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When Arkansas defensive lineman Ian Geffrard ambled into the interview room Tuesday afternoon to visit with the media, he knew what the biggest question was eventually going to be for him.

"I hit the scales today at 382 [pounds]," he said. "Down a couple of pounds from what y’all probably know about. But I’d say for a fact I came in at 397. But even then my composition was like way off the charts."

When he came in it was closer to 400 pounds as a freshman in 2023. He played in four games and had a couple of tackles in the opener against Western Carolina. Geffrard didn't record any stats the rest of the season.

Since then he's been working on his weight with strength coach Ben Sowders to get it down. Last season he played in 12 games and had 13 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss.

"It’s definitely much better than what it used to be," Geffrard said. "My body fat percentage I’d say — well, the last time I did the scan it was about a month ago and it was like 32% body fat. Tthat’s where I’m at right now.

"The goal is to be about 370 by maybe the end of spring ball, but I don’t know about that. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens when we get to the summer workouts."

People still talk about the handstand he did on his official visit to Arkansas during his recruitment. Yes, even at that size he pulled off doing that, which gave Hogs coach Sam Pittman some excitement over his athleticism.

"I kind of just winged it. I tried a little bit," Geffrard said "I knew I could do a cartwheel, so I was like, ‘It’s easy. Just stand still next time. Don’t go all the way.’

"I just do what I do. It’s not like … there’s no proof to the pudding. It’s just whatever you put in, it comes out."

With him in the interview was offensive lineman Caden Kitler, who is seeing a lot of time in the spring practices at center. He has to go up against Geffrard in drills.

"He's just heavy, so that's the main thing," Kitler said. "He likes to bull rush a lot, stopping that. It's good, though. It's good to work on that because you don't get that from everybody. It's not every day you go against a 382-pound [defensive] tackle. So it's good to get those reps in practice and get ready for the season, for sure."

The Razorbacks resumed spring practices this week after having the week off for spring break. They will continue until the Red-White Game on April 19.

HOGS FEED:

• McGuire shines in first start for Hogs; Beats Grambling in North Little Rock

• Calipari cashes in big on Razorbacks' tournament success

• Grad transfer wide receiver popping up on Razorbacks' radar

• Two pro Hogs hit career milestones during MLB opening week

• Update on Nate Ament's commitment timeline after postponement


This article first appeared on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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