Inconsistency on the recruiting trail has been a recent hot topic amongst Arkansas football fans and the grumblings increased when Little Rock Parkview 2025 prospects Omarion Robinson and Monterrio Elston committed to Oklahoma and Kansas State, respectively, earlier this month.
However, the 2025 prospect whom Arkansas may be looking past lives under the same roof as one the Hogs have long been recruiting for the 2026 cycle.
Last fall, four-star quarterback Kane Archer helped powerhouse Greenwood to a 13-0 finish and the program’s 11th state championship, which ranks fourth all-time in state history. The Bulldogs averaged 51 points per game with 6-foot-1, 205-pound signal caller leading the show.
Greenwood’s defense also impressed, surrendering just 17 points per contest, and it all started on the edge with Kane’s older brother, Cash Archer. After lining up as an edge rusher in 2023, 6-foot-1, 220-pound Cash Archer will move to inside linebacker for his senior year, where he projects at the next level.
Cash Archer came onto the scene as a sophomore in 2022 when he logged 18 tackles for loss with six sacks. Multiple Division I programs, including high majors Louisville and Ole Miss, have offered, but he has yet to receive the one from the flagship program about 70 miles straight up I-49 that would mean “everything.”
The Razorbacks offered Kane Archer in September of his eighth grade year. Arkansas is one of four schools thus far that’s made the “biggest impression” on him, along with Minnesota, SMU and UCF – all programs that have Natural State ties.
While Archer’s father confirmed that assessment, Kane’s timetable to commit could weigh heavily on his older brother’s decision. The quarterback’s other offers include a who’s who of the kind of programs regularly forecasted in sports betting in Arkansas to make the expanded College Football Playoff – the likes of Florida State, defending national champion Michigan, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Of all of the options on the table, it appears Kane’s ultimate decision will be heavily influenced by the route his brother chooses.
“I think Kane is waiting on Cash to commit before he commits,” Adam Archer, the father of Cash and Kane, said in an exclusive interview with Best of Arkansas Sports. “Arkansas is where Cash wants to go. He is a hometown kid and wants to go represent the Hogs.
“I think Kane is undecided and if Cash goes to Arkansas, then the chances of Kane going to Arkansas quadruple.”
For 2025, Arkansas has received pledges from Conway quarterback Grayson Wilson, ranked as high as the No. 2 in-state prospect by both 247Sports and ESPN, along with Parkview athlete Quentin Murphy, tabbed as high as the fourth-best overall in Arkansas by ESPN.
The Hogs also have Warren wideout Antonio Warren on board, but other top in-state players including Marion’s Carius Curne (LSU), Bryant’s Daniel Anderson (Notre Dame), Bauxite’s Marcus Wimberly (Oklahoma) and the Parkview tandem of Robinson (Oklahoma) and Elston (Kansas State) have opted to go elsewhere.
Cash Archer Scouting Report
A natural linebacker, Cash Archer played on the edge at Greenwood out of necessity last season. He was arguably the state’s most dominant defensive player, a virtually unblockable dynamo finishing with 78 total tackles, 29 tackles of them for loss, plus an incredible 20 sacks.
“He is such a unique talent, very physical and strong for his size,” Greenwood football coach Chris Young said. “He is also really athletic and quick so you can put him on the line where he can match up with a tackle, but at the same time you can put him at inside linebacker and he can cover the [running] back out of the backfield.”
Cash is listed as a three-star prospect and the fourth-best 2025 overall recruit in Arkansas per On3, while 247Sports tabs him 13th in the state. Along with Louisville and Ole Miss, Archer has reported offers from Arkansas State, New Mexico State, Louisiana-Monroe, Toledo, UNLV, Missouri State and SEMO, plus interest from Arkansas.
Just prior to Archer participating at an Arkansas football camp in June, he told Hogville’s Otis Kirk that he wanted to improve his 40-yard dash after clocking a 4.71 at Missouri’s camp. The results were nearly identical – a 4.72, to be exact – but it is worth noting that this was a little before Greenwood began its “FASDogs – Fundamentals, Agility, and Speed Development” summer conditioning program.
Archer is normally a consistent 4.6, something Young vouches for.
“He has had a really good last two weeks, which is when we crank up our speed and agility stuff rather than just weight training,” he said. “He is right up there with our skill kids when we run sprints.”
Young is excited to have his star defender where he appears to be most comfortable, but also mentioned Archer will play where he is needed.
“He has the ability to play sideline-to-sideline and runs really well for a 220-pound kid,” Young said. “We think the best thing for our football team now is to play him at linebacker and that is of course where he is going to play at the next level.
“To me, he is an inside backer in a 3-2 [formation] and in a 4-1 you walk him down some. We are going to start him inside and see how that works, hopefully that will be the plan as we go. Some weeks you may see him inside, others he might walk up as a fourth D-lineman and put some pressure on the quarterback.”
Healthy Mix of Brotherly Love and Intense Competitiveness
It may be hard to believe now, but Kane Archer developed faster than Cash despite being a year younger. Of course, big brother refused to be outdone by little brother, which in turn drove their desire to be great and also resulted in their father breaking up multiple physical altercations.
“It has been just that since they were little kids,” Adam Archer said. “They just go at it. Man, I can not even tell you how many fights I had in my house with blood everywhere. But [at the same time] they love each other and they will get after you together. It’s all family.”
Additionally, Kane having the quarterback mindset of running an offense to perfection, while Cash seeing it through the lens of someone trying to shut one down, has only furthered their development.
“They bounce things off of each other,” Adam said. “Cash will tell you that Kane is different from everyone else because you can not read his eyes. Kane will look one way and at the last nano-second he will turn and throw the ball.
“Yes, they’ll bounce things off [of each other], but they are more brothers and they will argue about stuff. Like we will watch college football together and they will have their own opinions about certain things.”
One topic they do agree on is wanting to continue playing together at a high level of football. UCF and SMU, which are led by native Arkansans Gus Malzahn and Rhett Lashlee, respectively, plus Minnesota, are the three out-of-state programs who have sparked Kane Archer’s interest the most thus far. Minnesota signed Fayetteville quarterback Drake Lindsey in the 2024 class.
Arkansas Football Could Tap Into Greenwood Pipeline Again
The fourth program, meanwhile, is the home state Razorbacks, whom Cash has expressed his desire to play for and Kane has held an offer from for nearly three years. Though it is not a lengthy list, Greenwood has a good track record of alumni going on to star for the Hogs on the gridiron.
Tyler Wilson set records during current offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino’s head coaching tenure from 2008-12, plus another brother duo – Drew and Grant Morgan – each left their mark. None of those mentioned were heavily pursued by Arkansas, either, at least not at first.
Wilson flipped from Tulsa to Arkansas shortly after Petrino was hired in December 2007, Drew Morgan was committed to Arkansas State before new head coach Bret Bielema and heralded in-state recruiter Tim Horton slid in with a late offer in the 2013 class, and then Grant Morgan cut his teeth as a walk-on before becoming an All-American and winning the Burlsworth Award.
Now that Cash Archer will be lining up at the spot he projects to play in college, he has an opportunity to fully convince the home state coaching staff that he has what they feel necessary to thrive at the next level.
If the past two years were any sign, Cash Archer is set for a breakout senior season at his natural position that could end up earning his dream offer. Those results, plus maybe a second consecutive state championship, would provide a likely chance of that happening – in which case the Hogs might score two premier prospects to make up lost ground on the recruiting trail.
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More on Kane Archer’s Recruiting:
When it comes to those four schools making the biggest impression on Archer – Arkansas, UCF, SMU and Minnesota – it makes sense the Razorbacks are on that list, but the others do, too, if you dig a little deeper.
Even though the Archer family had no prior relationship with them, a pair of Arkansas natives – Gus Malzahn and Rhett Lashlee, respectively – are in charge of the UCF and SMU football programs.
The Minnesota connection is a little less obvious. That is where Fayetteville High standout and Arkansas legacy Drake Lindsey, another talented in-state quarterback, signed in the 2024 class, but this one’s an exception because the Arkansas connection had nothing to do with getting Archer on the Gophers’ radar.
Read the rest here:
Check out some highlights of Cash Archer from his junior season at Greenwood High:
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Check out the surprising early-season prediction here:
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