Arkansas used portal to restock football team

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman and his staff have restocked the 2025 football roster through the transfer portal.

Arkansas signed 20 transfers from the portal at midterm and also added former Hogs running back AJ Green as a preferred walk-on. Then in the spring portal the Razorbacks added nine more recruits.

The numbers are broken down to 16 on offense and 13 going to the defensive side of the football. Wide receiver added seven recruits, secondary six, offensive line and defensive line five each, linebacker and tight end two each, running back one and quarterback one.

The lone quarterback was Florida State’s Trever Jackson, 6-3, 187. Jackson only had one carry for Florida State at end of a game. Jackson was added after Madden Iamaleava entered the transfer portal following spring drills. Blake Boda also transferred from Arkansas.

The lone running back was New Mexico State’s Mike Washington Jr, 6-2, 223, who turned heads as much as any transfer during the 14 spring practices. At New Mexico State last season, Washington rushed 157 times for 725 yards and four touchdowns. He also pulled down nine passes for 74 yards and another touchdown.

Montana State’s Rohan Jones, 6-3, 236, and Texas A&M’s Jaden Platt, 6-5, 260, are both expected to play a big role for Arkansas in the fall. Platt is a redshirt sophomore while Jones had a big season in 2024. Jones caught 30 passes for 470 yards and nine touchdowns while earning First-Team FCS Football Central All-American. As a freshman with the Aggies in 2023, Platt caught two passes for 52 yards and one touchdown. He returned a kickoff for 11 yards against McNeese State in 2024. Platt is healthy now and should see extensive action with the Hogs.

At wide receiver, five of the seven went through spring drills. Courtney Crutchfield, 6-2, 195, is a redshirt freshman from Missouri. Crutchfield is younger than the others and didn’t make the impact they did, but should have a very bright future with the Hogs.

Fresno State’s Raylen Sharpe, 5-9, 165, is a redshirt senior who has ties to Bobby Petrino and Ronnie Fouch. He played for them at Missouri State before spending one season at Fresno State. In 2024 at Fresno State, Sharpe pulled down 51 passes for 523 yards and three touchdowns. In 2023 at Missouri State, Sharpe had an even bigger season. He caught 73 passes for 991 yards and seven touchdowns. He showed a lot of promise in the spring.

UAB’s Kam Shanks, 5-8, 170, is a redshirt sophomore who actually scored a touchdown against the Hogs in 2024. Shanks is an outstanding wide receiver, but also very talented punt returner making first-team All-America honors doing that. At UAB in 2024, Shanks caught 62 passes for 656 yards and six touchdowns. He returned 16 punts for 329 yards and two touchdowns.

Stanford’s Ismael Cisse, 6-0, 198, is a redshirt sophomore. At Stanford last season, Cisse caught 26 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. He’s very strong athlete and is from Denver. He impressed observers all spring.

Charlotte’s O’Mega Blake, 6-2, 182, has SEC experience having previously played at South Carolina. With Charlotte in 2024, Blake grabbed 32 passes for 795 yards and nine touchdowns. He also had a good spring at Arkansas and is contending for a starting spot.

Pitt’s Andy Jean, 6-1, 178, is a redshirt sophomore who previously played at Florida. In 2023 with the Gators, Jean grabbed six passes for 97 yards and returned two kickoffs for 44 yards.

Florida State’s Jalen Brown, 6-1, 174, will be a redshirt sophomore with the Hogs. In 2024 with Florida State, Brown played in nine games with two starts. He caught eight passes for 75 yards and returned one kickoff for 19 yards against Notre Dame.

The offensive linemen all went through spring drills at Arkansas. At least three of them are contending for a starting spot. Georgia Tech’s Corey Robinson II, 6-5, 307; UCF’s Caden Kitler, 6-3, 306; and Oregon’s Shaq McRoy, 6-8, 362; Ole Miss’ Kavion Broussard, 6-6, 306; and Maryland’s Marcus Dumervil, 6-5, 298; all had good showings in the spring.

Robinson is expected to start at left tackle with Fernando Carmona now at left guard. Kitler is running with the first unit at center. McRoy is in the hunt to start at right tackle. Broussard and Dumervil also looked good in the 14 spring drills.

On the defensive line, edge candidates are Michigan State redshirt junior Ken Talley, 6-3, 257, and Florida’s Justus Boone, 6-4, 266, both went through spring drills. In the spring the Hogs signed Troy’s Phillip Lee, 6-4, 240, and Texas Permian Basin’s Frank Mulipola, 6-4, 275. Abilene Christian defensive tackle David Oke, 6-2, 312, went through springs though he battled some injuries early on.

Mulipola could play on the edge or inside. He and Lee were spring additions to the list. Mulipola had a productive 2024. He had 51 tackles, 8.5 for loss, six sacks, seven quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and blocked one kick.

Lee is considered an outstanding pass rusher. Lee had 31 tackles, 11 for loss, five sacks, one forced fumble and a pass breakup in 12 games for Troy in 2024. He can also play some outside linebacker.

At Abilene Christian in 2024, Oke had 64 tackles, 22 solo, two pass breakups, a pair of sacks and forced one fumble. He is expected to have a really big role with the Hogs this fall.

At Michigan State in 2024, Talley had six tackles, three solo and 1.5 sacks. At Florida last season, Boone had 10 tackles, two solo, 0.5 sack and one pass breakup.

The linebackers are both spring additions. They are UCF’s Andrew Harris, 6-2, 233, and Kent State’s Trent Whalen, 6-3, 235.

In 2024 with UCF Harris had nine tackles, six solo and one sack. As a freshman in 2023 he had five tackles, two solo and was a key member of UCF’s special teams.

Whalen signed with Kent State at midterm after playing previously at Southern Utah. But when Kent State fired its head coach then Whalen entered the transfer portal again. In 2024, Whalen had 46 tackles, 21 solo, 5.5 for loss, 0.5 sack, one forced fumble, three quarterback hurries and a pass breakup at Southern Utah.

The secondary has Oklahoma’s Kani Walker, 6-2, 201; Cincinnati’s Jordan Young, 6-0, 203; Eastern Michigan’s Quentavius Scandrett, 6-3, 201; Auburn’s Caleb Wooden, 6-1, 195; Stanford’s Julian Neal, 6-2, 200; and Maine’s Shakur Smalls, 6-0, 205. Neal and Smalls were spring additions while the other four enrolled at midterm.

At Oklahoma last season, Walker had 24 tackles, 18 solo, six pass breakups and one interception. He battled injuries in the spring. Young missed all of spring with the Hogs due to injuries. At Cincinnati last season, Young had 35 tackles, 19 solo and five pass breakups.

Scandrett had a good spring. In 2024 with Eastern Michigan, the talented safety had 55 tackles, 28 solo, one interception, three pass breakups and one quarterback hurry.

Wooden started for Auburn and played against the Razorbacks. He impressed all observers in the spring at Arkansas. He spent time at free safety and the Hog spots. He prefers safety. At Auburn last season, Wooden had 17 tackles, 12 solo, one pass breakup and an interception.

At Maine in 2024, Smalls, who is a safety or Hog, had 43 tackles, two for loss, one interception and six pass breakups.

Neal had 35 tackles, five for loss, six pass breakups, one sack and two interceptions in 2024 for Fresno State in 2024. Neal transferred from Stanford. He played at Fresno State last season with Arkansas wide receiver Raylen Sharpe, but inked with Stanford at midterm. However, Stanford fired its head coach and Neal went back into the portal. 

The transfer portal was good to the Hogs and it appears all the additions will play key roles for them.