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Missouri Wins Race for QB Kelly Bryant, What it Means for Arkansas

Maybe he knew where he wanted to go for weeks but whatever the case may be, former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant has found his new home at Missouri.

Bryant received in-home visits from all five of his top suitors (Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri, UNC and Mississippi State) in the last eight days and took his final official visit to Auburn this past weekend, which would indicate it wasn't an easy decision for the former 4-star prospect.

Arkansas, finishing the 2018 season at 2-10, likely had the least to offer Bryant, who was looking for a place to get him the most NFL-ready, but his relationship with head coach Chad Morris dating back to his high school recruitment was a significant factor in getting him to take an official visit and making the Hogs one of his top three choices.

Now, Arkansas gets the pleasure of facing Bryant next season when the Razorbacks host the Tigers in Little Rock in the season finale November 30.

What does his decision mean for Arkansas? Well the search for more competition at quarterback will undoubtedly continue. After sophomore Cole Kelley announced his decision to transfer out of Arkansas this week, the Hogs now have four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster: Ty Storey, Connor Noland, John Stephen Jones and Daulton Hyatt.

Storey is eligible to do his grad transfer year elsewhere while Hyatt, who was relegated to the scout team all season, is the top contender to transfer out of the group. If those two do leave then Arkansas will be down to two redshirt freshmen quarterbacks and a true freshman in 2019 (soon to be 4-star dual-threat commit) K.J. Jefferson. While Jefferson is a superb athlete and quarterback, true freshmen rarely find high levels of success right away in the SEC (especially with a sub-par offensive line) and Morris is searching for some consistency.

Scholarship numbers alone really call for a JUCO or grad transfer addition and names of more targets should be surfacing any time now that Bryant's decision is official. Here's a look at how Arkansas's 2019 scholarship distribution shakes out as of right now.

Stay locked on HawgBeat.com for all your Razorback football and recruiting news. Get on the Trough to discuss the news.

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