SPORTS
By Robby Edwards | Photos courtesy of Razorback Communications
Hog Football Set at Quarterback, O-Line and Linebacker; Portal Additions Key to Season
Success for Arkansas football this season may hinge on contributions from newcomers through the transfer portal, but despite only eight returning regular starters from last year, the Hogs are solid in a few key areas.
Three starters are back along the offensive line, and Taylen Green returns at quarterback. Only four starters return on defense, but that includes both linebackers as well as key starters on the line and in the secondary.
This also means a few position areas are being rebuilt, including receiver and running back on offense, and most of the defensive front and secondary.
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Due to injuries and departures, the Razorbacks played in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl last season — a 39-26 victory over Texas Tech to finish 7-6 — with multiple new starters. Ten of those are back on offense and six on defense. While there is experience, the biggest boost likely comes from transfer additions.
“I think we’ve got a really good football team,” said six-year head coach Sam Pittman. “We have our starting quarterback coming back. We’re a big team. If you look at us, we’re not small in any area. We’re a fast team. We have wonderful leadership.”
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The offensive line is led by 6-5, 322-pound senior Fernando Carmona at left guard. Other starters are senior Keyshawn Blackstock at right guard and E’Marion Harris at right tackle. Junior Brooks Edmonson and redshirt freshman Kobe Branham got the starts at center and right guard, respectively, in the bowl game.
Stephen Dix Jr.
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Taylen Green
Sam Pittman
E'Marion Harris
Green, in his first season after transferring from Boise State and first season under offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, put up big numbers. He completed 230 of 381 attempts for 3,154 yards and 15 touchdowns with nine interceptions. His completions and pass attempts are both sixth-most in school history, and his yardage total is seventh-best. He also ran for 602 yards and eight touchdowns, accounting for 3,756 yards of total offense, the second-best total in school history.
Green threw for 416 yards and ran for 61 at Oklahoma State, and he accounted for six touchdowns in the win at Mississippi State. He will be working with a new receiving corps in 2025.
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The top seven reception leaders from last year are gone. Rodney Hill, with eight catches for 85 yards, is the top returnee. CJ Brown is the top returning wideout, with five catches for 62 yards.
The leading returning rushers are Green and running backs Braylen Russell (354 yards, three touchdowns) and Hill (184 yards, two touchdowns).
Defensively, Cam Ball, a 6-5, 324-pound tackle, will anchor the line. He was ninth on the team with 47 tackles, two tackles for loss. Lining up behind him are returning linebackers Xavian Sorey Jr. and Stephen Dix Jr. Senior Larry Worth III is back at safety.
Jaheim Singletary
​Sorey, a transfer from Georgia, led the Razorbacks with 99 tackles and tied for the lead with 9.5 tackles for loss. Dix, a transfer from Florida State, was third on the club with 72 tackles. In the defensive backfield, Worth played in all 13 games with five starts, finishing with 54 tackles and two pass breakups.
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“If you like your linebackers, and I like our linebacker group a lot, you can do more,” Pittman said. “I like Dix and I like Sorey a lot.”
Offensively, key portal additions could be offensive tackles Corey Robinson II from Georgia Tech, Shaq McRoy from Oregon and Marcus Dumervil from Maryland; center Caden Kitler from Central Florida; running back Mike Washington Jr. from New Mexico State; tight end Rohan Jones of Montana State; and receivers Raylen Sharpe from Fresno State, O’Mega Blake from Charlotte, Kam Shanks from Alabama-Birmingham and Jalen Brown from Florida State.
Defensively, key additions could be linemen Justus Boone from Florida, Phillip Lee of Troy, Frank Mulipola of Division II Texas-Permian Basin, Ken Talley from Michigan State and David Oke of Division I FCS Abilene Christian; linebacker Andrew Harris of Central Florida; cornerbacks Kani Walker of Oklahoma, Julian Neal of Fresno State, Jordan Young from Cincinnati, Caleb Wooden of Auburn and Shakur Smalls from Maine; and safety Quentavius Scandrett from Eastern Michigan.
On the offensive line, Carmona, a third-team All-SEC pick and two-time SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week, is a fixture at left guard. McRoy, the 6-8, 362-pound redshirt freshman transfer from Oregon, could win the right tackle spot with Harris moving inside to right guard, where he started the first six games last season. Kitler, the 6-3, 306-pounder from Central Florida, may take over at center. Branham and Blackstock will also battle for the right guard spot.
Robinson, who started seven games at left tackle for Georgia Tech last year, and Dumervil, who started three games at left tackle at Maryland, will also be factors.
Several newcomers are competing for the chance to be on the receiving end of Green’s passes.
“(Green) went to the Manning Passing Camp,” Pittman said. “I think he did wonderful down there. He finished 40 yards from the all-time total offensive record for the University of Arkansas last year, and he was hurt the last eight games of the season.”
Sharpe earned All-Mountain West honors at Fresno State with 51 receptions for 523 yards and three touchdowns. Blake, a 6-2 target, had 32 catches for a team-high 795 yards and nine scores at Charlotte, ranking second in the nation with 24.8 yards per reception. Shanks was first-team All-American as a return specialist and third-team all-conference as a receiver at UAB. He led the nation in punt return yards (329), average (20.6) and touchdowns (2), and had a team-high 62 catches for 656 yards and six touchdowns. Brown had eight catches for 75 yards at Florida State.
“At wide receiver, I think we’ve got about eight, maybe nine, that can play in this league,” Pittman said. “Who they are, who will run out there with the first group and all that, we’re going to run somebody out there Aug. 1 (when practice starts) with the first group. Is that going to be the first group (when the season starts)? I don’t know.”
At tight end, senior Andreas Paaske saw action in 10 games with two starts and had three catches for 19 yards and two touchdowns. At Montana State, Jones was first-team FCS Football Central All-American and All-Big Sky Conference with 30 catches for 470 yards and nine touchdowns.
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Washington joins Russell and Hill in the backfield. At New Mexico State, he started four games and had a team-high 158 carries for 713 yards and a team-best eight touchdowns.
On defense, shoring up the line and secondary are crucial.
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Candidates to join Ball up front include Boone, who had 10 tackles in 11 games at Florida; Mulipola, who had 51 tackles in 12 games, including 8.5 sacks, at Texas-Permian Basin; Oke, who made 63 tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss at Abilene Christian; Lee, who had 31 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and five sacks in 12 games at Troy; and Talley, who made six stops in 10 games at Michigan State.
Xavian Sorey Jr.
Larry Worth III
In the secondary, newcomers expected to compete for openings at four positions are Young, who had 35 tackles and five pass deflections at Cincinnati; Scandrett, who had 55 tackles and an interception in 12 games at safety for Eastern Michigan; Walker, who started nine games at Oklahoma and made 24 stops with six pass breakups; Smalls, who had 43 tackles in 11 games at FCS Maine; Wooden, who had 17 stops in 10 games at Auburn; and Neal, who had 35 tackles, five tackles for loss, two interceptions and six pass breakups at Fresno State.
One other newcomer is junior Keshawn Davila from Northwest Mississippi Community College. He had 23 tackles, three interceptions and six pass breakups last year, and was ranked the No. 1 junior college cornerback and No. 7 overall JC prospect in the nation by ESPN.
Returnees include junior Jaheim Singletary, who made six starts and finished with 25 tackles and an interception, and junior Miguel Mitchell, who played in five games after missing the first half of the season and had 20 stops and an interception.
“We’re big at corner,” Pittman said. “We can run at corner. I don’t know exactly who we can run out there at corner (to start the season). I think we have five of them in there for a battle. They’re extremely fast and big.”
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According to Sports Illustrated, Arkansas’ schedule, which includes Ole Miss, Memphis, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi State, LSU, Texas and Missouri, plus the first-ever meeting with Arkansas State, is the third-toughest in the nation.
Braylon Russell
Fernando Carmona
