Razorbacks add Missouri DL transfer Markell Utsey
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Arkansas dipped into the portal and landed a player with SEC experience Sunday, as former Missouri defensive tackle Markell Utsey has announced he’ll transfer to play for the Razorbacks.
It is a return home for Utsey, who was a two-star recruit coming out of Little Rock Parkview in the Class of 2016. He’ll also be reunited with former head coach Barry Odom and high school teammate Koilan Jackson.
Odom was his head coach for four years at Missouri and will now be his defensive coordinator with the Razorbacks. Jackson played with him at Parkview before transferring to Joe T. Robinson and is now a tight end at Arkansas.
Although Arkansas wasn't a factor in his recruitment, he originally committed to Arizona before flipping to Missouri shortly before National Signing Day.
In five seasons with the Tigers, Utsey played 933 career defensive snaps in 42 games, according to Pro Football Focus and made 40 tackles, including four for a loss and one sack.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pound defensive tackle was a starter in 2020, starting eight of the nine games he played. Pro Football Focus gave him a respectable 67.0 grade for his performance as a fifth-year last season, in which he played a career-high 331 snaps.
The only reason he has eligibility remaining to return to his home state for a season is because of the NCAA’s blanket eligibility relief granted in response to the pandemic. The same rule allowed Grant Morgan, Myron Cunningham and several others to return to the Razorbacks in 2021.
Arkansas has used all of its initial counters for the 2020 class, but head coach Sam Pittman has said he’d be willing to bring in a transfer and count him forward to the 2021 class.
Originally, Pittman said he was looking for a pass-rushing defensive end or tight end - or possibly a proven skill position player - but he might have been more willing to bring in a defensive tackle like Utsey after Enoch Jackson’s decision to enter the portal last week.
Utsey is the third scholarship transfer the Razorbacks have added this offseason, joining defensive back Trent Gordon from Penn State and offensive lineman Ty’Kieast Crawford from Charlotte. They also brought in quarterback Kade Renfro from Ole Miss and wide receiver Warren Thompson from Florida State as walk-ons.