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FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas safety Brenden Young has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Originally a walk-on for the Razorbacks who began his career at Ouachita Baptist, a Division II school in Arkadelphia, Young was one of several players awarded scholarships before the 2019 season.

Arriving in Fayetteville in the spring of 2017, he was a special teams contributor his first two years. According to Pro Football Focus, Young played 33 special teams snaps in five games during the 2017 season and 25 snaps in three games in 2018.

Last season, though, Young was a mainstay in Arkansas’ two-deep depth chart at safety. He and four-star true freshman Jalen Catalon split reps with the second-team defense most of the year.

In addition to playing 13 defensive snaps, Young was a significant contributor on special teams. His 133 special teams snaps were tied for eighth on the team, as he played on the kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return and punt coverage units. He finished the year with three tackles.

Most notably, Young was one of at least seven former walk-ons given scholarships before the 2019 season. That high number was due to attrition putting the Razorbacks below the 85 scholarship limit. By NCAA rule, they had to reach that limit in order to ensure they could bring in early enrollees for the spring semester.

Much like cornerback Britto Tutt’s transfer, Young’s departure does not effect HawgBeat’s projected scholarship distribution for the 2020 season because he was believed to have exhausted his eligibility.

Coming out of Bryant High School, he played the 2015 season at Ouachita Baptist and then the 2017-19 seasons at Arkansas, with 2016 serving as his redshirt. However, Division II eligibility rules are different and could allow him to play another year.