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The Sam Pittman era of Arkansas football is just three months old, but spring football is quickly approaching. It will be the first glimpse of the team under the new leadership.

To help you get ready, HawgBeat is previewing each position group ahead of the first practice on March 16 and even taking a stab at a depth chart projection. First up in the series is a closer look at the running backs…

Returning contributors: Rakeem Boyd (r-sr.)

Other returners: T.J. Hammonds (r-sr.), A’Montae Spivey (r-fr.)

Newcomers: Trelon Smith (r-jr., eligible for first time), Dominique Johnson (fr., 2020 signee)

Arkansas has a bonafide super star at running back thanks to Rakeem Boyd’s decision to put a hold on his NFL dreams and return to school for his senior season.

Boyd has been the Razorbacks’ top running back since coming to Fayetteville from Independence C.C. in the 2018 class. A former four-star recruit who originally signed with Texas A&M out of high school, he is coming off a 1,133-yard season as a junior.

That was on the heels of a 734-yard performance in 2018, when he got off to a slow start because of his late arrival from JUCO and battled multiple injuries throughout the season. Although there were times he still had to check out of the game, Boyd remained mostly healthy and saw his workload increase by 61 carries last year.