Hogs closing in on 85: Trio of walk-ons earn scholarship, 1 player retires
College students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95! Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to andrewhutchinson413 (at) gmail (dot) com.
Arkansas has awarded three scholarships to walk-ons and opened up another by placing a player on a medical hardship, HawgBeat has learned.
Walk-ons Jackson Woodard, Nathan Bax and Harper Cole earned scholarships after a strong showing in spring ball, while reserve offensive lineman Dylan Rathcke’s career has come to an end due to injuries, a UA spokesperson confirmed.
The decision to put those three players on scholarship is not much of a surprise, as each of them got extensive work with the first- and/or second-team units in practice this spring.
Coming to Arkansas as a walk-on out of Little Rock Christian, Woodard has actually contributed quite a bit in his two seasons on the team.
Even as a true freshman in 2020, he played eight defensive snaps when the Razorbacks found themselves light on linebackers. This past season, he played 13 defensive snaps as a redshirt freshman. Woodard has also played 81 special teams snaps at Arkansas, primarily on the punt coverage unit last year.
The Razorbacks appear to have a pretty set top three at linebacker with Bumper Pool, Drew Sanders and Chris Paul Jr., but Woodard - along with true freshman Jordan Crook - is right behind them and is just one injury away from getting significant reps on Arkansas’ defense.
Bax began his career at the FCS level, signing with Illinois State out of high school, but he transferred to the Razorbacks for a crack at SEC football as a walk-on.
The last two years, he’s been a significant contributor on special teams, playing 206 total snaps — the biggest chunk of which have come on the kickoff return unit. While he’s played just 30 offensive snaps, Bax has been arguably the top reserve tight end.
Trey Knox has seemingly emerged as the clear starter, but while he was out with a concussion this spring, Bax and former four-star recruit Hudson Henry actually split reps with the first-team offense, so he very well could be the backup this season.
Perhaps the most surprising player of the group is Cole, as he’s played the least. In his two seasons in Fayetteville, he’s played 11 offensive snaps and 15 special teams snaps.
However, this spring, Cole consistently made plays at wide receiver in practice despite his 5-foot-9, 176-pound frame — both with the first and second units. He’s even gotten some reps at punt returner, as well.
The loss of Rathcke comes after three seasons in the program. A three-star signee from Baton Rouge, La., in the 2019 class, he never appeared in a game before retiring due to a medical issue, according to his bio on the UA website.
By placing three walk-ons on scholarship and putting Rathcke on a medical hardship, the Razorbacks are sitting at 82 scholarship players for the 2022 season, according to HawgBeat’s unofficial distribution chart.
They have room to add three more players in the current class and head coach Sam Pittman has previously said he’d like to use those on transfers. That would put Arkansas right at the 85-man limit.
Any additional departures would open spots that have to be filled by walk-ons who’ve been in the program for at least one year.