Everybody (even the Arkansas Democrat Gazette) is talking about Arkansas State freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor. 247Sports named Raynor “True Freshman of the Week. CFN365 dubbed him “Freshman of the Week.” ESPN awarded him a Helmet Sticker. The Manning Award declared Raynor “Story of the Week. The Davey O’Brien Award nominated him for something called the Great Eight. Raynor was also named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week after hurling six TD passes against UMass. In just two games (plus one quarter), Raynor has totaled 12 touchdowns (10 passing), completed 67% of his passes and has thrown a single pick while leading the team to three consecutive wins – stats worth chatting about.

It’s no coincidence that Arkansas State’s fortunes trended up the moment Raynor stepped in behind center. “He throws a soft ball,” explained head coach Butch Jones during Monday’s SBC weekly presser. “His passes are catchable,” he added, alluding to the epidemic of pass drops that had plagued Red Wolves receivers the first two games of the season, when Arkansas State was outscored 110-3.

But Raynor is not the only contributor to the Red Wolves sudden burst of victories. Butch Jones was quick to credit the efforts of the offensive line. “The offensive line allows Raynor to stay in the pocket and go through his progressions,” said Jones. The reconstruction of the offensive line was a special project for Jones and his staff during the off season. Jones grabbed former Ole Miss lineman Jalen Cunningham and former Lamar center Jacob Bayer from the transfer wire. But the team has also seen major OL starts from traditional recruits in sophomore Elijah Zollicoffer and sophomore Makilan Thomas – along with relief from redshirt freshman Aleric Watson and redshirt sophomores Austin Woods and Noah Smith.

Afters two seasons of plugging and patching positions with quick fix transfers and spare parts, the recruiting effort from Butch Jones is making its successes felt. On the other side of the ball, redshirt freshman Javante Mackey is bringing the tackles and the hits – two sacks and eight total tackles – in the victory of Massachusetts. In the same game, sophomore defensive end Keyon Crawford led the team with 2.5 TFL, and defensive tackles Tim Hardiman (rSo) and Ashtin Rustemeyer (rFr) have delivered key minutes (and tackles) when Terion Sugick went down with a season ending injury.

The youngs are providing offensive beyond the line of scrimmage and behind center. Redshirt sophomore running back Ja’Quez Cross is bringing exemplary quickness and vision to the position, and we’ve seen (literal) flashes of speed from freshman RB Cedrick Hawkins. Meanwhile, we’re seeing more of talented sophomore TE Miller McCrumby, too.

Freshmen and sophomores are finding their places in the Red Wolves huddle. When the losses mounted last season, Jones and his staff shut out the noise and remained patient, developing the talent in the locker room while also spending the hard hours on the recruiting trail, acquiring the speed and size the team was sorely missing. The process wasn’t always easy to watch, but fans are just now beginning to see the much awaited results.

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine