Ready to get back out there and have some FUN today!#WPS #HammerDown pic.twitter.com/ZBGjcaMCR6 — Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) March 8, 2018

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FAYETTEVILLE – Like many coaches when they take a new job, Chad Morris was very open about every position being up for grabs before the 2018 season.

Just because you were a starter under the previous regime doesn’t guarantee you a starting spot this year. Although Arkansas is only three practices into the spring, the energy that comes with opportunity has already permeated throughout the entire team.

Linebacker De’Jon Harris is one of the virtual locks to start, but he said there has definitely been an attitude change on the defense this year – and his quote could easily be applied to both sides of the ball.

“We’re getting a lot of guys who weren’t on board, on board now,” Harris said. “They finally see that they have a chance to play in this league and they could play in this league. That’s one of the big things that changed the last couple of months.”

One name on defense that has been brought up multiple times, including by Morris, is Nate Dalton. A fourth-year junior, he has appeared in 12 games and made only four tackles, primarily playing on special teams.

Dalton was buried on the depth chart last year, but now seems to be making a push to be a second-team cornerback behind Ryan Pulley and Chevin Calloway. According to teammates, he made an interception at Tuesday’s practice.

Another defensive player trying to work his way into the rotation is Giovanni LaFrance, an unheralded three-star prospect from New Orleans.

After redshirting in 2016, LaFrance showed some flashes during fall camp, but still appeared in only two games and made one tackle last season. Dre Greenlaw, a fellow linebacker, mentioned him Tuesday when asked who was competing for the third linebacker position with him and Harris.

“Gio is somebody that’s stepping up and that we all want to see keep getting better and better,” Greenlaw said. “I think if he can make that jump and that switch to start understanding the defense and pushing himself a little bit more, I think he’ll have the ability to come out on the field and help us out.”

Offensively, Jalen Merrick has gone from a mythical being everyone talked about yet never saw to first-team right guard. The former four-star recruit turned down offers from Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Ohio State and several other big-time programs to play for the Razorbacks, but has struggled to get on the field since arriving in 2015.

He was relegated to the sideline despite the offensive line’s struggles while guys like Jake Raulerson, Paul Ramirez and a true freshman blue shirt – Ty Clary – rotated in and out.

“We’re running him some with the ones, some with the twos, some with the threes,” Morris said Saturday when asked about Merrick. “That’s just by design. We want to see how these guys are going to respond, regardless who’s beside them, especially early on in spring.”

Morris’ high-octane offense will likely open up new opportunities for several wide receivers, such as La’Michael Pettway and Brandon Martin.

Coming to Arkansas with offers from Alabama, Ole Miss and others, Pettway has yet to reach his full potential with the Razorbacks. Finding himself in the doghouse quite often, the fourth-year junior has only seven catches for 102 yards in his career.

There was some speculation that he might transfer or convert to safety, but Pettway seems to have been reinvigorated this spring. He was spotted leading one of the wide receiver stretch lines before Tuesday’s practice and has been near the front of the line – behind fifth-year senior Jared Cornelius – for other drills.

Martin was one of Arkansas’ top signees last season, as he was the No. 1 junior college receiver in the country. Despite those accolades, he didn’t get involved in the offense until midway through the year and he finished with only nine catches for 119 yards.

His size – 6-foot-4, 219 pounds – makes him the only receiver on the Razorbacks’ roster who really fits the mold of what Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock are looking for at the position, so he will presumably have a chance to contribute much more this season.

“We’re trying to isolate him, get him into some one-on-one matchups,” Morris said. “His biggest thing right now is being able to come off press coverage and just understanding what we’re asking of him, how the play will get back to him in a one-on-one situation.”

At quarterback, there is an open competition between Cole Kelley and Ty Storey. Had the previous staff remained at Arkansas, Kelley was basically a lock to take over for Austin Allen because he won the backup job in 2017.

The coaching change has given Storey another shot at the job and he also appears to be taking advantage of it. He ended last Saturday’s practice with a touchdown pass in the two-minute drill after Kelley threw an interception on his drive.

With Arkansas’ first scrimmage of the spring set for Saturday, there will almost assuredly be some other surprising developments with the depth chart.

Not all of them will stick until the season rolls around – there always seems to be spring all-stars who vanish in the fall – but several could receive their first significant playing time in 2018.

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