Tigers return plenty of RB help

Bentonville coach Jody Grant said his team will spend the summer trying to establish depth in a number of positions.

One spot where the Tigers have a surplus of talent as they head toward the fall campaign is running back. Bentonville returns rising junior Preston Crawford, who ran for 150 yards and two touchdowns in the Class 7A state championship game last year, but the Tigers also have Colby Ried, Cole Joyce and Hunter Roath vying for carries and playing time.

"With Preston, we had a guy we knew was special," Grant said. "But we have a number of guys that are special. These guys could be the feature back at most places, and we have them all here. That's a nice thing."

Where Bentonville needs to find more depth is in the trenches, as well as in its receiving corps. Grant said the Tigers have spent a lot of time moving some players around in hopes of finding the five best offensive linemen, and they also need depth in the defensive line, where Bentonville has often platooned players in their 3-4 scheme.

Meanwhile, the Tigers return Harrison Campbell and Dylan Smith as receivers, but the loss of Kam'Ron Mays-Hunt to graduation leaves big shoes to fill. Zach Lee is currently working at one receiver position, and Grant is hopeful players like A.J. Moss and other can fill that void.

"We have a lot of guys competing, but we need people to step up," Grant said. "We learned that depth is an issue at certain spots, even on the defensive line. We feel like we're good on the defensive line but we play a lot of guys there.

"What I like about our team coming out of spring drills is our young kids. We had a really good freshman class last year that will be sophomores, and we're excited about where they are at with their development. They're not that far behind. They are really close to being ready to help us."
