Davion Dozier hung around Fayetteville for about a year long than some expected, but it looks like what seemed likely then is now happening. The Razorback sophomore plans to leave the Arkansas football program and enter the transfer portal during the upcoming window, according to a report from the @CollegeFBPortal account on Twitter.
The wide receiver from Moody, Ala., played sparingly in two seasons, appearing in just four total games.
If the report is true, Dozier is the first Arkansas player known to be willingly leaving the team with the intent of entering the transfer portal when the fall window opens Dec. 9. That window will be open 20 days, closing on Dec. 28, with the 10-day spring window set for April 16-25.
Earlier this season, another wide receiver — Jaedon Wilson — became the Razorbacks’ first portal entrant when he quit following the season opener against UAPB. He was able to enter the portal early as a graduate transfer and has since committed to UCLA.
Dismissed tight ends Ty Washington and Var’keyes Gumms are also expected to enter the portal. Scholarship long snapper Eli Stein left the team before the season and will likely transfer, as well, but he has not publicly announced his intentions.
While that seems like a big number before the main transfer portal even opens, Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman doesn’t think the exodus will be as large as last offseason, when the Razorbacks were among the FBS leaders in transfers. His reasoning is that he’ll have more money at his disposal because of the looming revenue sharing coming to the NCAA.
“I don’t think the portal will be quite as big of a deal for us because we have money,” Pittman said Monday. “The first two years I was here, money wasn’t an issue. It was scholarships and cost of attendance and all that. We went from 4-20 to 9-4. Then NIL came in. We just didn’t have the money that other folks had.”
Davion Dozier with the Razorbacks
At first glance, this certainly seems to be a more traditional transfer departure in that playing time is likely the biggest factor.
Davion Dozier was a four-star prospect coming out of Moody High School in Alabama, about 22 miles east of Birmingham. He chose the Razorbacks over Duke, Maryland, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Listed at 6-foot-4, 204 pounds, Dozier showed flashes of his potential as a true freshman. He even reeled in a 14-yard touchdown late in the 2023 opener against Western Carolina.
However, he played just 5 offensive snaps in that game and 5 more the rest of the season – one against Auburn and four against FIU. He also got some special teams reps in two of those games. That preserved his redshirt.
Dozier made his biggest splash last season following a game in which he didn’t even play. In the immediate aftermath of Arkansas’ season-ending blowout loss to Missouri, he was caught in the comments of an Instagram Live asking Missouri star wide receiver Luther Burden III: “spots open?”
He eventually put out a statement that he planned to return for a second season at Arkansas and he did, even making several spectacular catches during spring ball and fall camp. He never seemed to climb higher than season team, though.
Sure enough, his only action this season came in the blowout win over UAPB, when he caught a 13-yard pass on one of his 14 snaps.
Dozier will have three years of eligibility remaining at his next school.
What it Means for Arkansas Football
Losing a player with 24 career offensive snaps and two receptions doesn’t seem like a big loss on the surface, but Davion Dozier was expected to compete for significant playing time in 2025.
That’s because the Razorbacks’ receiver corps will look completely different next year, as three of their top four players at the position – Andrew Armstrong, Isaac TeSlaa and Tyrone Broden – will exhaust their eligibility this season.
The lone returner among the top four is Isaiah Sategna, who is more of a slot receiver. The same is true of Jordan Anthony, who is probably Arkansas’ No. 5 receiver.
Things are pretty thin on the outside, with Dozier and true freshmen CJ Brown and Monte Harrison as arguably the best options among players currently on the roster. Harrison is the 29-year-old former MLB player, while Brown’s lone reception this year was fumbled against Texas.
Those two — and Dozier, for that matter — have potential, but are far from proven commodities. Dozier’s departure further ratchets up the urgency for the Razorbacks to go out and find another Andrew Armstrong in the transfer portal. In fact, they may be in a position similar to a couple years ago when they landed Armstrong, TeSlaa and Broden out of the portal.
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