Not a subscriber? Get a FREE trial through the summer w/code VISITS2021
DETAILS: click here

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.

He may have earned second-team All-SEC honors last season, but the advanced analytics show that Bumper Pool has a lot of room for improvement going into his senior year.

The Texas native racked up 101 tackles in nine games last year, with his 11.22 tackles per game ranking second in the conference and being top 10 nationally. While those traditional stats certainly warranted postseason accolades, Pool graded out poorly by Pro Football Focus.

His 36.7 overall grade was not only the worst on the Razorbacks’ defense, but it ranked dead last among the 120 FBS linebackers who played at least 500 snaps last season.

A major contributing factor to Pool’s low grade was all of his missed tackles. According to PFF, he had 24 missed tackles in his 663 snaps. Only one other FBS player had more, and that was Texas State safety Kevin Anderson, who had 25 in 821 snaps across 12 games.

However, it’s only fair to mention that Pool was hindered by multiple injuries - including broken ribs that forced him to miss the Ole Miss game - and it’s unclear if he was ever 100 percent healthy.

If the broken ribs led to lingering pain throughout the season, that might explain why Pool’s tackling regressed so much - as his missed tackle rate increased from 16.5 percent in 2019 to 21.2 percent in 2020.

This offseason should provide him an opportunity to heal up and get ready for the 2021 season. Another injury, though, would be devastating to an Arkansas defense that doesn’t have a lot of depth at linebacker.

Luckily for the Razorbacks, Hayden Henry decided to come back for an extra year and he’d be available to fill in, but Pool was a four-star recruit for a reason. Arkansas is hopeful he’ll reach his full potential this season because it’d definitely help the defense take another step forward.

10. Montaric Brown - CB
9. Ricky Stromberg - C
8. Trelon Smith - RB
7. Bumper Pool - LB
6. TBA
5. TBA
4. TBA
3. TBA
2. TBA
1. TBA