Arkansas needs to fill up portal out of necessity

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The spring transfer portal opens today and the one thing Arkansas fans need to understand is players are going to have to leave the program.

The Razorbacks entered spring practices with more players than they knew they could carry going into fall with a glut of players piled up at the wide receiver position. However, with Arkansas in desperate need of completely retooling its passing game because so many players aged out or transferred, head coach Sam Pittman took a large open tryout approach and packed the position knowing that when this week arrived, some people would need to go.

In addition to needing players to move on simply to meet maximum roster numbers, there are areas that need help, but right now there's no room to go into the portal and get that help. That means even more players will need to transfer out to make that possible.

At this point, pretty much all of that help will need to come on the defensive side of the ball. The Hogs need to get deeper and better at the defensive ends, along the defensive line, in the secondary and, if the right player presents himself, at tight end.

"Right off the top of my head I think you'd say there's two factors," Pittman said. "One is how much money do you have to sign however many guys. That's always a factor. Because of depth and things, we'd like to sign some guys on defense, so that number probably would be five if the money stretches."

Pittman gave himself a little leeway, saying everyone knows there will be players who will end up in the portal that they will probably choose to pursue beyond that and also there will be players on the team who want to go somewhere else to earn playing time, so he expects that number to increase slightly.

That means Arkansas probably needs to see somewhere around eight to 10 players move on. That number could stretch by a few more if this portal window has better talent available than is expected.

Typically, it's harder to find SEC caliber players in this window because the talent that usually leaves this time of year are athletes to couldn't nail down a starting position at their current school. However, sometimes there are players who took a shot on a new coach and it just didn't mesh or fit their skill set, so a high level player finds himself looking for a new home.

There are also players, typically at the lower levels, who come away from spring practices feeling like they have grown all they can with that program and need a different challenge to maximize their potential. This is one area where Pittman has been successful over the years because of his staff's ability to identify players who can handle the jump to the SEC and be major contributors.

There are a few areas where the Hogs aren't expected to be players in the market. The quarterback position is unusually loaded at Arkansas this year, as is the offensive line.

The running back room seems pretty well settled also, as is the situation at wide receiver. However, if someone truly elite wanted to become a Razorback, Pittman would find room if the NIL money can be worked out.

There also won't be additions at kicker. Devin Bale has locked down the punting situation and Pittman seems confident the next great placekicker is on campus despite a little bit of shakiness at the position during the recent scrimmage.

"We're pleased wiith our kickers that we have," Pittman said. "We didn't have the greatest day Saturday there, but we hit the ball well. Kickers, to me, you get nervous about kickers when the ball is going so fast they're mishitting it, but, that's a valid question, but, no, I really like who we have."

Regardless, the next nine days are going to be quite busy at Arkansas. There will be a lot of movement, especially going out.

Razorbacks fans just have to realize this is out of necessity and not a negative reflection on the program. There's no need to panic.

Unless there is an unexpected surprise, every player who hits the portal in the next few days is an indication of Arkansas needing to move on rather than the player having ill-will toward the program or wanting to choose somewhere else over being a Razorback.

Famed former Hog Jimmy Johnson used to always tout the value of churning the bottom of the roster when he was head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. That's exactly what is happening here.

Now fans just have to wait and see how much value Pittman and his staff can produce. One way or another, the overall roster should be better in May than it is right now.

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