Razorbacks' DC Saw SEC Traits in Under-the-Radar Portal Addition

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas defensive coordinator Ron Roberts moves in silence once in awhile when he's recruiting and that was certainly the case with his latest addition of East Tennessee State transfer EDGE rusher Brian Alston.

The former Bucaneer joined the Razorbacks this summer out of the transfer portal, enrolling at Arkansas over conference rivals such as Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and several others.

Roberts is thrilled about the addition of Alston, who enters his redshirt junior season this fall, and is ready to see what he does with pads on.

NewArkansas defensive coordinator Ron Roberts — New Arkansas defensive coordinator Ron Roberts looks on during his time at Florida during warm against the Georgia Bulldogs at EverBank Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"We just had a new guy, Brian Alston, he he just got here in the summertime, but he's shown flashes. I'm excited to see what he does when the pads come on."

He was highly recruited early on out of high school by Auburn, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, West Virginia and Arkansas.

Alston enrolled at Arkansas State as a freshman where he spent his first two seasons at the college level. He entered the transfer portal following the 2024 season, signing with ETSU where he played in all 12 games with one start and recorded 29 tackles, eight tackles for loss and finished second on the team with four sacks.

Recruiting in high school is fluid, and it accelerates once players are in the transfer portal. Luckily, in Arkansas' case, things moved a bit slower for Alston and has been receptive to the coaching he has received from Roberts.

"Obviously, one thing about recruiting, it's not a science. It's really not," Roberts said on Wednesday. "You know, guys miss all the time. That's why you got Division III guys going to NFL. You've got Division II guys going to NFL.

One thing about the portal is it's harder for guys to fall through the cracks because they don't get recruited coming out of high school and they go step on a field and everybody's gonna pick them up now. Division II, FCS or Division III. You find now that now they're not staying there for four years anymore. But [Alston] is a pleasure to be around. He's a pleasure to coach. I'm glad he's here."

When pressed about what made him an intriguing player out of the portal, Roberts said it was all about what showed up on film. Alston's underrated athleticsm and pure football instincts stood out to Roberts as he watched the tape, and believes those two things can translate well to the SEC.

"Thought it was film [that interested me]," Roberts said. "We were looking for an athletic kid that was athletic enough to play in SEC, and move around. Didn't know he's going to have all the intangibles he had. Kind of got idea through recruiting, but the transfer portal is such a fast process.

"You don't know. You're shooting dice. We knew the the skillset, and the athletic ability we were looking for. Yep, he answered all those questions. He's just he's intelligent kid, extremely hard worker, high character kid, and those just could put the icing on top of the cake."

Roberts mentioned in his press conference that Steven Soles, Charlie Collins and Jamonta Waller are names to keep tabs on as rotational pieces at the JACK position. With Trent Sellers and Donovan Whitten also taking in reps at the position.

Arkansas was looking for another athletic hybrid linebacker who has shown the ability to rush the passer and drop in coverage, which made Alston a candidate to join the team. While he might be behind in terms of learning the scheme, it's notable that the defensive staff weren't completely sold on depth at the position.

An Alabama All-Star performer as a senior, Alston made a major impact during his high school career at Spain Park in Hoover.

While there are no stats available for his senior year, as a junior he recorded 61 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 21 quarterback pressures and 4.5 sacks which brought along major attention from Power Four schools across the country.

Sign up to our free newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google