Edwards enters portal, won't return in 2021
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Deon Edwards will not return to Arkansas in 2021.
After spending five seasons with the Razorbacks, the linebacker from Florida has decided to enter the transfer portal and use his extra year of eligibility elsewhere.
Despite being listed as the backup weak-side linebacker throughout the season, Edwards played only six defensive snaps in 2020 and all of them came in the final two games of the year. He also contributed 60 special teams snaps, making two tackles and recovering a fumble.
That is how most of his career in Fayetteville went, as he played just 47 total defensive snaps and 465 special teams snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He finished with 18 tackles, including 2.5 for loss.
Listed as a safety coming out of Lake Minneola High in Florida, Edwards was a 5.5 three-star prospect who also picked up Power Five offers from Indiana, Louisville, Missouri, North Carolina State and South Carolina before committing to Arkansas.
There are now only four of 19 scholarship seniors from the 2020 season who have not announced what they plan to do with the eligibility relief granted by the NCAA in response to the coronavirus pandemic: linebacker Hayden Henry, wide receiver Tyson Morris, kicker A.J. Reed and defensive back Micahh Smith.
Edwards is the eighth senior to decide he won’t return. Rakeem Boyd and Jerry Jacobs opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft before the end of the season, while Jonathan Marshall, Feleipe Franks and Xavier Kelly waited until after the season to declare for the draft. Like Edwards, Chibueze Nwanna and Jack Lindsey are in the portal.
The other seven will play for the Razorbacks in 2021: linebacker Grant Morgan and offensive linemen Myron Cunningham and Ty Clary, running back T.J. Hammonds, wide receiver De’Vion Warren, tight end Blake Kern and defensive end Dorian Gerald.
Seniors who decide to return to school will not count against the 85-man scholarship limit. That means those who chose to leave - whether to enter the NFL Draft or transfer portal - also don’t have any impact on Arkansas’ scholarship situation for next season.
Click here for HawgBeat’s latest projected scholarship distribution for 2021.