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HawgBeat is counting down the 10 most important Arkansas players for the upcoming 2021 season. Links to previous players in the list will be included below.

Although Hudson Clark had some good moments, highlighted by his three interceptions against Ole Miss, there is no question that the Razorbacks’ top cornerback last season was Montaric Brown.

A four-star safety coming out of Ashdown, Brown has steadily improved during his time in Fayetteville and is seemingly primed for a breakout season as a fifth-year senior.

He went through some growing pains as a redshirt freshman in 2018, when he moved from safety to cornerback during fall camp, but he settled in at the spot the following year and was very good - when healthy - in 2020.

Unfortunately, that qualifier is necessary because he went down with an injury in the second game of the season. He posted a 73.9 Pro Football Focus grade in the opener against Georgia and had a 76.4 grade through about half of the win over Mississippi State when he got hurt.

That caused him to miss the next two games and when he returned for the Texas A&M game after a three-week break including the open date, Brown didn’t look like himself. The usual sure-tackler missed three tackles and struggled in coverage, earning a 36.9 grade.

Other than that one week, though, he was pretty consistent for the Razorbacks. Brown posted a PFF grade of 65 or better in six of his other seven games, with a 56.2 against Missouri being the outlier.

His 70.9 overall grade for the season ranked 11th out of 25 SEC cornerbacks/nickel backs with 500-plus snaps. The only other Razorbacks on that list are Greg Brooks Jr. and Clark, who rank 22nd (58.7) and 23rd (57.9), respectively.

Brown has improved his PFF grade from 59.2 to 65.0 to 70.9 over his career at Arkansas. A similar jump in 2021 would likely put him in position to become just the second UA cornerback to get drafted in the last 15 years, joining Tevin Mitchel (2015).

That would also mean the Razorbacks had a shutdown cornerback capable of limiting the opposing teams’ best receivers, which is why he lands on our list of the most important players for 2021. There is definitely a drop off between him and the rest of Arkansas’ cornerbacks, but there is at least some experienced and talented depth behind him, or else he might be higher on this list.

10. Montaric Brown - CB
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