Hogs looking for improved O-line play as spring drills continue

By Jerry Meadows

FAYETTEVILLE — Two years ago, the offensive line for Arkansas was considered one of the worst in college football.

In 2024, Coach Sam Pittman began a rebuild at Arkansas after the hiring of offensive line coach, Eric Mateos. Last year was an improvement but in many areas Arkansas found themselves outmatched. For most of last year, QB Taylen Green had to scramble for his life trying to avoid the pass rush from SEC-caliber defensive linemen. Arkansas ended the season with an AutoZone Liberty Bowl win over Texas Tech to finish 7-6. This was remarkable after Arkansas lost almost 30 players to the portal in December. 

Early in the portal, Arkansas witnessed an exodus of players choosing to finish their college career somewhere else. Joshua Braun transferred to Kentucky. What was not expected was Amaury Wiggins entering the portal, Patrick Kutas transferring to Ole Miss, and Addison Nichols to SMU. This left a huge hole again with an offensive line that was suspect for most of 2024. This left Arkansas with four experienced linemen: Fernando Carmona, Keyshawn Blackstock, Kobe Branham, and E’Marion Harris to begin the 2025 season. It became imperative for Arkansas to shore up its losses on the O-line. But, had the damage already been done? Would another complete rebuild be necessary for Arkansas’ offensive line in 2025?

Arkansas has since added 7 O-Line players from the portal and the freshman class of 2025.

Pittman said: ”We do have a lot of new offensive linemen. I like ‘em, a lot. I think… I got asked a question earlier today about how quickly we’ll know who’s playing what position. I think the answer for that would be, I think we’ll know fairly quickly who our top 10 offensive linemen are. Where they play, per se, it might take a little while.”

Maryland RS super senior OL, Marcus Dumervil.

Ole Miss offensive lineman, Kavion Broussard.

UCF center, Caden Kitler. 

Georgia Tech offensive lineman, Corey Robinson II.

Oregon freshman OT, JacQawn ‘Shaq’ McRoy.

Kash Courtney, Carthage, Texas

Blake Cherry HS, Owasso, Okla.

Of these seven, Corey Robinson II and Shaq McRoy are expected to have an immediate impact on the offensive line next season.

Pittman said: ”But I can tell you, athletically, Corey Robinson is — he can move now. And we got what we wanted there.” 

Shaq McRoy may be the best addition Arkansas signed. 

When asked about the O-line Pittman replied: ”The guy that’s probably been as impressive as any of them in his ability to move is Shaq McRoy. Probably… I don’t know that Shaq’s the fastest lineman that we have, but he’s one of them. Which, I recruited him — we did — here hard out of high school and I just never believed that he could move at 370 pounds like he can.”

Then, this week Coach Pittman mentioned that left tackle Fernando Carmona would become either the new left guard or possibly center. When asked if he had ever snapped the ball, Carmona said he had not.

This leaves so many questions concerning the offensive line, that they are too many to list.

With the grind in the SEC, one would think Arkansas would need at least 10 linemen to start the season who can play at the SEC level to have any optimism for the 2025 season. The question that flashes like neon lights at midnight will be: Is this year’s version of the Razorbacks an upgrade from last year?

Pittman answered: ”There’s no question in my mind we have offensively. None. Now, offensively you can do a little bit more, you can see a little bit more in t-shirts and shorts. A little bit more. I like our additions that we’ve brought in on both sides of the ball. In other words, I think if we went offensively right now, I don’t know that I have one need offensively, from what we’ve seen in shorts.”

After two practices, here’s the depth chart so far. Left Tackle — Robinson II, Broussard; Left Guard — Carmona, Bubba Craig; Center — Kitler, Brooks Edmonson; Right Guard — Blackstock, Branham; Right Tackle — Harris, McRoy.

Again, even if Arkansas is an upgrade from last year, how well will this team respond to a schedule that is definitely an upgrade in difficulty?