After announcing his plan to do so earlier in the day, linebacker Andrew Parker has officially entered the transfer portal, Rivals has learned.
The New Orleans native is Arkansas’ 16th scholarship player to enter the portal since November, not including the two who have withdrawn their names.
It is a somewhat surprising development, as Parker’s decision comes when he was seemingly on the verge of an opportunity to earn significantly more playing time in 2022.
Arkansas must replace starting linebackers Grant Morgan and Hayden Henry, who were super seniors last season, but did receive a boost when Bumper Pool announced he’d return for an extra season. The Razorbacks also landed Alabama transfer Drew Sanders earlier this week.
Outside of Pool (2,037 career defensive snaps) and Sanders (308 snaps), though, there isn’t a whole lot of experience at linebacker for Arkansas. Walk-on Jackson Woodard was a redshirt freshman in 2021 and got a handful of reps, as did true freshman Chris Paul Jr., but they just have a combined 35 career snaps.
Although it wasn’t much, Parker had at least appeared in 29 games and played 281 defensive snaps and 254 special teams snaps during his career. He was set to be a fifth-year senior for the Razorbacks in 2022 and has two years of eligibility remaining thanks to the NCAA’s eligibility relief in response to the pandemic.
While at Arkansas, Parker made 24 tackles, including one sack, and earned Pro Football Focus grades of 39.8, 52.5 and 59.2 the last three years. He was a two-star recruit in the 2018 class and signed with the Razorbacks despite a late push by Texas and Texas A&M.
According to HawgBeat’s unofficial distribution chart, Arkansas now has 81 scholarship players on its 2022 roster. That number does not include unsigned safety commit Myles Rowser.
Assuming Rowser signs, the Razorbacks have room to add three more players - from the high school/JUCO ranks or the portal - in their 2022 class. That would get them to the 85-man limit.
