Arkansas' 10 Most Important Players in 2022-23: No. 5 - Left Tackle
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A year after laying the foundation for the top rushing offense among all Power Five teams, the Razorback offensive line remains mostly intact.
The only void head coach Sam Pittman and offensive line coach Cody Kennedy have to fill is the one left by Myron Cunningham, who missed just two starts at left tackle during the last three seasons and turned professional earlier this year.
Following spring practices, Pittman indicated four candidates — junior Ty'Kieast Crawford, redshirt senior Luke Jones, redshirt junior Brady Latham and redshirt freshman Devon Manuel — are in the running to earn the starting left tackle spot. With a right-handed quarterback in KJ Jefferson, it may also be the most important of the five positions, as whoever fills it will need to eliminate blind-side threats.
Last season, Cunningham allowed just three sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, as Jefferson proved himself to be an adept passer and rusher.
"I think the offensive line has a really good, veteran group where they can kind of control those five with Ricky (Stromberg) and Dalton (Wagner) and really Brady (Latham) and Beaux (Limmer) and those guys," Pittman said June 7. "And you know I'm high on Ty'Kieast (Crawford)."
Crawford is entering his second year with the Hogs, following a sophomore campaign in which he logged 35 snaps at right tackle. Twenty-two of them came during the Razorbacks' Nov. 6 win over Mississippi State, a contest that featured three sacks, six tackles for losses and a quarterback hurry, while Jefferson completed 19-23 passes and sophomore Dominique Johnson ran the ball 17 times at a clip of more than six yards per carry.
"There's a lot of teams that can win a lot of games with Ty'Kieast Crawford," Pittman said on April 16. "He's a good player. I mean like a legit SEC good player."
Latham figures to slot in somewhere on the line, perhaps at left tackle or left guard, where he has spent almost the entirety of the past two seasons without missing a start. He earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2020, doing so without allowing a sack in 351 pass-blocking snaps, per PFF.
Last season, Latham recorded more games with a PFF pass-blocking grade above 80 than below it in nearly 900 snaps.
"We know Brady can play anything," Pittman said. "He can play any position, including center."
The 6-foot-9-inch, 366-pound Manuel is another option for the position, although he did not appear in any games as a true freshman last season. Pittman mentioned him as someone who he keeps "thinking that he’s gong to come on and help us there" after spring ball, but as an unproven college player, Manuel may be lower down the depth chart.
In April, Pittman hinted that the favorite to win the job was Jones, who notched 16 snaps on the left end of the offensive line in 2021. The Pulaski Academy graduate saw action in each of Arkansas' 13 games, but most of that came on special teams.
"We have four or five guys over there but Luke definitely has been the most consistent of that group," Pittman said.
HawgBeat's 10 Most Important Players for Arkansas in 2022-23:
No. 10 - Drew Sanders
No. 9 - Isaiah Nichols
No. 8 - Cam Little
No. 7 - Ricky Stromberg
No. 6 - Dominique Johnson/Rocket Sanders
No. 5 - Left Tackle