Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/23/2010 at 12:00am

Image by Nelson Chenault

Jarius Wright, Greg Childs and Joe Adams are ready to step up as a national recognized receiving corps.

McGee, the Razorback offensive coordinator, doesn’t think of Childs’ five catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia in 2009. Adams’ three catches for 110 yards against Texas A&M don’t come to mind, nor do Wright’s four catches for 90 yards and touchdown in the Liberty Bowl.

Instead, McGee’s thoughts shift to a 2008 game at Texas when the trio combined for just 52 receiving yards and no touchdowns on five catches. Arkansas lost 52-10 and it was collectively — and individually — as bad a game for the trio as you could imagine.

Adams led the way with two catches for 29 yards. Wright had two catches for 12 yards and Childs had one catch for 11 yards.

“We played those guys as freshmen with the plan they’d grow up and really be something in the future,” McGee said. “They remember what it was like going to Texas. That team was big and mentally tough and wore us out.

“They took some lumps, knowing they’d get their turn.”

Losing like that to Texas in a 5-7 season was a humbling experience for the trio and the entire Arkansas team. More importantly, it was a fantastic learning experience that stuck with a tight-knit group of junior receivers that join with sophomore Cobi Hamilton to form what is arguably among the best collection of receivers in the country.

ESPN.com Southeastern Conference blogger Chris Low named Arkansas as having the top receiving corps in the league, and there are few better nationally.

Childs is what quarterback Ryan Mallett calls a “freak” athlete at 6-foot-3, 217 pounds. Adams added nearly 10 pounds of muscle to his 5-11, 190-pound frame in the off-season but maintained his elusiveness. Wright is 5-10, 180 pounds of pure speed and precision route running.

Together the native Arkansans combined for 2,143 yards and 19 touchdowns on 118 catches. That’s an average of 18 yards a catch and a touchdown every six receptions before you mix in Hamilton, who as a sophomore had 19 catches, 347 yards and three touchdowns.

For Mallett, it’s hard to imagine a better group of receivers.

“You’re not going to cover any of those guys one-on-one,” Mallett said. “It’s a dream as a quarterback to have guys to throw to like that. They’re a year older and now they know exactly what to do. They’re going to be ever better this year.”

As good as they are, none of the three wound up earning individual preseason recognition when all-conference teams were announced this summer. Only Childs made the SEC’s postseason 2009 awards list after catching a team-best 48 passes for 894 yards and seven touchdowns. Wright ended 2009 with 41 catches for 681 yards and five touchdown, while Adams had 568 yards and seven touchdowns on 29 catches.

“Yeah, we noticed,” Childs said of the perceived preseason slight.

All three worked hard in the summer, but strength and conditioning coach Jason Veltkamp said he noticed an additional ferocity in the way the three receivers were attacking workouts late in the off-season. It’s no coincidence that the late push just happened to coincide with the announcement of All-SEC teams.

Childs worked to improve his hands and bring his speed down. Adams took time to become more precise in his route running and got faster, while also becoming bigger. Wright continued to improve his already vast knowledge of the team’s playbook and also put up better numbers in the weight room.

“The great thing about the three of them, they took it personally as a shot at the group,” Veltkamp said. “Greg Childs didn’t take it as something against Greg Childs. Joe didn’t take it as something against Joe. Jarius didn’t take it as something against Jarius. They each took it as a shot at the three of them together.

“It’s almost like they made a pact to make sure they prove everybody wrong.”

Bonding Together

Adams, Childs and Wright have been connected and pushing each other for years. They grew up in Arkansas and were all part of the 2008 recruiting class that was Bobby Petrino’s first.

Adams was a late switch from Southern Cal after starring for three years at Central Arkansas Christian in North Little Rock. Childs and Wright, teammates since the seventh grade at Warren, maintained their commitment to the Razorbacks even after Petrino took over the program.

There is a bond between them.

“Same position. Same year. Same team. Same state. We’ve got a lot that brings us together,” Childs said.

Adams added, “We really push each other. I wouldn’t be as good without Childs and J-Wright.”

Much of their success can be traced back to those early games as freshmen. All three appeared in 12 games in 2008, and Wright and Adams each started seven games in that brutal first season under Petrino.

“When we got here, we had to be ready to play. They put a lot on us in the beginning,” Wright said. “It wasn’t easy, but it’s paid off.”

Tagged: Joe Adams, Chris Low, Ryan Mallett, Jarius Wright, Greg Childs, Arkansas Razorbacks, Garrick McGee, Cobi Hamilton