HawgBeat predicts 2022 'super seniors' for Arkansas

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FAYETTEVILLE — Perhaps no team in college football has benefited from the “super seniors” caused by the pandemic more than Arkansas.

The Razorbacks had 11 seniors from last year’s team return for an extra year of eligibility, plus added two graduate transfers taking advantage of the bonus season from the portal.

Many of those players have been significant contributors on a team that started 4-0 and cracked the top 10 before dropping three straight.

Offensive linemen Ty Clary and Myron Cunningham, linebackers Hayden Henry and Grant Morgan, wide receivers Tyson Morris and De’Vion Warren, and tight end Blake Kern have started multiple games for Arkansas, while defensive end Dorian Gerald likely would have had it not been for a season-ending injury.

The two graduate transfers - Markell Utsey and Tre Williams from Missouri - have also played a lot of snaps along the defensive line.

Each of those guys are still playing college football because of the NCAA’s eligibility relief granted to all players in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that threw a wrench into the 2020 season.

Teams were able to bring back last year’s seniors in 2021 without penalty, as they also didn’t count against the 85-man scholarship limit. That resulted in some teams - like Arkansas - having well over 85 players on scholarship, but that won’t be the case in 2022.

The NCAA is reinstating the strict limit of 85 players on scholarship, even though the eligibility relief applied to all players in college football during the 2020 season.

True seniors and redshirt seniors - like Bumper Pool and Montaric Brown - can return as super seniors in 2022 much like Cunningham, Morgan and others did in 2021, but now they’ll count toward the 85.

That means head coach Sam Pittman, who welcomed all seniors back with open arms last offseason, will have to be more selective in which ones he asks back after this season.

He might not be able to afford to keep players like linebacker Deon Edwards and wide receiver T.J. Hammonds in 2022. Although they’ve been special teams contributors, neither of them have played much on their respective side of the ball.

Is a one-year special teams player more valuable than a multi-year potential contributor on offense or defense? That is the question Pittman will have to weigh when having conversations with the current seniors.

Luckily for him, there are only nine players that he’ll have to make a decision on. That number would have been higher, but a pair of seniors - Koilan Jackson and Levi Draper - retired because of medical reasons during fall camp.

With that in mind, HawgBeat thought the week of the open date would be a good time to speculate on which seniors might be asked - and choose - to return as super seniors in 2022…