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.
It will be another quiet National Signing Day for Arkansas.
Just as they did last year, the Razorbacks got all of their work done in the 2022 class during the early signing period in December and are not expected to add any signatures Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the traditional signing period.
Myles Rowser, the Razorbacks’ lone unsigned commitment, is not expected to sign with Arkansas, multiple sources have told HawgBeat. The four-star safety from Michigan committed back in March, but delayed his signing while everyone else inked in December.
Checking in at No. 150 in the Rivals250, Rowser was Arkansas’ top commitment in the 2022 class. Without him, the class will fall from No. 18 in the country to No. 23 - a ranking that could change depending on how other schools finish their classes.
The Razorbacks had hoped to flip Gentry Williams, the top-150 cornerback from Tulsa, but he is sticking with his commitment to Oklahoma and will sign with the Sooners on Wednesday.
Not included in Arkansas’ class ranking are five transfers it has landed from the portal this offseason.
Wide receiver Jadon Haselwood from Oklahoma and defensive end Landon Jackson from LSU were announced during the early signing period and the Razorbacks have since added linebacker Drew Sanders from Alabama, cornerback Dwight McGlothern from LSU and defensive back Latavious Brini from Georgia. (Quarterback Cade Fortin from South Florida is joining the team as a walk-on.)
Those additions give Arkansas 25 total newcomers in the class. That would normally be the annual limit, but the NCAA granted schools an additional seven spots to replace players lost to the transfer portal this year.
That would give schools up to 32 “initial counters” - traditional high school/junior college signees and transfers - for 2022. However, the Razorbacks counted four players from the previous cycle - defensive line transfers John Ridgeway, Markell Utsey and Tre Williams and wide receiver transfer Warren Thompson - ahead to this year, so they have room for just 28.
That means they have three spots remaining to fill in the 2022 class and those are expected to be used on transfers - with their need for a defensive tackle likely to be addressed after they missed out on Tulsa’s Jaxon Player and Missouri’s Mekhi Wingo last month.
At this point, it seems highly probable that any additional transfers added will come after spring ball, when there is typically another wave of players leaving programs across the country.
Arkansas experienced both sides of that last offseason, as wide receiver Mike Woods transferred to Oklahoma, but it also brought in the three aforementioned defensive line transfers.
Thanks to recent NCAA legislation, all players transferring for the first time won’t have to sit out a year at their new school as long as they enter the portal by May 1, so that means the Razorbacks will have a chance to add immediate help after the spring.
The only exception to that rule is for SEC players transferring within the conference. The deadline for them to declare their intentions and still receive immediate eligibility at another SEC school was Tuesday. Four of Arkansas’ transfers were from fellow SEC programs, but they left well before the deadline and will be eligible to play in 2022.
MORE FROM HAWGBEAT
Introducing Arkansas' 2022 early signees
Looking back at Arkansas' transfers under Pittman, including '22 haul
Projecting where Arkansas' transfers fit on the depth chart
HawgBeat's Projected 2022 Arkansas Football Scholarship Distribution
Transfer Tracker: Where former Hogs landed, how they fared in 2021
