Roster turnover creates unique scholarship situation for Hogs in 2019

FAYETTEVILLE — Roster turnover happens each year at every FBS school across the country, but it hit Arkansas particularly hard this past offseason.

Coming off the first 10-loss season in school history and entering Year 2 of the Chad Morris era, the Razorbacks had 20 scholarship players leave the program with remaining eligibility.

That number includes 14 transfers - excluding Jonathan Nance because he would have been a senior in 2018 had he not taken advantage of the new four-game redshirt rule - and six others who left for various reasons, such as Connor Noland deciding to focus on baseball.

Throw in the expected departure of 15 seniors and Arkansas had to replace 35 of its 85 scholarship players - or a turnover of 41.2 percent.

Luckily, because they signed such a small class the year prior, the Razorbacks had some wiggle room with their 2019 class. In 2018, with only a few weeks between getting hired and the first ever December signing period, Morris and his staff brought in just 17 high school or junior college signees.