Sam Pittman is probably lucky he was still feeling the effects of painkillers on Friday following his hip replacement surgery earlier in the week.
Because what happened spells kicked off an unfortunate dilemma for his 2025 team if going by recent history and common sense.
More than 20 Razorbacks have already entered the transfer portal, which officially opened on Monday. That includes the defensive backs TJ and Tevis Mecalf, who declared their exit on Monday count as one of the bigger surprises to depart considering the way they had flown their flag with Arkansas in the face of both Ole Miss and Auburn.
Then, on Monday night, one of Arkansas’ more promising true freshman declared he was heading out the door, too:
So far, the body count rests at 6 starters in 5 days to have entered the transfer portal:
- Tight end Luke Hasz
- Defensive lineman Nico Davilier
- Defensive backs Jaylon Braxton and TJ Metcalf
- Offensive linemen Patrick Kutas and Joshua Braun
Kutas’ decision was especially puzzling, considering he had reassured Pittman that he would not do so after the head Hog elected to let him keep his redshirt and only appear in four games in 2024.
That’s not to mention earlier in the week when leading returning wide receiver Isaiah Sategna also elected to get in, which will leave a significant void in that position group room.
At this point, Razorback football fans want to start hearing who is going to actually be on the roster in 2025, not adding to the list of those fleeing the program.
Arkansas Football Needs Some Semblance of Stability
On Friday’s ‘Pod Of That Nature’ on Inside Arkansas, co-host Andrew Ellis elaborated on players that he thought Sam Pittman and company needed to keep if there was going to be any hope of having a competitive year next season.
He actually mentioned the Metcalf brothers in the secondary, but more likely than not TJ Metcalf is going to be a transfer portal darling who should have potential suitors after a sophomore year that saw him come into his own with 29 solo tackles, 3 interceptions, 7 passes broken up and a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
The Metcalfs were some of the most beloved Razorbacks this season, so it was additionally surprising when it initially appeared that the Metcalfs had pulled a Steve Miller Band and taken their NIL money from Wright’s Barbecue and ran, but they are going to donate the money back into an organization that helps families battling pediatric brain cancer.
It’s all good and well that the Metcalfs are able to leave in some good graces, but the bottom line is Arkansas is no longer going to be feeling much of their brotherly love. It’s unclear when the long-anticipated good news is going to start coming into the Arkansas football program, but it needs to happen soon.
“Arkansas can replace these guys, but you have to replace these guys and build an adequate roster around them and fill out other needs that your team has,” Ellis said on Monday’s “Pod of that Nature” episode. “This battle that Arkansas is going to face in this transfer portal just gets more and more uphill as the days go by.”
While Ellis’ core of “must-keep” Hogs has been rocked, there are still some promising young guys who can provide critical stability going into next season.
Quincy Rhodes on the defensive line, for one:
The 6-foot-6 defensive end from North Little Rock had the light come on during the second half of the season, after initially emerging with a sack and two tackles for loss against Texas A&M. He had three tackles against Ole Miss, a tackle for loss against Texas and two tackles and a hurry against Louisiana Tech.
Another anticipated big-time contributor in 2025, as Ellis points out, is linebacker Brad Spence. He’s a guy whom the Arkansas football program needs to figure out to keep from potential suitors. Missouri is a program that may be interested in employing his services after he had four tackles and a sack against them in the season finale. Spence also became the 14th Hog since 2000 to record a sack in three consecutive games to close out the year.
Safety Larry Worth III would also be more than nice to have back in 2025. He didn’t have much hype coming into 2024, but ended up finishing the year on a tear, registering a team-high nine tackles and forcing a fumble in the Missouri finale.
Before that, he tallied eight tackles against Texas and nine against Ole Miss.
Braylen Russell has to return at running back
It’s one thing to let former Hog tailbacks Isaiah Augustave or AJ Green walk out of the running back room, like Arkansas did a year ago. Augustave had a pedestrian year at Colorado as the Buffaloes were doing whatever they could to get Travis Hunter the Heisman Trophy and trying to win the Big 12.
Meanwhile, Green got injured and missed all of 2024 as the Cowboys meandered their way through a terrible 3-9 season that nearly got Mike Gundy fired.
But Arkansas’ own Braylen Russell? Pittman and OC Bobby Petrino can’t let him hit the portal. Russell was critical to the Hog victory over No. 4 Tennessee and he was the bell cow in a dominant victory at Mississippi State in late October. He ended up being slowed in November by a hamstring injury he suffered in the aforementioned contest, but would be a focal point that Arkansas could build around next year.
Plus he’s an in-state kid from Benton. It would be a bad look to not do everything possible to make him happy and keep him in the fold and get him as much work possible in the bowl game in Memphis on December 27 against a Texas Tech team that has always viewed defense as almost optional.
So optional, in fact, that head coach Joey McGuire fired his defensive coordinator and secondary coach following the season.
Quincy Rhodes, Fernando Carmona and Cam Ball are among those Razorbacks who have already declared they are ready to run it back again in Fayetteville next season. It would do a world of good for a fanbase battered by the news of folks who say they love Arkansas – but not enough to stay – if Russell, Worth and Spence declared they become core leaders for a program separately in need of them.
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More on the Metcalfs’ exit into the transfer portal here:
More on Arkansas football from BoAS:
