The Razorbacks put out their first depth chart of the year on Monday and coach Ryan Silverfield now has a clear roster to work with heading into his debut.
All of that’s assuming there’s no rules changes and they bring in somebody new but there is absolutely no hint of that happening. It’s just a disclaimer that doesn’t seem out of place these days in college football.
Arkansas hosts North Alabama on Saturday and kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m. at Razorback Stadium, marking the first game Silverfield will coach as the man in charge on the Hogs sideline.
Quarterback isn’t a mystery anymore.
KJ Jackson already got the nod last week and the chart confirms it, with AJ Hill sitting behind him as the backup. That part of the puzzle got solved early, but plenty of other spots are still shaking out.
Coaches appear to have picked a three-back rotation for the season opener.
Sutton Smith moves into the top spot on the chart ahead of Braylen Russell, a junior who started games a year ago, while Cam Settles sits third on the depth chart.
Coaches clearly want more than one body they can turn to out of the backfield this fall.
Wide receiver has a few battles brewing too.
Chris Marshall holds the top X spot, and Antonio Jordan or Courtney Crutchfield could fill in behind him.
Over at the A spot, Jamari Hawkins and Ismael Cisse are listed as co-starters, meaning that job hasn’t been settled either. Jelani Watkins sits third there.
He just wrapped up a title run with the Arkansas track team this spring and didn’t get to campus until summer workouts, so he’s still working to catch up on the offense.
CJ Brown starts at the Z receiver spot, backed up by Donovan Faupel and Monte Harrison.
At tight end, Jaden Platt tops the chart, and Ty Lockwood has climbed into the second spot after showing he can catch passes coming off the bench. Matt Adcock rounds out that group.
Offensive line, defensive front stay mostly steady
The offensive line looks fairly settled from left to right. Kavion Broussard starts at left tackle, Malachi Breland at left guard, Caden Kitler at center, Kobe Branham at right guard and Bryant Williams at right tackle.
Each spot has a clear backup listed too, giving Silverfield some depth if injuries pop up during the season.
Up front on defense, Quincy Rhodes Jr. leads the way at defensive end, with Xadavien Sims and Caleb Bell behind him. Hunter Osborne starts at one tackle spot, while the other features a real battle.
David Oke holds the edge for now, but USC transfer Carlon Jones is pushing to take that nose tackle job away from him.
Steven Soles Jr. locked up the starting job at JACK linebacker, a move that lines up with what the coaching staff had signaled earlier in fall camp.
Bradley Shaw and Ja’Quavion Smith stay put as the starting linebackers, a duo that’s held those roles dating back to the winter.
Secondary and special teams round out group
The secondary brings back some familiar faces. Jahiem “Joker” Johnson starts at one cornerback spot, and the other corner job is still up for grabs between transfers
Shelton Lewis and La’Khi Roland. Khmori House starts at STAR, Christian Harrison mans free safety and Miguel Mitchell holds down the other safety spot.
Special teams duties stay mostly unchanged from last fall. Max Gilbert handles kicking duties, Gavin Rush punts and holds, and Adam Johnston is back as the long snapper.
Jamari Hawkins returns kicks while Sutton Smith fields punts, giving him a role on offense and in the return game.
North Alabama already has one game under its belt heading into Saturday, having beaten Samford 22-10 in its own opener last weekend.
The roster carries plenty of new names compared to last season. Transfers and first-year players are scattered across nearly every position group.
Silverfield gets his first shot to see this group in action Saturday afternoon. Now Hogs fans a solid look at who’ll be trotting out onto the field first.
Most will probably add a “finally” after all that.
