Razorbacks who have earned fellow Hogs' respect

It's one thing to have fellow players speak positively about a teammate during a press conference. After all, what are they supposed to do? Trash a fellow Razorback publicly?

However, it's a much different thing to have earned the respect of veteran players and have them gushing about you while sheer glee lights up their faces. That's the situation that played out Thursday afternoon when offensive lineman Fernando Carmona and defensive back Larry Worth took to the microphone prior to what will be the final spring practice of their careers.

Running back Mike Washington, defensive linemen Ian Geffrard and Danny Saili, wide receiver Raylen Sharpe and linebacker Xavien Sorey each drew specific praise from the pair as men who had earned their respect.

Of those, none forced his way into his teammate's respect more than Washington. His combination of size and speed has left a trail of punishment throughout the spring and Worth counts himself among those who experienced it first hand.

"I would say Mike Washington, the running back for sure," Worth said. "That's one of the like, people after practice, I just have to dap him up. Mike is one of those running backs, man, I had to, like, strap up for real. I gotta put my mouthpiece in, put some more air on my helmet. Like, for real, for real. Like, if I don't come correct with Mike, I'm getting buried. So I definitely, like, I truly appreciate Mike. He's definitely made me better this spring, and I can't wait to see what he doing in fall."

As for Carmona, who has been learning the guard position this spring as part of what he said will definitely be a dramatically improved offensive line, two Hogs defensive linemen went a long way in pushing his improvement along much faster than it would have otherwise.

"I think for me, uh, Ian Gaffard and then, Danny [Saili], I don't know what his last name is, but those two guys have stepped up in a huge way," Carmona said. "Obviously, we had [Eric Gregory and Cam Ball]. Cam's hurt right now, and EG took off for the draft. And those guys have, you know, really stepped up into that starting role, and showed like, 'Hey, I'm here to play, and I'm here gonna, I'm gonna play my best ball.' And they've shown me like, hey, I need to bring my A game every single day. And it's been great for me because I've been growing, they've been growing, and we just been getting better together."

At the wide receiver position, it's a former Bobby Petrino player who has raised eyebrows. Sharpe, a smaller receiver out of Allen High School in Texas, a long time national powerhouse until former Arkansas coach Chad Morris crashed and burned the program in a single season, played under Petrino at Missouri State.

He then moved on to Fresno State where he was All-Mountain West honorable mention last season. He's now using his knowledge of the Petrino offense to try to force his way into a starting role at Arkansas.

"Raylen Sharpe, the receiver, just he's shifty, he's quick," Worth said. "So he is another one of them, you got to bring your A game. You can't take a play off for him. I like that versatility that he brings for offense, for sure."

However, no one drew as much genuine praise as linebacker Xavian Sorrey. Both players were falling over each other to sing his praises while showing love and respect.

"I love Sorey," Worth said. "That's, that's, that's my brother, literally, like, on and off the field. And I don't, I don't take him for granted at all in the defense. I could tell you for sure the defense doesn't take him for granted. He's just, everybody's not a loud spoken person. He's just, like, more of a laid back person. But I promise he's going to get that job done every single time on and off the field."

Barely giving Worthy time to take a breath, Carmona jumped in.

"Yeah, I'm just extremely grateful that he's on our team, and I get to go up against him every day I practice, because he makes me better," Carmona said. "And just the way his physicality and his speed, it's, it's made me such a better player from going up against him every single day because he is a special talent, you know. He kind of gets that defense going because he's just he's just that guy."