Even Sam Pittman feels quarterback Taylen Green's "special" abilities hold key to Razorbacks' success
Although it remains to be seen whether Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino can take the Taylen Green and mould him into a sure fire scoring machine, a passer and runner, who cuts up SEC secondaries, this move has to be seen as a major coup for the Razorbacks.
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Head Hog Sam Pittman won’t say much, but the coach sounds optimistic about his level transfer quarterback, a superior athlete whose 4. 3 seconds 40-yard dash time makes him the fastest player on the Boise State football team. Just how quickly Green is able to help turn that ship becomes the defining factor in figuring out if the Hogs stand a prayer at surpassing expectations entering next week’s SEC Media Days in Dallas, where expectations are already low.
“He is special,” Pittman said, grinning with the enthusiasm, when he discussed about Green who is 6-foot-6, 223-pound speedster who can get away from the defensive backs to catch passes which has resemblance to the UA quarterback Matt Jones of the nineties. Whenever Jones lined up as a passer for the Hogs, he wasLogging in the same size as Green.
Here in the early stage of his college life, Jones was a running quarterback than passed and came a long way with his passing and departs with the record of total touchdowns (77) and total yards (8,392). Permanently beginning his career in the league, he was the first round draft Jacksonville in the year 2005, but initially categorized as an athlete, but developed into a successful wide receiver in the NFL.
There was a lot about Green that Pittman liked in the video, most especially when he picked up the award for the Offensive MVP of the Mountain West Championship game Dec. 2. The QB was successful in passing the ball with a 12/15 with 226 yards passing for two TDs and in rushing with 90 yards and two TDs from 8 attempts. That is efficiency at the highest level and the kind of points that Arkansas is going to need in order to get through its typical merciless schedule.
Before anyone gears up for the unrealistic expectation, Green is not near the level of a Heisman winner of the past year, Jayden Daniels who featured through pass and rush for LSU (3, 812 yards, 40TDs, 4 interceptons) as well as (1, 134 yards, 10TDs) leading the team to 10-3. Daniels had been ranked a 4-star recruit and while he committed to playing for Arizona State, he later transferred to LSU.
Green was a 3-star coming out of Lewisville, Texas, where he was the former long jump record holder at Lewisville High School as well as a football letterman in track. He did not play during his first year at Boise State as he opted to redshirt.
As a redshirt freshman he played 10 out of 13 games, and 12 out of 13 games last season. The Broncos played in the Mountain West 6-2 in 2023, 8-5 with Green starting at quarterback. He didn’t suit up for the bowl loss to UCLA due to the fact that prior to that game he had pledge himself to Arkansas.
During the regular season, the Broncos went 0-2 after suffering a 56-19 blowout at home in their opener to the number two ranked University of Washington Huskies, who fell in the national title game to Michigan; the Broncos then lost their second game of the season to visiting Central Florida by a 18-16 margin.
Pittman has said that the aspects of Green he saw during spring practice sessions were positive, in particular, behaviour of other players towards him. Hogs’ fifth-year head coach moderated the rebuttal saying his team is talented and Green the type who gets the best out of teammates.
“He is a very special talent, very, very skilled worker,” Pittman added that the special talent is involved in making others better around him and that’s what a quarterback is all about. ‘Every position is important to have leadership in but you better have a quarterback who has leadership skills. ’
The spring impressed Pittman about how Green manipulated the ball.
“He’s throwing the ball extremely well, and did in the latter part of the spring,” Pittman said.
He showed faith in Petrino regarded as a quarterbacks guru in his somewhat shaky coaching career that has seen him be the head coach at Arkansas University between 2008-11. The Hogs was 10-3 and ranked No. 12 by season’s end in 2010 when they fell to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, 31-26. For instance, Arkansas ranked the 5th on the polls at the end of the season, with a 11-2 standings, after defeating the Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl 29-16.
As exhibited by Petrino, working on Green’s fundamentals has been an area of emphasis.
“Bobby has been fantastic aesthetically with his mechanics,” Pittman stated. I believe Bobby maintained the repeatability of his throwing motion; that is the most important factor There is an area of strength Bobby has been doing excellently well by ensuring he maintains his throwing motion.
The 62-year-old Pittman also said Petrino, 63, has taken Green to a whole new level in terms of dissecting the passing game and the field vision when to look for which receiver. He has enhanced (Green’s) awareness of the places to turn to and reasons, according to Pittman.
This is different today where confidence is all that is needed and Petrino provides that to his young disciples, Pittman added. His records along with the capacity to nurture QBs were already established.
One of the reasons, Pittman for instance said, “Bobby has a really good way of building confidence in these kids. ” “He immediately had credit and repayment here on arrival; it was fully automatic. ”
Indeed, Green has not only muscled into a new campus, but he has also expanded his mindbench since his transfer to the UA campus, according to the head Hog.
The Christian County star has gained about 12 good pounds, and he can fly, Pittman said. “We actually saw how good of a runner he is at Boise State, though we really did not see him every day in spring practice because of how you hold off of guys in spring, but we know he is fast and big. ”
Green is not the athletic but accurate throwing former Michigan quarterback, Ryan Mallett, or even Lamar Jackson, the now Nigerian soccer returnee who is a Heisman trophy winner that Petrino trained at Louisville. But he could be the guy that brings the Hogs clicking, and he very well could be unique enough to take Arkansas to unheralded realms on at least eleven out of twelve Saturdays this fall.