Arkansas' 10 Most Important Players in 2022-23: No. 6 - Johnson/Sanders
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — After leading all Power 5 football teams with 227.8 rushing yards per game last season, the Razorbacks proved that they can win games on the ground.
Arkansas threw the ball a decent amount in 2021-22, but it also had a first round draft pick at receiver (Treylon Burks). This season, the Hogs don't have Burks, but they return a pair of running backs in Raheim Sanders and Dominique Johnson that can take the next step.
Head coach Sam Pittman and his staff went with a running back by committee approach last season, feeding the hand of whoever was hot at the time. That will likely be the case once again this season with Sanders and Johnson serving as the feature backs.
"I think Rocket Sanders is a guy who can be a leader for us," Pittman said on June 7. "I want to say Dominique Johnson really looks good. I mean he really looks good. He's ahead of schedule."
Johnson broke out last year in his sophomore campaign with 575 rushing yards and a team-high seven scores on the ground. He had 70-plus yards in a game on four occasions, and when he was hot, he was hard to stop.
Pittman expressed his feelings about Johnson fairly often last season, normally stating that the Hogs needed to give him more touches.
"He needs more carries," Pittman said before the Mississippi State game last year. "He needs more carries, that’s how it is. If that’s starting him to get more carries then that’s what we’re going to do. He’s got to get more carries. He’s a guy that’s running over people, making people miss, and he needs to get more carries. Whatever that is, he needs a lot more carries."
When he touched the ball, Johnson was difficult to bring down. Though he is not the most athletically gifted of the Razorback running backs, Johnson's effort and refusal to go down makes him a starter.
"He’s a big back, he’s not the fastest back, but he does have the ability to make you miss," Pittman said during an SEC Teleconference last November. "He does have the ability to run over you. He’s just been a really good surprise, and he’s our starting running back for a reason. He’s our best back that we have currently on the football team, and we’re very proud of him."
Sanders sported the legendary No. 5 jersey as a true freshman last year, and most would agree that he did good by it. He earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors after rushing for 578 yards and five touchdowns.
Along with a quick burst off the line of scrimmage, Sanders has nice hands as a receiving back. He provides the Hogs with a change of pace from the bruiser-back mentality that Johnson brings.
He received high praise from Arkansas offensive lineman Ty Clary after the 40-21 win over Texas last season.
"Like all our backs, he runs hard," Clary said. "I mean that Texas touchdown where he tries to run through the guys and runs into the end zone, that’s awesome for us to watch as an O-lineman. It’s rewarding to us to - we’re blocking and to see a running back run so hard like that, it’s awesome."
Arkansas ran the ball 274 times more than it threw the ball last season. That number should go up even more after retaining a solid core group on the offensive line and adding another spring for Johnson and Sanders.
If the Hogs want to be competitive again in the SEC, they will need to set the tone in the running game. A one-two punch with Sanders and Johnson added along with the physicality of quarterback KJ Jefferson can do just that.
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