Pittman Impressed by Massive Lineman's Athleticism, Maturity

Former top-60 prospect is turning heads of coaching staff, teammates early on in spring practice as offensive line's depth chart takes shape

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman at spring practice on the outdoor practice fields in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Those large humans aren't often available in the transfer portal but for Arkansas coach Sam Pittman's sake one massive giant along the offensive line was.

Former top-60 prospect JacQawn "Shaq" McRoy entered the transfer portal after one season in at Oregon and is already getting meaningful snaps early on this spring. The 6-foot-8, 262 pound offensive tackle has already inserted himself in Arkansas' two-deep lined up at second team right tackle behind redshirt junior E'Marion Harris.

McRoy will be afforded plenty of time to figure things out as former transfer, Fernando Carmona praised the redshirt freshman's work ethic. His combination of size, talent and desire to compete will only make him and his teammates better.

"Let me tell you something about Shaq [McRoy], he is one of the hardest working guys I’ve been around this winter, these winter workouts," Carmona said Tuesday after practice. "He’s a massive human being, but also works hard and is going to be a great player for us."

His athletic ability at nearly 370 pounds is incomparable to anyone else on Arkansas' roster. Pittman stated he was blown away with McRoy's footwork and quickness of the line of scrimmage going into spring practice.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman at spring practice on the outdoor practice fields in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

"The guy that’s probably been as impressive as any of them in his ability to move is Shaq McRoy," Pittman said March 6. "I don’t know that Shaq’s the fastest lineman that we have, but he’s one of them. Which, I recruited him here hard out of high school and I just never believed that he could move at 370 pounds like he can."

Although the Razorbacks whiffed in McRoy's recruitment out of high school, he was able to develop into his body and gain confidence in the weight room despite not seeing the field as a freshman. His growth from high school to second year of college doesn't surprise Pittman but it certainly makes him optimistic that he can contribute in the Razorbacks two-deep at some capacity in 2025.

"I think Shaq grew up a lot at Oregon," Pittman said. "He had this priority out of high school and it was, 'I want to play football.' He did a tremendous job with his body."

Now, Pittman has coached and recruited plenty of great offensive lineman throughout his career at Arkansas and Georgia. Whether it was Denver Kirkland, Sebastian Tretola Dan Skipper, Frank Ragnow at Arkansas or Broderick Jones, Tate Ratledge, Warren McClendon, Bo Hughley and Ben Cleveland, he has coached plenty of impressive maulers up front.

"Now he's 370 [pounds] or something, but he's a monster," PIttman said. "His ability to move as he's moving right now, I did not think out of high school that he could do that as a senior in college. I did not think that that big of a guy could be that athletic. As you can tell, I'm really high on him."

As for Arkansas' depth chart along the offensive line, it appears Corey Robinson and Carmona have the left side solidified. Center and both right guard and tackle seem to be up for grabs at this point in the spring.

First String	Second String	Third String
LT Corey Robinson	LT Kavion Broussard	LT Aaron Smith
LG Fernando Carmona	LG Jimmy Craig	LG Blake Cherry
C Caden Kitler	C Brooks Edmunson	C Kash Courtney
RG Keyshawn Blackstock	RG Kobe Branham	RG Timothy Dawn
RT E'Marion Harris	RT JacQawn McRoy	RT Marcus Dumervil

*Tuesday's unofficial depth chart pieced together by media in attendance

Carmona alluded to Arkansas having to find its best five offensive linemen following Tuesday's practice and offensive line coach Eric Mateos believed last year he had a group of six to seven guys prove their worth. Pittman believes his restructured linemen room has been upgraded the most among any position group on Arkansas' roster.

"This will be, in my opinion, the most upgraded room that we have, as far as size, speed, physicality," Pittman said. "But we’ll have to find out exactly about them all in spring ball. But I really like that group and how they look and how they work."

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