Arkansas football will have a new-look offensive line in 2025, marking the second straight year Sam Pittman has overhauled the unit.
Despite all six regular-season starters being eligible to return, half of them transferred to other Power Four programs. A pair of backups also hit the portal and a former four-star recruit medically retired, not to mention two four-star commits ended up signing elsewhere in the SEC.
To fill the void that created, the veteran offensive line coach hit the portal hard and landed five transfers, plus added a heralded JUCO prospect and three traditional recruits from the high school ranks.
While Jac’Qawn McRoy might have generated more excitement because he was a top-100 recruit in the previous cycle and came from an Oregon program that was the top seed in the College Football Playoff. The gem of the group, however, is Corey Robinson II.
Considered one of the best offensive tackles available in the transfer portal, he spent the last three seasons protecting the blindside of Georgia Tech’s quarterbacks.
According to the On3 Industry portal rankings, Robinson is a four-star transfer who checks in at No. 62 overall, making him the top-ranked member of Arkansas’ portal haul.
Of the 22 transfers the Razorbacks have landed, he is probably the safest bet to pencil in as a starter in 2025. The only tricky part is where, exactly, to slot him.
Potential Shuffle Coming for Arkansas OL?
After redshirting at Kansas in 2021, Corey Robinson II transferred to Georgia Tech and immediately became a first-teamer. He’s been in and out of the lineup for various reasons the last two seasons, but has made 24 career starts and played 1,648 career offensive snaps in the ACC.
All but eight of those snaps were as a left tackle, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s a problem because Arkansas actually returns a solid left tackle in Fernando Carmona.
During the latest episode of The Hog Pod, Robinson was asked about the conundrum and gave an interesting answer.
“I don’t know how much is out, but (the coaches and I) talked about it for sure,” Robinson said. “I definitely know I got a good fit here and a good idea of where I could be if I handle my side of business.”
That level of coyness, especially from such an open and well-spoken guy, should raise an eyebrow or two.
The cliche answer to such a question would involve something along the lines of “looking forward to competing for the starting job at left tackle” and “may the best man win.” It also wouldn’t have been shocking for him to say he’s flexible and could flip over to the right side, where E’Marion Harris and Keyshawn Blackstock both struggled throughout 2024.
Instead, Robinson played it close to the vest while insinuating something else might be in the works.
As for what that could be, you may need to think outside of the box. One such suggestion is moving Carmona inside to guard.
On the surface, that might not seem too crazy, but all but one of Carmona’s 2,482 career snaps between San Jose State and Arkansas have been at left tackle — with the lone exception being as an inline tight end (essentially a sixth offensive lineman).
He also hasn’t played poorly. During his last season with the Spartans, Carmona posted an 81.5 overall PFF grade, making him a hot commodity in the transfer portal. Then, in his first season in the SEC, he earned a 65.9 PFF grade on 900 snaps.
While that mark isn’t great — it ranked 16th out of 34 SEC tackles with at least 400 snaps — it is significantly better than both Blackstock (56.2) and Harris (50.8), who essentially split the starts at right tackle.
Plus, there is likely some intrinsic value to having continuity at left tackle, especially when it’s a team leader like Carmona, who seems to be all-in with the Razorbacks even if his season did end in some controversy after a Texas Tech player’s accusations.
Of course, being a leader and all-in also makes it possible that he’d be open to moving from tackle to guard if it helped the team. It doesn’t hurt that his 6-foot-5, 322-pound frame makes more sense inside than the 6-foot-7 Harris either.
Proving he can play inside would probably benefit Carmona from a professional standpoint, too, as the ability to play multiple positions up front is a valuable asset in the NFL — particularly for guys who aren’t obvious high-round picks.
This will all get sorted out in spring ball, but a move to get both Robinson and Carmona on the field at the same time — maybe even next to each other on the left side — could be an intriguing one to watch.
Filling Out the Rest of the OL
Perhaps the easiest position on the offensive line to project is center, where UCF transfer Caden Kitler figures to be a straight-up replacement for Addison Nichols, who left for SMU.
Not only is Nichols gone, but so are backup centers Amaury Wiggins (portal) and Joe More (exhausted eligibility). The lone returnee at the position is Brooks Edmonson, a former walk-on who was placed on scholarship before starting the Liberty Bowl. Perhaps the Bryant native could push for the job, but Kitler is far more experienced.
Beyond that, though, projecting a depth chart gets more complicated.
While E’Marion Harris and Keyshawn Blackstock basically split the reps at right tackle last year, both also got extensive reps at left guard and could move inside.
Another frontrunner for one of the guard spots is Kobe Branham, who maintained his redshirt as a true freshman and started at right guard in the Liberty Bowl, posting a 65.3 PFF grade against the Red Raiders – the best mark on the line. He’s still young, but would give the offensive line another Arkansas flavor as a Fort Smith Southside product. (Harris is from Little Rock and played at Joe T. Robinson.)
Look for several newcomers to also factor into the mix, with the biggest — literally and figuratively — being Oregon transfer Jac’Qawn McRoy. The 6-foot-8, 375-pound former top-100 recruit didn’t play at all as a freshman for the Ducks, but could compete for early playing time on Arkansas’ new-look line.
Marcus Dumervil, who began his career at LSU before playing at Maryland the last two years, was another veteran addition and appears to be versatile, with reps at left tackle, right tackle, right guard and as a blocking tight end throughout his career. He could fill a role similar to that of More, who seemed to be capable of playing multiple spots up front.
The Razorbacks also brought in Kavion Broussard from Ole Miss and Bubba Craig from Hutchinson C.C., with the latter expected to battle for playing time at guard.
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Listen to the full episode of The Hog Pod featuring Corey Robinson II:
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