier during fall camp and said last year, he was still rusty. He’d been playing baseball for a decade and his body wasn’t in football shape until midway through the season.
“I didn’t put the pads on until fall camp around this time last, and that was my first time in 10 years,” Harrison said on Aug. 4. “So, I think rust is kind of an understatement. I needed more than WD-40 to be able to get through it. I think when I got through probably, I’ll say, like, the fifth or sixth game of the year, I felt like I started to transition and started to feel more fluid.”
C.J. Brown’s impressive development
Petrino added more about C.J. Brown and said he’s continued to make strides since he got on campus a year ago.
“He started getting involved in the offense late in the season,” Petrino said. “He could run in there and add depth at two different positions, and had a nice bowl game. I thought he did a really good job in the preparation for the bowl game.”
What makes C.J. an interesting case is his versatility. He’s got the ability to play both inside in the slot and outside. That makes him an even better weapon for Petrino to utilize.
“Right now, he’s playing two different positions for us and his skill set, his quickness is really good inside, but he also has the really nice speed and routes that he can hit on the outside,” Petrino said. “The quarterbacks feel good about where you’re going to be on the deep throw, so he’s going to have a good year for us.”
