Just four days after his breakout performance for Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl, Dazmin James announced he was entering the transfer portal Tuesday.
The redshirt freshman wide receiver is the first — and, so far, only — scholarship player to leave the team since the Razorbacks took down Texas Tech 39-26 in Memphis last Friday.
Although the window to enter the transfer portal technically closed Saturday, every team in the postseason gets a five-day window following their final game. That’s how James joined 23 other scholarship Arkansas football players in the portal.
He’ll have three years of eligibility with his next school.
Dazmin James to the Transfer Portal
Prior to the Liberty Bowl, Dazmin James’ departure probably wouldn’t have caused much of a stir. In fact, it’s likely that few Arkansas football fans even knew who he was.
After all, the 6-foot-2, 196-pound receiver was a very late addition to the Razorbacks’ 2023 signing class. Academic concerns prevented most schools from pursuing him out of Clayton High in North Carolina and by the time he fully qualified in the summer following his senior year, most had filled up their 85 scholarships.
Arkansas still had a spot available, though, and James ultimately came to Fayetteville over offers from North Carolina State and Liberty.
Despite his blazing speed, which enabled him to win state titles in the 100- and 200-meter races in North Carolina’s largest classification, James got on the field for just one offensive snap — against FIU — as a true freshman, preserving his redshirt.
This season, he carved out a semi-regular role on special teams, playing 24 snaps on the punt return unit and six snaps on the punt coverage unit across seven games, according to Pro Football Focus. He was also suspended for the UAB game because of an unspecified violation of team rules.
A couple of sources indicated James was frustrated with his lack of playing time and the fact he never got an opportunity to return kicks, especially given his elite speed.
With Andrew Armstrong opting out to focus on the NFL Draft, Jordan Anthony missing because of personal reasons and Isaiah Sategna and Davion Dozier entering the transfer portal, the Razorbacks were dangerously thin at wide receiver for the Liberty Bowl, so James chose to stick it out.
In what essentially served as an audition, he made the most of his opportunity against Texas Tech. His first career reception was a slant that he took 94 yards to the end zone, topping out at 22.1 mph, according to Reel Analytics. It was the longest touchdown reception in school history.
James added two more critical receptions, with one moving the chains on third-and-11 and the other getting Arkansas firmly into range for a momentum-shifting field goal at the very end of the first half. All together, his three catches totaled 137 yards — the second-most by a freshman in UA history.
Unfortunately, James was shaken up on both of his latter catches and was limited to only 12 offensive snaps because of a knee injury. (A source said it was just a bone bruise, so he’s fine.)
What it Means for Arkansas Football
That performance in the Liberty Bowl, which showcased his elite speed, generated some excitement from fans and coaches alike.
Even with the injury cutting his night short, he was voted the game’s Offensive MVP. Afterward, Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman singled him out as a guy who improved his outlook for 2025.
“I talked about Dazmin James right before the game started because he’s so talented,” Pittman said. “He just hasn’t done what we saw tonight, but he had an opportunity, and I expect that to be all the time now.”
Of course, that expectation might have been a bit premature given the context of James’ performance.
Most notably, it came against one of the worst pass defenses in the country. Texas Tech gave up 308.1 passing yards per game this season, which ranked next-to-last in the FBS this season. That is also the most by a Power Four team since 2021. The Red Raiders were without their defensive coordinator, as well, because he was fired following the regular season.
The player in coverage against James on his 94-yard touchdown was redshirt freshman Macho Stevenson, who started the game, but ended up playing only eight snaps. He ended the year with a 47.0 defensive grade on 310 snaps, making him the third-worst FBS cornerback among the 404 with at least 300 snaps this season, according to PFF.
While there’s a chance the Liberty Bowl breakout could have been the springboard James needed to become a regular contributor for the Razorbacks, it’s also very possible that he wouldn’t have been as explosive against the more talented and faster secondaries of the SEC — a fact even UA radio play-by-play man Chuck Barrett acknowledged on the Chuck & Bo show Monday morning.
“That play Dazmin James scored on — beautiful play — that don’t happen in the SEC,” Barrett said. “It just doesn’t. … Look at the angles that were taken. It was as improper as it gets. You don’t find that in a Saturday game week-to-week in the SEC.”
James was also looking at another tough climb up the depth chart with an offensive coordinator (Bobby Petrino) and wide receivers coach (Ronnie Fouch) who didn’t originally recruit him to Arkansas.
C.J. Brown, a true freshman, started ahead of him in the Liberty Bowl and the Razorbacks have landed a quartet of receivers — Raylen Sharpe (Fresno State), Kam Shanks (UAB), O’Mega Blake (Charlotte) and Courtney Crutchfield (Missouri) — from the transfer portal.
Arkansas Players in the Transfer Portal
Here’s a look at all of the Arkansas football players currently in the transfer portal. It does not include those who entered and have since withdrawn (Braylen Russell and Selman Bridges):
- QB Malachi Singleton
- RB Rashod Dubinion
- TE Luke Hasz
- TE Ty Washington
- TE Var’keyes Gumms
- WR Isaiah Sategna
- WR Jaedon Wilson
- WR Davion Dozier
- WR Dazmin James
- OL Joshua Braun
- OL Addison Nichols
- OL Patrick Kutas
- OL Ty’kieast Crawford
- OL Amaury Wiggins
- DL Nico Davillier
- LB Brad Spence
- LB Carson Dean
- LB Alex Sanford
- LB Kaden Henley
- DB Jaylon Braxton
- DB TJ Metcalf
- DB Tevis Metcalf
- DB Dallas Young
- DB Dylan Hasz
- LS Eli Stein
- *RB Emmanuel Crawford
- *WR Kamron Bibby
- *LB Brooks Yurachek
- *P Sam Dubwig
***
See our latest here:
***
More coverage of Arkansas football and the transfer portal from BoAS…
