The G5 Hive Worker Bee Series
2024 - Arkansas State Red Wolves
Welcome to my substack - TipsTrendsTakes. I (Luke) do a podcast with my co-host Justice called The G5 Hive every Monday night ~10:15 EST. This is live on Twitter and YouTube. You can also follow us in podcast form (Spotify and Apple). We recently started our Worker Bee Series where we do interviews with G5 beat reporters, student paper journalists, and in some cases superfans. We aim to give you the most accurate information out there, and who else better than the ones who are around the teams the most.
These articles will be transcripts from the interview. I would like to note these are not a complete transcript. These articles will only cover the offensive side of the ball. If you would wish to hear about the defensive side of the ball or NIL type questions, I would highly suggest watching/listening!
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Welcome to the G5 Hive and our next installment of our Worker Bee Series where we deep dive into the G5 college football landscapes with the folks that know the teams the best. If you're watching us on YouTube please hit that like and subscribe button and if you're listening to us in podcast form please leave a rate and review. Today we will be taking a look at the Arkansas State Red Wolves who finished six and seven last season and made an appearance in the Camellia Bowl.
They recently wrapped up their 2024 spring practice on April 20th. We have a special guest joining us today. She does the Workday Red Zone at The Ticket Radio.
She does pregame and Wolf Howls on 1079 KFIN on game days. She can't say no to some Poncho’s cheese dip. She is Kara Richey.
Kara can be found @Kara_Richey on X. Welcome to the show Kara. Guys thank you so much for the invite. We love having you and we're ready to talk some Red Wolves football but before we get into it can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you into radio and covering Arkansas State Red Wolves? Sure it was a little bit of an interesting career path.
About 10-11 years ago I wanted to get out of the restaurant business where I'd worked for a while and try something different and I applied for a radio sales position. The station that I was applying at had just undergone an ownership change and they were looking to do something a little bit different. They knew I was a big sports fan.
They tried to test me out on air. I was not good but they gave me an opportunity anyways. That station unfortunately sold about six months later but I got a new opportunity with East Arkansas Broadcasters and the Ticket Radio Network and obviously that's still where I am today.
After a few years I started doing my own show. Wolf Howes got worked in the mix somewhere in there which is the A-State football post-game call-in show and then I started doing network pre-game the season before last. So it's been a really fun decade I guess at this point in time.
I can't believe I've been doing this that long and learned a lot about the way but since I first got started in radio Arkansas State has always been a little bit of a part of it. I've been in Jones for all this whole time so they're the home team. They're the local team and it's been a lot of fun to see this team especially over the past couple years that show a little bit of improvement.
Awesome stuff. Let's get to the position where it all starts on offense and that is quarterback. Last year freshman sensation Jaylen Raynor broke onto the scene.
Can we expect Jaylen to kind of continue where he left off there in 2023 and 2024? Yeah I think so and I'm really excited to see what his next step is going to be. I mean this time last year he had just wrapped up. His first spring is an early enrollee but he was still basically a high school senior and already even going back to spring last year he had a very good demeanor about him.
He had very good poise about him for a really young guy but at that point at this point in time last year we kind of thought Jaylen Raynor might be third on the depth chart for the entirety of 2023. Well the other quarterbacks that were in the room with him maybe didn't quite play up to the way that the coaching staff thought and so a few games into the season Raynor was given the opportunity and he never relinquished it. What was really interesting right out of the gate is the way he was able to mentally handle the position.
He made mistakes obviously he's a true freshman it happens but we would see him throw an interception and then on the next drive he would bounce back and lead the team on a scoring drive. So he was able to shake off those mistakes and he was able to learn from it. He started really really strong and then I think towards the back third of the season maybe defenses knew what was coming they were able to scheme for him better.
So he had the initial strong start and they made an adjustment. I'm ready to see what adjustment he makes this year in terms of learning from that. I do think that just kind of the intangibles are where we've seen a big step this spring. He's very confident he's clearly now even as just going into his sophomore year a team leader so I think that's where there's been a big step for him.
The physical is their great deep ball of course dual threat guy so he can make the plays on the run. During the intro video we saw his 65 yard touchdown run against Southern Miss so he's still got the physical skills the intangibles are growing as well as his football IQ so it's impossible not to be excited about what he can do as a sophomore. So recently they had a transfer come in from Central Florida quarterback Timmy McClain.
He came in after spring ball so obviously he wasn't there for spring ball. It just kind of seems like an interesting move. What can you tell us about that? I joked around that it's good that there's somebody in that room now old enough to buy a beer which again I just just and that's not a knock on on Jaylen Raynor and freshman Josh Flowers but but you can't do it with one or two I mean you just can't that's so risky.
No even in a perfect season a helmet comes off a an ankle gets rolled so you want to make sure that that if you have to bring somebody in off the bench that you're not going to burn Josh Flowers red shirt if that's what they're going to try and do there and they're trying to find other ways to use Malik Hornsby so even though he could come in in that role you don't necessarily want to do that unless you have to so you needed the experience you needed the depth and then also you need somebody to push Raynor. I do feel like he's the guy. I do feel like this is his job at this point in time but you need competition in every room. I mean iron sharpens iron is a very overused phrase but you need competition there so I think all in all this was a good move.
I still think Raynor's the guy but I really like the addition of Timmy McClain. Yeah and I think I think you know it's actually in addition to the competition I think it's a positive for Raynor and the coaching staff because I can see where if they didn't have a lot of depth behind him they might be asking him to rein in the the running a little bit and so now you got you know a a capable backup and so they can kind of like you know let him loose so to speak. Yeah for sure you're not you're not quite as nervous about you know if Raynor goes down do you have to give the reins to a true freshman and Josh Flowers you've got somebody capable and all of these guys have a similar skill set they're not carbon copies of each other but they are all three dual threat guys that are in that room so there are tweaks going to be tweaks to the game plan you know assuming if there's a different guy that has to go out there but ultimately you've got guys that can kind of kind of do the same thing so so that helps out in terms of the quarterback position as well.
You've mentioned true freshman Josh Flowers a few times. For those not familiar with him, what can you share about him? Well, he was a one-time Mississippi State commit and they went through a coaching change and all of a sudden he became, you know, a free agent. Arkansas State Offensive Coordinator Keith Heckendorf I think might have been the first person to get down there and talk with him and so obviously made a good impression. Flowers committed he's one of the highest rated recruits and signees in program history. Just a ton of talent. Unfortunately didn't get to learn as much about Flowers this spring as I would have liked because he was a little bit hampered for spring ball and I mentioned this to you guys earlier kind of jokingly I'm going to be a broken record when we talk about spring and injuries there's a lot of situations or position groups maybe that that I didn't learn as much about as I would have liked because there were a lot of guys hampered.
Flowers was in action for you know the first week of spring ball and I think Butch Jones said something along the lines of like drinking from a fire hose. You know, he's trying to get acclimated to college when he's still technically a high school senior. He's trying to get acclimated to college athletics. He's trying to get acclimated to college and division one football. So life comes at you fast, I'm sure in that position. And then shortly after the beginning of spring he had a tweaked hammy, so he missed a few weeks. And while he was still going through mental reps and things like that he wasn't able to take part in the drills. He did no live work until probably the final week and a half of spring camp.
Flowers did finish strong. He had a good spring game. He threw for over 200 yards and had a passing touchdown. I think he had a touchdown rushing as well. Yeah, so he was able to close out strong uh but uh but again I just wish that it would have worked out so that we could have seen a little bit more of him. Yeah, you talk about you know drinking from a fire hose not only is there the sports aspect of it but there is also, where are my classes? Where do I go to eat? How do I get to the training room? There's a lot of other things that you know go into it. And oh you know being an early enrollee I think really helps because then you kind of go on auto autopilot when it comes football season because you know where those things are so yeah and I don't I don't know how Jaylen Raynor would have fared this fall. I don't think he would have been in the position that he was in to ultimately take over qb1 duties if he had not been there in the spring because you know you get used to the college part of it uh the training part of it and then then you can focus on you know the opponents and things like that in the fall.
Well let's talk about the running game. The Red Wolves bring back their top four rushers from 2023 in Ja’Quez Cross, Zak Wallace, Cedric Hawkins and the aforementioned Jaylen Raynor. How did that room shape up in the spring? I like this room a lot a lot a lot a lot um we did not see a ton of Wallace or Cross or Hawkins because I don't really feel like this coaching staff felt like they needed to. The running back was like the one position that was unscathed by injury in the spring, so I don't think they wanted to tempt fate a little bit and again you know the capabilities. There of those three guys uh they were you know the beginning of this season uh we saw Zak Wallace kind of right out of the gate be that bruising back. You know that guy that you're going to put into the power run game when it's a short yardage situation. That's who's going to be out on the field. Uh Ja’Quez Cross is more of the shifty back. Um so he's going to be able to juke someone out of their shoes you know. He's going to be able to turn when he sees that uh little opening and be able to make a play happen. And then Cedric Hawkins is just the straight up speed. Dude, if he gets past you you're not going to catch him so it's really cool that all three of those guys have just a little bit different of a skill set uh that depending on the situation it's going to depend on who's out there and who gets to shine. We saw Hawkins a little bit more towards the end of the season. He didn't get a ton of reps as a true freshman and also because he had those two great guys ahead of him, but I'm really intrigued to see how that three-headed monster at running back shapes up this fall. Carries wise and I know you didn't get to see them um but last year you kind of had a 50-50 split between Cross and Wallace. Is that something that you're maybe it's a 30-30-30 split maybe 40-40-20 because I do think Hawkins this year will be more involved in the offense. I really do um you know in addition to you know Hawkins is a good pass catcher as is cross wallace can as well but i feel like that's maybe just a little bit more in Cross’s and uh in Hawkins's wheelhouse. So everything is going to be really situational, but I do feel maybe 40 we'll go 40-40-20 for my prediction on kind of how those carries work out there with those three running backs. And then just kind of touched on it a little bit earlier but um Jaylen Raynor had five less rushing attempts than their leading rusher, Cross. I know sacks are included in college and rushing and whatnot, but do you expect to see the same volume that we saw in 2024 or you know like with having Timmy McClain? A more capable backup there um do we continue to see that rushing or do we see him pull him back i think i think it'll probably be about the same? Um I do think that overall Jaylen Raynor's best strength is actually his arm. Uh especially on the deep ball. He just has a good touch on that pass specifically. I don't think they're going to like intentionally it's kind of like if it ain't broke don't fix it you know? He had good success throwing the ball and running the ball. The best play of the season that he made was a running play. So you're certainly going to see him still take off with it quite a bit. Uh but we'll just have to kind of wait and see in terms of the exact mixture there.
The passing game also brings back most of the crew from 2023. They lose Jeff Foreman to graduation, but bring back Corey Rucker, Courtney Jackson, Reagan Ealy, and Adam Jones, among others. How did the wide receiver room look in the spring? A little bit incomplete uh because there were again a couple of injuries there. Adam Jones started out the season uh without really being in the mix. He was able to finish the spring in a couple of practices but he was still in a no contact jersey. Uh Corey Rucker was in a no contact jersey to start the spring. He was out by about the midway point. Um the good news by the way, with almost every single last one of these injuries I have mentioned or will mention is that with very few exceptions uh these are injuries that will not impact the fall. So for example, Rucker’s I believe was a knee, but it was a non-surgical situation. But because of that you know you're down a couple of really key contributors. Um I do really like the wide receiver room overall. I feel like there is upside there. Uh Courtney Jackson is just Mr. consistent. Man, he is so steady there as a slot receiver. I feel like Corey Rucker last year, you know he was hurt. His entire 2022 campaign when he was at South Carolina before he transferred back to Arkansas State. He was at State within a year at South Carolina. Then back at State. Last year I feel like because of that injury last year maybe he started a little bit slow but then he was really playing well at the end of the season. I think he's going to be able to pick up there where he left off. Then you add in you know Reagan Ealy has got a ton of experience at this point in time. Uh Adam Jones is going to be healthy this fall. He'll be able to contribute. You add in a guy like Reginald Harden. Um you've got a real speedster like Tennel Bryant, who's going to be on the two deep. I think overall there's a lot of different kinds of pieces in this room that are really complimentary. So you mentioned earlier about them bringing in Malik Hornsby via the transfer portal. Um and so you know, what we've heard so far is he's not you know he's not there to play quarterback. Is there a player receiver um but what kind of role do you see him playing for the team in 2024? Well about that. He is not there to play quarterback thing. He played a decent amount of quarterback this spring and part of that was due to you know the injury of Flowers. Uh they were really limited in that room, so Hornsby was able to get some work. But the deal with Hornsby is ultimately they just like him a lot. They like his playmaking ability so they're going to try and find a lot of different ways to get the ball in his hands. Some of that is going to be as you know a wide receiver lining up outside. He's got good size. He's got good speed. See what happens but some of that you know they're gonna throw him in there and probably a couple of wildcat packages. Um he's obviously when you've got a guy who could throw like that you know that's a great trick play guy. You know for sure. Um so I don't think at this point in time right now I'm quite ready to put Malik Hornsby into one box. I think he's going to be a little bit of a jack of all trades and we're going to see him make some plays in several different aspects in ‘24. So last season uh Corey Rucker and Courtney Jackson kind of ran this you know as far as snaps. They were about the same um and receptions and yards fairly close but there's a big disparity in number of touchdowns. Jackson had seven compared to Rucker only had two. For those that perhaps don't watch Arkansas State, is there something with their usage and how they're used that kind of led to that disparity? Or just kind of the way it happened? I think partly you know Jackson's got a tiny bit more speed. Uh so that's probably a little bit of it. Especially since Rucker started the season a little bit slower. Um and again he was really up to speed at the end of the year, but I kind of picture you know Jackson is a guy a lot of times they're gonna find in the middle of the field. Sometimes Rucker is a little bit more down the sideline more, so it's easier to push a guy out of bounds and things like. And that's not concrete across the board. Each of those guys are going to make plays in different areas of the field, but I think the slow start I think their usage explains a little bit of that disparity. I would expect Corey Rucker to lead the team in touchdowns in 2024.
Jacksonville State also returns two tight ends in Miller McCrumby and Emmanuel Stevenson. If you were to describe the tight end usage to someone who has never caught a game before how would you describe their usage? It's been really interesting to watch Butch Jones use his tight ends over the past three years. When he's been at the helm, I'll be honest with you, flashing back to 2021 I honestly don't remember how much they used that position in terms of receiving. But in 2022, it was actually a tight end that led the team in receiving yards and in targets. That was Seydou Traore. Seydou Traore was just uh obviously he was a great pass catching tight end. Um he was kind of that prototypical like when people say you know the tight end is always open? They're talking about a guy like Seydou Traore. When you've got those third and medium situations third and five third and six that was the go-to guy and more often than not he converted and then after his uh really phenomenal sophomore season he left. So you had some different guys in there last year. Uh Emmanuel Stevenson is is good at both pass catching and blocking; however, he got hurt after about game eight or so and was not back yet for the spring. Uh Miller McCrumby is uh maybe a little bit he's good in both aspects as well. Um I do think he's a good pass catching tight end. But um he's still getting a little bit more experience last year. I think he's going to be able to take a big step this year going into 2024. So I think we'll see more usage in the receiving game of the tight ends than last year but not as much as 2022. And they'll do that. Butch Jones likes his two tight end set to the goal line and things like that. So you'll see some of that. But uh how much the tight end is used in the receiving game will be totally dependent upon personnel.
If you had to pick an offensive player to have a breakout type season in 2024 who would that be? I think on offense one of the things there is that there's there's so many knowns. Um if you go and look at returning production uh and I use Bill Connelly’s rankings at ESPN because he's been covering college football forever and has his own metrics. For that um I think back in February. State was eighth overall in returning offensive production. You know what the running back room is capable of. You've seen these receivers. You've seen Jaylen Raynor. Um but I'm going to go with incoming transfer receiver Reginald Harden. Uh he is actually a D2 transfer. I think Benedict college is where he was last year. And the thing that immediately jumps out at you about Harden is his size. He is six foot five and the past couple of years I wouldn't necessarily say that A-State has been really undersized at wide receiver. But they haven't had a guy like that and when you've got a guy, especially in the Sun Belt, where corners are still around that 5’11”/6 foot even range. When you've got a guy that's six foot five, I mean he's on a sideline. He's in the corner of the end zone. He's just going to be able to reach up and get it. Um I think the thing that he'll have to adjust to the most is the different level of physicality going from division two to division one. But if he is able to make that adjustment, I think he can be a huge asset to that wide receiving room. So that's kind of what I'm trying to speak into existence. We know so much about that offensive talent, I want to see what Reginald Harden can do.