Not a subscriber? Subscribe for free for 30 days w/code HAWGS30
NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS

FAYETTEVILLE — After the pandemic messed with things his first year at the helm, Sam Pittman is pleased with the progress his team made in a full offseason of Arkansas’ strength and conditioning program.

The second-year coach said Thursday that 90 percent of the team was within five pounds of their goal weight after spending the summer with strength coach Jamil Walker.

“I was telling coach Walker this was as big a gain in the summer as I’ve ever seen,” Pittman said. “It’s pretty much all around. … I don’t know the marks that we set, but there was a significant gain in strength, and weights where we needed it.”

On the eve of fall camp, the Razorbacks have updated their online roster with new weights. It’s worth mentioning that it appears all of them have been rounded to the nearest five-pound mark.

Here are a few key takeaways, followed by HawgBeat’s usual extensive breakdown of the players that gained or lost the most weight and a position-by-position analysis…

~Freshman offensive lineman Devon Manuel is by far the heaviest player on the roster. He was listed at 292 pounds on signing day, but now checks in at 370.

~The offensive line as a whole is much larger now than it was when Pittman took over following the 2019 season. That year, the scholarship linemen weighed an average of 295.8 pounds. Now, they are an average of 317.6 pounds, a 7.4 percent increase.

~The defensive line has also been transformed over that time, going from an average of 270.8 pounds to 282.2 pounds. That’s a 4.2 percent increase.

~Tight end Blake Kern experienced the largest weight loss among scholarship non-linemen, as he’s listed 14 pounds lighter than last year. That was an area of emphasis for him, as he looks to become more of a factor in the passing game.

~Perhaps no one has changed his body quite like walk-on offensive lineman Austin Nix. When he showed up in the spring of 2019, he was listed at just 247 pounds. The Texarkana native is now among the heaviest players on the roster, listed at 325 pounds.

1. OL Devon Manuel: 370
2. OL Ty’Kieast Crawford: 350
t-3. OL Jalen St. John: 330
t-3. OL Dalton Wagner: 330
t-5. OL Shane Clenin: 325
t-5. OL Myron Cunningham: 325
t-5. **OL Austin Nix: 325

t-1. **DB Kevin Compton, **DB Jon Conley, WR Jaquayln Crawford, RB Josh Oglesby, DB Keuan Parker, **DB Nathan Parodi, **K/P Matthew Phillips, WR Jaedon Wilson: 175

1. **DL Morgan Hanna: +24
2. DL Isaiah Nichols: +19
3. **K Vito Calvaruso: +18
t-4. **TE Nathan Bax: +17
t-4. OL Ty Clary: +17
t-4. LB Levi Draper: +17
t-4. DB Joe Foucha: +17
t-4. DL Jashaud Stewart: +17
t-9. OL Luke Jones: +16
t-9. **OL Drew Vest: +16

1. OL Jalen St. John: -29
2. DL Andy Boykin: -24
3. DL Dorian Gerald: -23
4. **DB Cade Pearson: -18
5. TE Blake Kern: -14

1. OL Devon Manuel: +78
2. TE Erin Outley: +30
3. DL Solomon Wright: +25
t-4. OL Cole Carson: +15
t-4. OL Ty’Kieast Crawford: +15
t-4. **DL Jon Hill: +15
t-4. WR Ketron Jackson Jr.: +15
t-4. DB Jermaine Hamilton-Jordan: -15
t-4. K/P Cam Little: +15
t-4. LB Chris Paul Jr.: +15
t-4. **QB Kade Renfro: +15
t-4. RB Raheim Sanders: +15

The following is a position-by-position breakdown of the roster and player weights. The first number listed in parentheses is how much that player’s weight has changed since the spring roster update, while the second number is how much it’s changed since last season.

For freshmen and transfers, their starting point for that change is the weight they were listed at on signing day or at their previous school.

*newcomer
**non-scholarship player

Average: 209.2 pounds (-5.3 pounds since spring)
Scholarship avg.: 209 pounds (2019 average: 212.4 pounds)
Avg. change during offseason: plus-2.8 pounds

~KJ Jefferson: 245 (+5 / +9)
~**Kade Renfro: 210 (+2 / +15)*
~Landon Rogers: 210 (n/a / -5)*
~Lucas Coley: 205 (-10 / -2)*
~John Stephen Jones: 205 (+1 / +3)
~Malik Hornsby: 180 (-10 / -3)