Now a veteran member of Arkansas’s secondary, former walk-on Simeon Blair is having the type of spring that could precede a breakout in his fourth season on the Hill. Before spring practices even began, the redshirt sophomore was receiving praise from Sam Pittman and now, he’s back that up with his play.
The safety came up with an interception and a few other big plays in Saturday afternoon’s scrimmage–the team’s last before the Red-White Game on April 17.
“I’ve been really pleased with him,” Pittman said after the scrimmage. “Really physical guy. I love the kid. He’s got a lot of confidence. He’s always been a guy that will hit you.”
Teammates and coaches have lauded the former Pine Bluff QB/DB for his work ethic, which undoubtedly played a huge part in helping him earn a scholarship after two years in Fayetteville.
Blair passed on opportunities in the SWAC to play for his home state team and his growth has given the Razorbacks depth where there used to be none.
The 5-foot-10, 207-pound DB got almost all of his snaps in on special teams as a redshirt freshman. He was fourth on the team in special teams snaps, recording one tackle in 177 plays.
Contributing that much made Blair a no-brainer to receive a scholarship before the 2020 season but his role expanded further than anyone would have guessed when he first arrived at Arkansas.
Blair started the first game of the 2020 season versus Georgia and recorded the team’s highest defensive grade with a tackle and only one reception allowed. Behind Foucha, Jalen Catalon and Myles Mason, Blair ended up playing 244 snaps in nine games while continuing to contribute 122 snaps on special teams.
“He really came firing out of the gates early last season and had a great game against Mississippi State and played well early, then kind of tapered off during the middle then came back a little bit toward the end,” Pittman said Saturday. “We just talked to him about, ‘Hey, I want that guy and a better guy.’ When we played LSU, I believe it was, in the second half when we lost Catalon, we lost a lot of leadership in the secondary. We needed Blair to step up and be one of those guys, and he certainly has.”
Recording 12 missed tackles, run defense and tackling were definitely two of Blair’s weaknesses last season. For comparison’s sake, Catalon had 14 missed tackles in 712 snaps and Foucha had eight in 633 snaps.
The secondary returns almost every major contributor from last season–except Mason, making Blair’s development that much more important to the secondary’s success in 2021.
HawgBeat’s coverage of Arkansas’ spring practice is presented by Wright’s Barbecue. Already serving up the best meats in Arkansas, you can now also find Wright’s meat rub and sauces at Walmart and Walmart.com.
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