Two Arkansas linemen crack Senior Bowl’s Top 300 list

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.

Fall camp is winding down in Fayetteville, and a couple of Razorback defenders just got some extra motivation for the season ahead.

Quincy Rhodes Jr. and David Oke both found their names on the 2027 Panini Senior Bowl Top 300 List, which the organization released Thursday morning.

For those unfamiliar, the Senior Bowl isn’t just another all-star exhibition.

It’s widely viewed as the launching point of the entire NFL Draft evaluation cycle, and it draws serious attention from the league.

Every one of the NFL’s 32 teams sends representatives to Mobile, Alabama, for the event, with total attendance from team personnel topping 900.

Reporters show up in even bigger numbers, with more than 1,100 media credentials handed out for the week.

Getting onto the Top 300 list isn’t easy either. Organizers combed through over 2,000 players nationwide before settling on the final group, which makes the honor a meaningful marker for both Hogs early in the year.

A junior season that turned heads

Start with Rhodes, who arrives at 2026 already loaded down with preseason hardware.

Athlon Sports, SEC media members and SEC coaches all tabbed him second-team Preseason All-SEC, while Phil Steele went with a third-team nod.

None of that happened by accident. The North Little Rock product exploded last season, finishing with 44 tackles overall and a team-best 15.5 tackles for loss.

He tacked on eight sacks, six quarterback hurries and a forced fumble for good measure.

Those tackle-for-loss numbers hadn’t been touched by a Razorback since Trey Flowers put up the exact same 15.5 total in 2015.

Rhodes also broke new ground by becoming Arkansas’s first double-digit tackles-for-loss guy since Landon Jackson posted 13.5 in 2023, and he was the program’s first player since Tre Williams in 2021 to string together three multi-sack games in one year.

Zoom out nationally and Rhodes still stands out. He wrapped the regular season 13th in the country in tackles for loss per game at 1.23, which ranked second in the SEC, and he checked in 23rd nationally in sacks per game at 0.67.

Oke’s path included a detour through Texas

Oke’s story looks different.

Injuries limited the Lagos, Nigeria, native to just three games in his first year wearing a Razorback uniform, and he finished that short stretch with four tackles and a tackle for loss.

He’s got plenty of tape from before Fayetteville, though. Oke spent three seasons at Abilene Christian from 2022 to 2024, piling up 84 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups over that span.

His strongest year came in 2024, when he posted 64 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss as a junior.

Looking ahead to Mobile and to kickoff

Mark the calendar for Jan. 30, 2027, if the Senior Bowl interests you. That’s when the game kicks off at 1 p.m. inside Whitney Hancock Stadium in Mobile, with NFL Network carrying the broadcast.

Before any Senior Bowl talk matters, Arkansas has business to handle at home.

The Hogs kick off their season Sept. 5 against North Alabama at Razorback Stadium, with a 3:15 p.m. start on SEC Network.

Key takeaways

Quincy Rhodes Jr. and David Oke both made the Senior Bowl Top 300 list, announced Thursday

Rhodes matched a tackles-for-loss record last held by Trey Flowers in 2015 and picked up multiple Preseason All-SEC honors

Arkansas kicks off its 2026 season Sept. 5 against North Alabama at home