A few years ago, HawgSports’ Trey Biddy didn’t want to discuss prospects for entering the transfer portal. Since the NCAA allowed transferring without sitting out a year, however, things have rapidly changed since 2021. The portal is such a dominant, inescapable part of annual roster building that nowadays those who deny its influence come across as ostriches sticking their heads in the sand.
And so, the Arkansas football reporter has changed with the times. He’s now willing to weigh in on who appears to be a prospect for leaving the Arkansas football program.
That kind of informed conjecture is necessary given the ever-shifting sands of most major college programs this time of year. You can see the fluidity of the situation in our own Andrew Hutchinson’s Arkansas football roster tracker as well as those by other beat writers.
Biddy, for instance, noted he counted 86 scholarship players a couple days before Friday’s transfer influx of Ja’Quinden Jackson, Anton Juncag and Marquise Robinson. Sam Pittman, meanwhile, had noted there are only 79 (all FBS scholarship players in football are full-ride).
The disparity means that Pittman already knows seven players with remaining eligibility currently listed on the roster won’t return for the 2024 season.
Let’s go through the positions and see who would be the top prospects to depart based on insight from Hutchinson, Biddy and myself:
Quarterback (4 on scholarship)
*walk-on
^newcomer (high school, JUCO, portal commits/signees)
- Jacolby Criswell — redshirt senior
- ^Taylen Green — redshirt junior
- Malachi Singleton — redshirt freshman
- ^KJ Jackson — freshman
- *^Austin Ledbetter — redshirt junior
- *Rykar Acebo — redshirt sophomore
Leaving the Arkansas Football Program
- Cade Fortin — out of eligibility
- KJ Jefferson — transferred to UCF
KJ Jefferson already went to play for Gus Malzahn a year after Malzahn tried to get Malachi Singleton. Singleton has just had one year in the system so transferring away at this point would seem premature, especially with Bobby Petrino coming aboard, but “would seem premature” is a phrase often used in cases like these. Crazier things have happened.
It should be noted that, yes, the deadline for underclassmen for entering the transfer portal was midnight on Tuesday. However, the “deadline refers not to the ability of players to appear in the portal, but rather to submit their names and declare their intention to transfer,” SI.com’s James Parks notes. “Provided a player has turned in his paperwork by that time, he will have met the deadline.”
“But after that paperwork is submitted, the NCAA compliance team can take up to two days to process the entry and formally add his name to the portal list, meaning the late entrants can appear in the portal after the deadline.”
Wide Receiver Razorbacks (10 on scholarship, 11 with super seniors)
- Andrew Armstrong — sixth-year super senior
- Isaac TeSlaa — super senior
- Jaedon Wilson — redshirt junior
- Isaiah Sategna — redshirt sophomore
- Davion Dozier — redshirt freshman
- Dazmin James — redshirt freshman
- ^Jordan Anthony — junior
- ^Ashton Bethel-Roman — freshman
- ^CJ Brown — freshman
- ^Krosse Johnson — freshman
- *^Cam Wright — redshirt junior (JUCO transfer)
- *Kamron Bibby — redshirt sophomore
- *Jace Petty — redshirt sophomore
- *Kaylon Morris — redshirt freshman
Decision to Make
- Tyrone Broden — potential super senior
Leaving the Program
- Sam Mbake — dismissed from the team, transfer portal
- Bryce Stephens — transfer portal
- ^Courtney Crutchfield — decommitted
- *Chris Rhodes — transfer portal
- *Kalil Girault — transfer portal
- *Chris Harris — redshirt senior
- *Marlon Crockett — transfer portal
Biddy is looking at Tyrone Broden, who has Tweeted about how heartbroken he is about Kenny Guiton is leaving but hasn’t declared he’s coming back for his super senior season yet.
“I’ll tell you another guy we haven’t heard anything from – Isaiah Sategna,” Biddy added in the most recent HawgSports podcast. “Isaiah’s kind of a quiet guy anyway. He’s not real boastful or anything, so maybe he’s just riding it out.”
Sategna, too, shared how sad he was Guiton, the former wide receivers coach, had left. Indeed, he said without Guiton he would not have been a Hog.
Offensive Line (17 on scholarship, 19 w/ super seniors)
- Ty’Kieast Crawford — super senior
- Joshua Braun — redshirt senior
- ^Fernando Carmona Jr. — redshirt junior (transfer from San Jose State)
- Cole Carson — redshirt junior
- Josh Street — redshirt junior
- Terry Wells — redshirt junior (could get medical redshirt for 2023)
- Amaury Wiggins — redshirt junior
- Patrick Kutas — junior
- Andrew Chamblee — redshirt sophomore
- E’Marion Harris — redshirt sophomore
- Eli Henderson — redshirt sophomore
- ^Addison Nichols — redshirt sophomore (transfer from Tennessee)
- Luke Brown — redshirt freshman
- Paris Patterson — redshirt freshman
- ^Kobe Branham — freshman
- ^Zuri Madison — freshman
- *Tommy Varhall — redshirt junior
- *Brooks Edmonson — redshirt sophomore
- *Kai Hamilton — redshirt sophomore
- *Luke Johnston — redshirt freshman
- *Aaron Smith — redshirt freshman
Decision to Make
- Brady Latham — potential super senior
- Beaux Limmer — potential super senior, could declare for NFL Draft (already accepted East-West Shrine Bowl invitation)
Leaving the Program
- Devon Manuel — transfer portal
- Joey Su’a — transfer portal
- ^Kai Greer — decommitted
- *Brock Burns — medically retiring
Besides the potential super seniors who haven’t yet announced what’s next, Biddy notes Terry Wells has been a possibility for a medical hardship because injuries have prevented him for playing a snap the last two seasons. Wells, for his part, has said he’ll be back.
On top of that, “Cole Carson hasn’t played a snap the last two years” and “Eli Henderson is a guy that’s been banged up a little bit and didn’t play any snaps last year either.”
Tight End Razorbacks (5 on scholarship, 6 w/ super seniors)
- Var’keyes Gumms — redshirt junior
- ^Andreas Paaske — redshirt junior (transfer from Eastern Michigan)
- Ty Washington — redshirt sophomore
- Luke Hasz — sophomore
- Shamar Easter — redshirt freshman
- *Maddox Lassiter — redshirt freshman
Decision to Make
- Francis Sherman — potential super senior
Leaving the Program
- Nathan Bax — out of eligibility
- ^Greg Genross — decommitted (JUCO transfer)
- *Hunter Talley — transfer portal
Sherman would be the one to watch here.
Running Backs (5 on scholarship)
- Dominique Johnson — redshirt senior
- Rashod Dubinion — junior
- Isaiah Augustave — sophomore
- ^Ja’Quinden Jackson — redshirt junior
- ^Braylen Russell — freshman
- *Jezreel Bachert — redshirt sophomore
- *Emmanuel Crawford — redshirt freshman
Leaving the Program
- AJ Green — transfer portal
- Rocket Sanders — transfer portal
- ^Jadan Baugh — de-committed
Don’t expect any more departures here. Dubinion made himself a few more fans with this post soon after this cycle’s transfer portal opened:
Defensive Line (11 on scholarship, 14 w/ super seniors)
- Landon Jackson — senior
- Cameron Ball — redshirt junior
- Nico Davillier — junior
- JJ Hollingsworth — redshirt sophomore
- Quincy Rhodes Jr. — sophomore
- Ian Geffrard — redshirt freshman
- Kaleb James — redshirt freshman
- Eric Gregory – super senior
- ^Anton Jucaj — super senior
- ^Charleston Collins — freshman
- ^Kavion Henderson — freshman
- *Jon Hill — redshirt junior
- *Kyle Thompson — redshirt sophomore
Decision to Make
- Marcus Miller — potential super senior
- Keivie Rose — potential super senior
- Jashaud Stewart — potential super senior, indefinitely suspended
Leaving the Arkansas Football Program
- Trajan Jeffcoat — out of eligibility
- John Morgan III — out of eligibility
- Zach Williams — out of eligibility
- Taurean Carter — transfer portal (potential super senior)
- Anthony Booker Jr. — transfer portal (potential super senior)
“The one I’m watching there would be Marcus Miller,” Biddy says. “He’s been banged up a lot and hasn’t contributed a lot.”
It should noted that Arkansas isn’t hosting a lot of defensive linemen transfers in the upcoming days. If Sam Pittman knew Miller and Rose were leaving, you would expect a lot more action on that front.
Linebackers (7 on scholarship)
- ^Xavian Sorey Jr. — redshirt junior (transfer from Georgia)
- Kaden Henley — redshirt sophomore
- Alex Sanford — sophomore
- Brad Spence — sophomore
- Carson Dean — redshirt freshman
- ^Justin Logan — freshman
- ^Wyatt Simmons — freshman
- *Brooks Both — redshirt senior
- *Mason Schueck — redshirt sophomore
- *Donovan Whitten — redshirt freshman
- *^Brooks Yurachek — redshirt freshman (transfer from Wake Forest)
Leaving the Program
- Antonio Grier — out of eligibility
- Chris Paul Jr. — transfer portal
- Jordan Crook — transfer portal
- Mani Powell — transfer portal
- Jaheim Thomas — transfer portal
It would be something else to see this position get further strippped down by portal departures. It feels like the damage has been done at this point.
Young guys like Kaden Henley and Carson Dean didn’t play much in 2023 so would theoretically be possibilities. The 6’4″ 234-pound Dean, Biddy notes, could be moved down to defensive end.
Defensive Backs (17 on scholarship, 19 w/ super seniors)
- ^Doneiko Slaughter — super senior (transfer from Tennessee)
- ^Marquise Robinson — junior (transfer from South Alabama)
- Lorando Johnson — redshirt senior
- Jayden Johnson — senior
- Quincey McAdoo — redshirt sophomore
- Jaheim Singletary — redshirt sophomore
- Jaylon Braxton — sophomore
- Dylan Hasz — sophomore
- TJ Metcalf — sophomore
- Christian Ford — redshirt freshman
- RJ Johnson — redshirt freshman
- Dallas Young — redshirt freshman
- ^Jaden Allen — freshman
- ^Selman Bridges — freshman
- ^Ahkhari Johnson — freshman
- ^Tevis Metcalf — freshman
- ^Julius Pope — freshman
- *Ethan Joseph — redshirt sophomore
- *Aidan McCowan — redshirt sophomore
- *Landon Phipps — redshirt sophomore
- *John Paul Pickens — redshirt sophomore
- *Braylon Watson — redshirt sophomore
- *Anton Pierce — redshirt freshman
- *Jabrae Shaw — redshirt freshman
Decision to Make
- Hudson Clark — potential super senior
- Kee’yon Stewart — potential super senior
- Quincey McAdoo — health status unknown
- *Courtney Snelling — potential super senior
Leaving the Program
- LaDarrius Bishop — out of eligibility
- Alfahiym Walcott — out of eligibility
- Dwight McGlothern — NFL Draft (potential super senior)
- Jaylen Lewis — transfer portal
- Malik Chavis — transfer portal
- ^Noreel White — decommitted
- ^Jeremy Cook — freshman
Besides the potential super seniors, the one to look at would Quincey McAdoo, who didn’t play this season after a serious car accident.
He’s a possibility for for a medical hardship, which means is that you remain on scholarship, Biddy notes “So you’re able to continue school, but you’re no longer able to play football at the University of Arkansas. You could transfer later on and then try to play somewhere, but at Arkansas your playing days are done.
By the looks of it, McAdoo is certainly motivated to play again:
Special Teams (3 on scholarship)
Projected 2024 Roster (3 on scholarship)
- K Matthew Shipley — super senior
- P Max Fletcher — junior
- LS Eli Stein — junior
- *K Vito Calvaruso — redshirt senior
- *P Devin Bale — redshirt junior
- *LS Ashton Ngo — redshirt junior
- *K Blake Ford — redshirt sophomore
- *LS Max Schmidly — redshirt freshman
- *^Sam Dubwig — freshman (preferred walk-on)
Leaving the Program
- K/P Cam Little — declared for NFL Draft
- *K/P Tyler Larco — transfer portal
- *P Owen Lawson — transfer portal
Make sure to watch Biddy’s breakdown of the Arkansas football roster at 23:00 here:
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