Throughout Sam Pittman’s time at Arkansas, he’s preached the importance of toughness, hard work, and effort. He’s tried to instill a blue-collar, bring-your-lunch-pail mentality in his teams.
Of course, with his past as an offensive line coach, he aimed most of his focus toward Arkansas’ running game.
Subsequently, the Hogs typically produced great rushing attacks. Pittman’s first year was marred by COVID-19, but he still managed to produce an offense that averaged 150 yards on the ground per game. Years 2 and 3 saw top 10 running attacks, including Arkansas’ first 1,400-yard rusher-Raheim Sanders-since Alex Collins in 2015.
Last year, on the contrary, the offense was anemic across the board, partly due to a bad offensive coordinator hire. And now, for the first time in three seasons, the Arkansas backfield will look completely different. Running backs AJ Greene and Raheim Sanders-as well as quarterback KJ Jefferson-all transferred to other schools.
The only returning RB with more than 50 carries last year is Rashod Dubinion, making this year’s RB room filled with youth and transfers.
Just because the room lacks experience, though, doesn’t mean it lacks talent, and with former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino in control of the offense, fans can expect the Razorbacks to utilize all of it.
1. Ja’Quiden Jackson, Redshirt Senior, Dallas (Texas)
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After Raheim Sanders and AJ Greene left the program, Arkansas had to figure out how to replenish a position group once overflowing with talent in a hurry. Like every team in the country, the Hogs looked at the transfer portal. And boy, did they find a gem.
Ja’Quinden Jackson initially signed with Texas out of high school as a 97 four-star quarterback in 2020, according to 247 Sports. After one semester, Jackson transferred to Utah, where he played 3 seasons, splitting his reps at QB and running back.
In 2022, the Utes had 5 rushers with over 360 yards…
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