FAYETTEVILLE — It’s already been a successful offseason in the transfer portal for the Arkansas football program, but Sam Pittman isn’t done.
Even after signing 10 transfers who enrolled for the spring semester and adding four more since then, the Razorbacks have enough wiggle room to bring in even more.
According to Best of Arkansas Sports’ unofficial roster tracker, Arkansas is sitting at 79 scholarship players for 2023 right now. That is seven shy of the 85-man limit.
Here’s a look at some of the Razorbacks’ potential targets in the transfer portal during the spring window…
Already Committed to Arkansas
- DB Jaheim Singletary — Georgia (more from BoAS)
- DT Tank Booker — Maryland (more from BoAS)
- TE Var’Keyes Gumms — North Texas (more from BoAS)
- LB Jaheim Thomas — Cincinnati (more from BoAS)
Arkansas Offers in the Transfer Portal
OL Jaden Muskrat — Tulsa
Originally from Choctaw, Okla., Jaden Muskrat played his senior season of high school at Bentonville West. He didn’t play much his first two years at Tulsa, but an injury thrust him into a starting role last season and he held it down with a solid 61.2 Pro Football Focus grade on 848 snaps.
In addition to Arkansas, Muskrat has tweeted about receiving offers from Auburn, Cal, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Purdue, South Carolina, Syracuse and Ole Miss. The Razorbacks are in the market for another offensive lineman in the transfer portal, but they’d prefer an interior lineman capable of snapping the ball and Muskrat is a tackle. Auburn — where he’s already officially visited — makes a lot of sense as a landing spot because Philip Montgomery is the Tigers’ new offensive coordinator after previously being the head coach at Tulsa.
That said, the Razorbacks did get him to come to Fayetteville for an official visit, after which he described it as a “great” visit and said he enjoyed seeing the facilities.
WR Montana Lemonious-Craig — Colorado
One of the crazier stories of the spring has been what’s unfolded at Colorado, which included a Mike Woods-like transfer portal entry by Montana Lemonious-Craig just two days after totaling 154 receiving yards — including a 98-yard touchdown — in the Buffaloes’ spring game. He is coming off a season in which he caught 23 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns.
In his first day in the portal, Lemonious-Craig tweeted about receiving 22 offers, one of which was from Arkansas. The Razorbacks, even after bringing in three midyear transfers, could probably stand to add another wide receiver because their numbers are pretty low, with only eight on scholarship for 2023. Other schools to offer him include Auburn and Mississippi State from the SEC, plus Arizona, Penn State, West Virginia and several more.
DT Keivie Rose — Louisiana Tech
A three-year starter at Louisiana Tech, Keivie Rose technically has two years of eligibility remaining because of the bonus pandemic season. Listed at 6-foot-3, 303 pounds, the Henderson, Texas, native racked up 49 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles over the past two season, in which he’s earned PFF grades of 68.1 and 69.7 on 467 snaps and 647 snaps, respectively.
That level of production, and how desired his position is, led to him immediately picking up a slew of offers. Arkansas was the first one he posted about, but Ole Miss, TCU, Colorado, West Virginia, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi State, Virginia Tech and Missouri quickly followed.
Other Potential Portal Targets for Arkansas
DT Tyas Martin — Colorado
A three-star recruit coming out of Jacksonville in 2021, Tyas Martin is an in-state product who went to Colorado over Virginia Tech, Kansas and several other offers. Returning home may be intriguing for him, but it’s unknown if Arkansas would be interested. He earned a PFF grade of just 29.8 on 318 snaps as a redshirt freshman last season and the only offers he’s tweeted about have been from Marshall, Jackson State and Arkansas State.
DB R.J. Moten — Michigan
More of a true safety, R.J. Moten is leaving Michigan after making 15 starts and playing 925 snaps over the last two seasons, which followed a redshirt year in 2020. He posted solid PFF grades of 66.3 on 499 snaps as a redshirt freshman and 64.8 on 426 snaps this past season, while racking up a total of 66 tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions.
TE Cade Conley — Central Michigan
Having already landed Var’Keyes Gumms from North Texas, Arkansas might not want another tight end from the portal, especially considering it doesn’t know what it has in incoming freshman Shamar Easter yet. However, if Pittman decides the Razorbacks need more depth at that position, Cade Conley might make sense as a developmental guy.
Originally a preferred walk-on at Central Michigan, he emerged as a significant contributor down the stretch of his redshirt freshman year and finished with 11 receptions for 168 yards. Since entering the transfer portal, most of the offers he’s received have been from the likes of ULM, Georgia State and Kent State, but he does report an offer from Colorado.
LB Jalen McLeod — Appalachian State
The Razorbacks appear to have a pretty solid trio of linebackers in Chris Paul Jr., Antonio Grier and Jordan Crook, plus a nice group of younger players behind them, but their numbers are still low. They have just eight on scholarship and Pittman would like to add another from the transfer portal.
Jalen McLeod was an outside linebacker at Appalachian State and is coming off a stellar junior season in which he racked up 41 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and six sacks while earning an impressive 86.6 PFF grade on 382 snaps.
LB Andrew Booker — Maryland
If Arkansas is just looking for more depth at linebacker, it’d make sense to give Andrew Booker a look because he is the younger brother of Maryland defensive tackle transfer commit Tank Booker. A three-star recruit who didn’t play as a true freshman last season, he recently visited Purdue.
Offered, but Committed Elsewhere
- OL Mason Lunsford — Maryland —> LSU
- DT Trill Carter — Minnesota —> Texas
- DB Josh DeBerry — Boston College —> Texas A&M
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More coverage of Arkansas football and the transfer portal from BoAS…
