Tim Cramsey says Courtney Crutchfield has ‘earned my trust’
Arkansas’ wide receiver room has a blend of new and old faces this season, and one of the returners has put himself in position to see the field often in 2026.
Courtney Crutchfield, a Pine Bluff native who spent his freshman year at Missouri before transferring to Arkansas ahead of last season, has turned a corner this spring. He barely recorded any stats last year, but his hard work is paying off during spring practice, according to offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, who met with the media on Wednesday.
“He’s one of the guys I’m really pleased with,” Cramsey said. “He was a guy that, he admittedly said could’ve been a lot better than he was last year. Came in from his Day 1 of spring ball to where he is right now he has put himself in a position to earn playing time.”
Dating back to last season, Crutchfield was a guy that had all the potential in the world but hadn’t quite put it all together. Bobby Petrino said last year he had a lot of “adipose tissue” in his stomach area, which is essentially saying he was too fat in the midsection. He appeared in 11 games but only recorded one reception for 26 yards against LSU late in the year.
Once the new coaching staff was in place, he decided to stick it out at Arkansas under Ryan Silverfield. In spring practice, he started somewhat slow, but his attention to detail led to him making more plays throughout the team periods the media was able to see. During one practice, he cut on an out-and-up route that left cornerback La’Khi Roland in the dust for a wide open touchdown.
“I always tell them it’s your job to prove to us as coaches that you deserve to be on the field, and once you do that then it’s our job to put you on the field in certain situations,” Cramsey said. “He’s a guy that has earned my trust, sitting here on April 22nd that I feel confident if we had a game tonight that he would be in the top six receivers and on the field. And I’d feel very confident in him.
“Because he’s a guy that that actually stepped up in some of the scrimmages too. His performances in the scrimmages were very good and that’s what you look for. You look for a guy who does a really good job in individual, but better job when we get into unit stuff, then a tremendous job when we get to team stuff. And he’s a guy that’s kind of stepped his game up when the heat’s turned on.
Crutchfield’s emergence is not a new development, though. Earlier this spring, wide receivers coach Larry Smith said Crutchfield had more dedication to putting the work in, and now it’s paying off.
“I think it started with him changing his body and understanding he has to mature,” Smith said on April 2. “I think he was immature in his first couple years of college and I think that kind of hindered him from getting on the field. I think he’s starting to understand how important this game is and understand this is a business and it’s not all fun and games.”
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Depth for Arkansas at wide receiver spot
One thing Cramsey touched on was the amount of depth he wanted to see from his receivers. He said in a perfect world, there would be six guys that are able to perform on any given Saturday, but he won’t slight someone outside of that top six that have shown they can play.
“If nine guys show us they have the ability to play, it’s my job as a coordinator and it is our job as an offensive staff to find ways to keep fresh legs and play them,” Cramsey said. “But I would say six is realistic, because there’s going to be one or two that probably don’t come off the field unless certain situations where they need one.”
Cramsey singled out guys like Chris Marshall, Jamari Hawkins, Ismael Cisse and Antonio Jordan as players who have caught his eye this spring in terms of stretching the field.
“I think our quarterbacks have done a good job of finding the one-on-one situations when they can,” Cramsey said. “Antonio Jordan has done a tremendous job of making plays when he’s one-on-one. Chris Marshall has shown the ability to stretch the field. Ish (Cisse) and Jamari (Hawkins) in the slot position have shown a tremendous job of being able to stretch the field. So I’m happy with the ability to be able to do that. I think we have some guys that can threaten downfield for us and (make the defense) cover vertically as much as horizontally.”
Arkansas will take the field for the spring football game this Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT. The game will not be televised or streamed.
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