After starting the week on a bad note with a commit flipping to an SEC school, Arkansas will end the week by trying to do the same to another conference foe.
The Razorbacks lost heralded kicker Evan Noel to Florida on Monday and will now welcome Texas A&M wide receiver commit Kelshaun Johnson to Fayetteville for an unofficial visit during the Texas game on Saturday, a source confirmed to Best of Arkansas Sports.
That name should be familiar to those who follow Arkansas recruiting because he’s been a target in the 2025 class for a while. In fact, he took an official visit over the summer — hence why this weekend is an unofficial — before picking the Aggies in mid-July.
However, it’s not just Arkansas aiming to flip Johnson.
Arkansas vs Texas on the Recruiting Trail
Both of the teams playing inside Razorback Stadium this weekend are still in the mix for Kelshaun Johnson, despite him being pledged to a different program.
The Hitchcock, Texas, native also visited the Longhorns last month and based on his comments to Orange Bloods, the Texas Rivals site, it sounds like they may be next in the pecking order behind Texas A&M.
“I feel like Texas is still, if anything ever happened at A&M, Texas would be the place to go,” Johnson said in October.
It certainly doesn’t help that both of the SEC teams in the Lone Star State are in the midst of competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff, while Arkansas is fighting for bowl eligibility.
The Razorbacks could certainly help their standing in the race for Johnson, though, by pulling off a massive upset Saturday — especially with him in attendance.
Of course, that’d entail Arkansas’ current receivers doing what few teams have done against the Longhorns’ strong secondary. They have arguably the best pass defense in the country, holding teams to an NCAA-leading 135.3 yards per game through the air.
To be fair, the Longhorns haven’t faced a receiver quite like Andrew Armstrong, who enters the Arkansas vs Texas game ranked second in the SEC and 11th nationally with 857 receiving yards. His 107.1 yards per game actually ranks sixth in the FBS among qualified receivers.
Making a Case for the Hogs
Looking ahead to next year, Arkansas has a trio of wide receivers committed in the 2025 class with the in-state duo of Antonio Jordan (Warren) and Quentin Murphy (Little Rock Parkview) joined by Kamare Williams from Florida.
It’s a solid group, albeit one lacking star power, as all three of them are three-star prospects. (Although it’d probably be unwise to underestimate a wide receiver from Warren.)
Johnson would change that. He is a consensus four-star recruit who is ranked as high as No. 112 nationally by 247Sports, which would make him one of the top recruits in the Razorbacks’ 2025 class, regardless of position.
That’s a stark contrast to the situations he’d be walking into at either Texas A&M or Texas. With the Longhorns, specifically, he’d be the third- or fourth-best wide receiver in the class.
If he’s looking for a clearer path to immediate playing time, Arkansas would make more sense than Texas. Led by passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Chris Jackson, the Longhorns are so loaded at receiver that former five-star recruit Johntay Cook II recently left the team and will enter the transfer portal.
The Razorbacks are set to return Isaiah Sategna and a few others, but they’re also tasked with replacing three of their top four receivers because Andrew Armstrong, Tyrone Broden and Isaac TeSlaa are super seniors with no remaining eligibility.
Texas A&M’s situation is less clear, but two of its top three receivers appear to have remaining eligibility. Johnson would be the Aggies’ top wide receiver signee in the 2025 class, but they landed a five-star and a trio of four-stars the previous year.
Of course, he may want to go somewhere with more recent success on the field and it can’t hurt that Austin and College Station are much closer to his hometown than Fayetteville.
Those factors will be hard to overcome, but getting Johnson on campus again at least gives Arkansas a puncher’s chance.
2025 Arkansas Football Commits
Here’s a list of the players still committed to Arkansas football in the 2025 class…
- LB Tavion Wallace — Baxley (Ga.) Appling County
- DL Kevin Oatis — Hattiesburg (Miss.)
- QB Grayson Wilson — Conway (Ark.)
- DL Reginald Vaughn — Flowood (Miss.) Hartfield Academy
- OT Connor Howes — Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola
- OT Blake Cherry — Owasso (Okla.)
- DL Caleb Bell — Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton
- EDGE Keiundre Johnson — Terrell (Texas)
- OT Kash Courtney — Carthage (Texas)
- IOL Lionel Prudhomme — Shreveport (La.) Captain Shreve
- ATH Quentin Murphy — Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview
- LB Jayden Shelton — Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff
- WR Antonio Jordan — Warren (Ark.)
- S Taijh Overton — Mobile (Ala.) Williamson
- RB Cameron Settles — Little Rock (Ark.) Parkview
- WR Kamare Williams — West Palm Beach (Fla.) Palm Beach Central
- RB Markeylin Batton — Atlanta (Texas)
- ATH Nigel Pringle — Houston (Texas) North Shore
- EDGE Trent Sellers — Mobile (Ala.) Faith Academy
- CB Shannon Blair — East Mississippi C.C.
- TE Gavin Garretson — Chico (Calif.) Pleasant Valley
- DL JaQuentin Madison — Alpharetta (Ga.)
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Check out some highlights of Arkansas football target Kelshaun Johnson:
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