Although no Arkansas players are expected to be picked, the 2019 NFL Draft gets underway with the first round Thursday night.
It continues with the second and third rounds at 6 p.m. Friday and concludes with the final four rounds beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. That is when the Razorbacks could see some players selected.
The most likely players to hear their names called are offensive lineman Hjalte Froholdt, defensive tackle Armon Watts, linebacker Dre Greenlaw and cornerback Ryan Pulley.
However, recent history has shown that there is a chance they could unexpectedly jump up a round or two, or even slip out of the draft entirely.
Here is a look back at a few of the biggest draft day surprises with Arkansas players in the past decade…
2018 - Frank Ragnow - 1st round, 20th overall - Detroit Lions
Despite high praise from Pro Football Focus, many NFL Draft “experts” had Ragnow ranked as the third best center available in 2018, behind Iowa’s James Daniels and Ohio State’s Billy Price. That meant he was likely to fall into the second round.
However, the Lions scooped him up with the 20th overall pick to make him the first Arkansas player taken in the first round of the NFL Draft in a decade - when Darren McFadden and Felix Jones were first-round picks.
Ragnow became Detroit’s starting left guard as a rookie and struggled some, but missed only one offensive snap all season and earned a 61.9 grade from PFF - which is considered “average.”
2016 - Alex Collins - 5th round, 171st overall - Seattle Seahawks
A case could be made that Collins is the second best running back to ever play at Arkansas, behind McFadden. His 1,577 rushing yards in 2015 and 3,703 career rushing yards trail only McFadden, while his 20 rushing touchdowns that season broke a 46-year-old UA record.
There were some concerns about his game going into the next level, though. Collins struggled with ball security at times, wasn’t involved much in the passing game and didn’t have blazing speed. He was still a projected third-round pick by most experts, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him slip to the fifth round.
He didn’t get many opportunities in Seattle, but after getting picked up by the Baltimore Ravens, he had a pretty productive second season in the NFL. Unfortunately, Collins failed to build on that in 2018 and he was since been released following an offseason arrest.
2015 - A.J. Derby - 6th round, 202nd overall - New England Patriots
When Derby came to Arkansas, he was a walk-on quarterback who had already rejected the idea of playing linebacker at Iowa and ended up at a junior college. He made one start in 2013 - a loss at Rutgers - before former head coach Bret Bielema convinced him to change positions.
This time he was asked to play tight end and it proved to be a fantastic decision. Despite playing alongside future draft picks Hunter Henry and Jeremy Sprinkle, Derby caught 22 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns.
Many experts viewed him as an intriguing prospect, but most figured it’d be as an undrafted free agent. Instead, Bill Belichick took him in the sixth round. Since then, Derby has played for three teams and has 452 receiving yards and three scores on 40 receptions.
2015 - Tevin Mitchel - 6th round, 182nd overall - Washington Redskins
In the same draft and round as Derby was selected, Mitchel actually came off the board 20 spots earlier. He was a complete surprise because he wasn’t even invited to the combine.
With the Razorbacks, Mitchel started 29 games and made four interceptions while battling injuries throughout his career. Those injuries are why many believed the former four-star recruit wouldn’t get drafted. In fact, DraftScout.com ranked him as the No. 58 overall cornerback available and projected to be - at best - a priority free agent signing.
He has bounced around from the Redskins to the Colts and finally to the Raiders, but injuries have prevented him from playing in the NFL so far.
2013 - Knile Davis - 3rd round, 96th overall - Kansas City Chiefs
Had it not been for injuries throughout his Arkansas career, Davis likely would have gone even higher in the NFL Draft. He ran for 1,322 yards as a sophomore in 2010 and figured to be a Heisman Trophy contender the following year, but he suffered a season-ending injury in fall camp.
After a disappointing redshirt junior season in which he ran for only 377 yards, Davis declared for the draft and put on a show at the combine, highlighted by a 4.37-second 40-yard dash.
Despite some experts giving him a late-round grade, the Chiefs snagged him in the third round - ahead of the likes of Tyler Wilson, Cobi Hamilton and Chris Gragg. Davis didn’t have a particularly long career, but he was effective in Kansas City as both a running back and kickoff returner.
2011 - Ryan Mallett - 3rd round, 74th overall - New England Patriots
Arguably the best quarterback in school history, Mallett racked up 7,493 yards and 62 touchdowns in just two seasons with the Razorbacks. Those numbers were records at the time, but now rank second.
He was widely considered a first-round talent when he decided to forgo his senior year, but personality and character concerns led to him falling all the way to the third round.
In the NFL, Mallett was Tom Brady’s backup for three years before being traded to the Texans, where he briefly became a starter. However, those draft-day concerns came to fruition as he was consistently late for meetings and practice and even missed a team flight.
That resulted in him being cut and eventually picked up by the Ravens, with whom he started a couple of games with not much success. He spent two more years in Baltimore and has been out of the league since the end of the 2017 season.
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