Next year’s Arkansas football roster is slowly coming into focus, with Brady Latham moving on and Hudson Clark returning among the latest moves learned by Best of Arkansas Sports.
The Razorbacks had 18 players eligible to come back to school as so-called super seniors in 2024 and half of them will take advantage of the bonus year in Fayetteville.
Andrew Armstrong, Isaac TeSlaa and Ty’Kieast Crawford had already announced their return to Arkansas and, according to a source, they’ll be joined by Clark, Tyrone Broden, Eric Gregory, Keivie Rose, Jashaud Stewart and Kee’yon Stewart.
It’s worth noting that Jashaud Stewart’s status is still up in the air because our source said there was no update on him, presumably meaning he is still indefinitely suspended following his December arrest. To be suspended, of course, means he’s still on the team.
The three players who had yet to make a public announcement and won’t be back are Latham, Marcus Miller and Francis Sherman.
The other six departures include a pair of NFL Draft prospects who had previously accepted invitations to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl (Beaux Limmer and Dwight McGlothern) and four who continued their collegiate career by entering the transfer portal.
Most notably, KJ Jefferson transferred to UCF, while defensive tackles Taurean Carter (Colorado) and Anthony Booker Jr. (SMU) will also remain in the Power Four. Malik Chavis is dropping down to the Group of Five level to reunite with Barry Odom at UNLV.
Now that the dust has settled, the Razorbacks are returning three of the top five and six of the top 10 most important super seniors, according to our ranking immediately following the season.
Combined with Wednesday’s news of Quincey McAdoo and Eli Henderson receiving medical hardships and Cole Carson graduating early, the Razorbacks are now at 83 scholarships, according to our unofficial tracker.
There will likely be more movement because of the spring transfer portal window and Arkansas still has spots to fill with other transfer additions. It must reach 85 by next season.
Impact on Offense
The biggest name on this list – and No. 1 on our December ranking – was KJ Jefferson, even though it was pretty apparent he would be hitting the transfer portal.
Long before he landed in Orlando with Gus Malzahn, Jefferson told the coaching staff he wouldn’t return in 2024, allowing Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino to find another quarterback — which they did with Boise State’s Taylen Green.
Perhaps the best news on the super senior front for Arkansas was the return of all three wide receivers, including leading receiver Andrew Armstrong. In his first season after transferring in from FCS Texas A&M-Commerce, he caught 56 passes for 764 yards and five touchdowns.
There’s always a chance Armstrong won’t develop the same chemistry with Green as he had with Jefferson, but he will hopefully get some help with Petrino scheming up ways to better utilize the other wide receivers, including Isaac TeSlaa and Tyrone Broden.
Outside of Jefferson, the most significant departure among super seniors on this side of the ball was probably Brady Latham. Not only was he a four-year starter with a solid track record up until this year, but he was also a team captain.
With him moving on, the Razorbacks’ lone returning team captain is Landon Jackson. Jefferson and Rocket Sanders transferred, Cam Little declared for the NFL Draft and Trajan Jeffcoat exhausted his eligibility.
Losing Limmer is also a blow up front, but it was widely known he’d be beginning his professional career following this past season at Arkansas.
The offensive line did get Ty’Kieast Crawford back. He could potentially compete for a starting job, but considering all of the transfer portal additions, he might be destined to be a backup again.
Finally, Francis Sherman moving on was expected when the Razorbacks brought in Andreas Paaske, a tight end with similar skills as him to complement the likes of Luke Hasz and Ty Washington.
Impact on Defense
Six of the 10 potential super seniors on defense played in the trenches, with five of those being defensive tackles. It wouldn’t have made sense to bring back all of them, but retaining at least a couple of them was important – it was just a matter of which two.
Luckily for the Razorbacks, they did just that. Even better, one of the returners is Eric Gregory, who has played the most among the group and is also a versatile piece capable of playing defensive end. The other is Keivie Rose, who played the second-most snaps of the group in 2023.
Taurean Carter and Anthony Booker Jr. were the other two possibilities, but they chose to hit the portal. Marcus Miller never really contributed and battled injuries during his career, so it would have been surprising to see him back.
The lone defensive end is Jashaud Stewart, who has flashed some over the years, but hasn’t put together a full, consistent season. Assuming he returns from his suspension, he’ll provide quality depth behind Landon Jackson, Anton Juncaj and Nico Davillier, while competing with freshmen Charlie Collins and Kavion Henderson for a spot in the two-deep.
In the secondary, Dwight McGlothern was always going to be heading to the NFL after the season, but the coaches hoped they could convince Hudson Clark to stay.
Even though he’s a polarizing figure amongst the fan base, Clark has been a solid contributor the past four seasons despite being a former walk-on. He’s also versatile enough to play anywhere in the secondary. That’s important to have, even if he’s not in the starting lineup.
Kee’yon Stewart and Malik Chavis were definitely depth pieces at cornerback and safety, respectively, and Arkansas kept the former while the latter transferred out.
Super-Duper Senior from Arkansas
One name not mentioned above is LaDarrius Bishop. He is a unique case because he was a super senior for the Razorbacks this past season and was thought to be out of eligibility.
Instead, he entered the transfer portal and petitioned for a seventh year of eligibility, which he has apparently received because he has since transferred to UNLV. Bishop likely received a medical redshirt for the 2022 season, as he appeared in only two games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
With the Rebels, he’ll join a secondary that features former teammates Jalen Catalon and Malik Chavis, both of whom are also heading west. They could also return linebackers Jackson Woodard and Jordan Hanna, offensive lineman Jalen St. John and wide receiver Landon Rogers.
The surge of Razorbacks joining the UNLV football program makes sense because former defensive coordinator Barry Odom is the Rebels’ head coach and former linebackers coach Michael Scherer is their defensive coordinator.
Arkansas Football Super Seniors
Returning (9)
- WR Andrew Armstrong
- WR Tyrone Broden
- DB Hudson Clark
- OL Ty’Kieast Crawford
- DT Eric Gregory
- DT Keivie Rose
- DE Jashaud Stewart
- CB Kee’yon Stewart
Leaving (9)
NFL Draft/Moving On (5)
- OL Brady Latham
- OL Beaux Limmer
- CB Dwight McGlothern
- DT Marcus Miller
- TE Francis Sherman
Transfer Portal (4)
- DT Anthony Booker Jr. (SMU)
- DT Taurean Carter (Colorado)
- DB Malik Chavis (UNLV)
- QB KJ Jefferson (UCF)
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Check out the full 2024 Arkansas football roster as it currently stands, based on our projections:
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