There are always a few surprises this time of year, but it’d be hard to top Thursday’s news that offensive lineman Patrick Kutas plans to leave Arkansas and enter the transfer portal.
Less than 24 hours after Isaiah Sategna delivered the first significant blow of the offseason by announcing his departure, CBS Sports reported Kutas would be doing the same. The rising redshirt junior seemingly confirmed the news by retweeting it.
Sategna is a bigger name and arguably even a bigger loss given what the wide receiver room is set to look like in 2025. So is star tight end Luke Hasz, who announced his transfer later on Friday. But their departures’ shock factor pales in comparison to that of Kutas because Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman specifically said it wouldn’t happen.
Returning from a back injury with five games remaining in the season, the Memphis native asked Pittman if he could sit out one in order to retain his unused redshirt by appearing in only four, allowing him to play two more years in college instead of one. His coach agreed after receiving an assurance from Kutas that he wouldn’t leave and use the extra year somewhere else.
“The deal that we talked about was he wanted to redshirt,” Pittman told reporters on Oct. 28. “And I said, ‘Hey now, we ain’t trying to redshirt you for somebody else.’ He said, ‘No, coach, I would never. I’m a Hog, I want to be here.’”
Something could have changed over the last six weeks, but it certainly seems as though Kutas pulled a fast one on Pittman — who, for what it’s worth, kept his word by holding him out of the Louisiana Tech game.
That means the 6-foot-5, 313-pound lineman will have two years of eligibility at his next school.
It ranks up there as one of Arkansas’ more surprising transfers of the portal era, which was created in 2018.
Wide receiver Mike Woods was perhaps the first big one, as he left immediately after a huge performance in the Hogs’ annual Red-White spring game and was set to form one of the best 1-2 receiver combos in the SEC alongside Treylon Burks.
In the three years since, the Razorbacks have seen transfers from five team captains — Joe Foucha (LSU), Jalen Catalon (Texas), Simeon Blair (Memphis), KJ Jefferson (UCF) and Rocket Sanders (South Carolina).
It’s a concerning trend that likely went into Pittman’s decision to hold off on voting for/naming captains ahead of this season. Instead, he chose to make it a game-by-game, rotating honor and said the permanent captains would be named after the season.
He spun it as an opportunity to give 48 different players a chance to serve as a captain, such as Sategna for the UAPB game and Kutas for the Ole Miss game, but three straight years of captains transferring had to at least be in the back of his mind because it’s not a great look.
While Pittman might have been hoping to avoid something similar happening in 2024, it was viewed as almost inevitable by former Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams, who essentially predicted such a departure in a recent episode of his 4th & 5 podcast.
“I’m very curious to see what happens in these next two weeks, but I think Arkansas could be in some trouble,” Williams said. “I mean, think about it, last year our captains on our team, all of them are gone and they all still were playing college football somewhere else. Man, that’s just not a good culture to me and I don’t really know how to fix that.”
Williams’ recollection wasn’t entirely correct, as only Jefferson and Sanders played elsewhere this year, Landon Jackson returned for his senior year and Trajan Jeffcoat exhausted his eligibility, but both Cam Little and Brady Latham could have played another season and instead chose to pursue their professional careers.
With revenue sharing coming to college football, Pittman has said he doesn’t expect to be impacted by the portal as much as last year because he’ll have more money at his disposal.
“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.”
The Razorbacks are probably hopeful that Sategna and Kutas will be the only significant departures to the transfer portal, but if recent history tells us anything, another surprise or two is likely coming down the pipeline.
Patrick Kutas with the Hogs
When he originally committed to Arkansas football as a four-star prospect out of Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, it wasn’t immediately clear which side of the ball Patrick Kutas would play in college.
Some initially thought of him as a defensive tackle, but by the time he signed, it was clear the Razorbacks saw his future on the offensive line.
Sam Pittman spoke highly of Kutas throughout his freshman year, even though his lone offensive snap was as a sixth lineman against Alabama. It wasn’t just talk, though, because Arkansas carved out a role for him on special teams, as he was a fixture on the punt coverage and field goal units.
He totaled 122 special teams snaps across all 13 games, easily burning his redshirt and saving it to be used a couple of years later.
That set the stage for Kutas to take over as a starter in 2023. Injuries limited him to nine games as a sophomore, but he didn’t exactly play well when he was healthy, posting a 54.9 Pro Football Focus grade.
Part of the issue was the fact that he was primarily at right tackle. Arkansas moved him inside to center against Ole Miss, but he was moved back to tackle before the end of that game.
Heading into his junior campaign, the Razorbacks moved him to guard permanently and he looked great in spring ball, with all signs pointing to a potential breakout year. At SEC Media Days this summer, Pittman admitted Kutas “lost his confidence” the year before and that almost ruined him, but the position change revitalized him and made him into “a heck of a player.”
Unfortunately, he made it only two days into fall camp before going down with a back injury. Despite optimism that he might be ready for the opener or Week 2 at Oklahoma State, Kutas ended up missing more than half of the season.
He returned against Mississippi State and was a critical part of Arkansas racking up 58 points on 673 yards. He then started against Ole Miss and Texas before skipping the Louisiana Tech game and returning to the lineup at Missouri.
Across his four games, Patrick Kutas played 230 snaps and earned a 71.0 grade from Pro Football Focus — the best mark among Arkansas’ offensive linemen.
What it Means for Arkansas Football
Beyond the perception aspect, losing Patrick Kutas to the transfer portal is a big blow to Arkansas’ projected offensive line in 2025.
Technically, all six linemen who started games this season are eligible to return next year. Kutas is the first to officially announce he won’t be coming back, but it’s also worth noting that Joshua Braun — who would be a sixth-year super senior — went through senior day festivities.
If the Razorbacks aren’t able to convince Braun to come back, they’ll be tasked with replacing both projected starting guards.
Rising redshirt junior E’Marion Harris, a homegrown four-star prospect, began this season at left guard while Kutas was out, but eventually flipped with right tackle Keyshawn Blackstock midway through the season.
Blackstock, a transfer from Michigan State, is set to be a fifth-year senior in 2025 and ended up starting two games at left guard. He also appeared in three others at the position, playing 158 left guard snaps compared to 442 at right tackle.
A dark horse candidate to win a starting job is Kobe Branham. The Fort Smith Southside product redshirted this year, but got a handful of snaps as a sixth lineman in heavy sets down the stretch.
“For him to get out there as a freshman and in key situations — you’re looking at goal line, basically, what he’s playing right now — is a huge compliment to him,” Pittman said on Nov. 25. “I fully expect he battles for a starting position in spring ball. I do. I think he’s special. I think he was well coached in high school, but he’s just a special kid and I expect him to battle in there at one of those guard spots this spring.”
In addition to three high school prospects, Arkansas also signed an offensive lineman out of the JUCO ranks this week in Bubba Craig, but the 6-foot-6, 315-pounder played tackle at Hutchinson C.C. Rising redshirt sophomore Luke Brown could get a look, as well, if he can stay healthy.
There’s always the possibility of adding from the transfer portal, too.
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Arkansas Football Players in Transfer Portal
The transfer portal doesn’t officially open until next Monday (Dec. 9), but players across the country have already begun announcing their intent to enter. Here’s a look at which Arkansas football players have already done so…
- LS Eli Stein (hasn’t announced his intention, but left the team before the season)
- DL Nico Davillier
- DB Jaylon Braxton
- WR Jaedon Wilson (committed to UCLA – was able to enter early as a graduate transfer)
- TE Ty Washington
- TE Var’keyes Gumms
- TE Luke Hasz
- OL Amaury Wiggins
- OL Joshua Braun (or at least we think given this confirmation)
- QB Malachi Singleton
- WR Davion Dozier
- WR Isaiah Sategna
- OL Patrick Kutas
- *RB Emmanuel Crawford (walk-on)
Make sure to check out our latest on Arkansas in the transfer portal:
Check out how the 2025 Arkansas football roster looks with the loss of Patrick Kutas:
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More on the transfer portal:
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