Where Arkansas players are landing in NFL mock drafts

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The NFL Draft set to begin on Thursday evening in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and a few Hogs are hoping to hear their name called at some point during the seven-round draft.

Thursday night will feature the first round beginning at 7 p.m. CT and Arkansas All-American linebacker Drew Sanders will be hoping to be one of the 31 players selected.

After transferring in from Alabama, Sanders became an AP First Team All-American and First Team All-SEC performer at Arkansas in 2022. He led the Razorbacks in tackles (103), sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (13.5).

Sanders is commonly being mocked in the second round, but some mock drafts still have him sneaking into the first round. NFL Rookie Watch recently reported that "multiple teams reportedly believe Drew Sanders is the “best” off-ball linebacker in the draft."

After running a 4.59 40-yard dash and recording an impressive 37" vertical jump at Arkansas' Pro Day, Sanders seemed to build on his impressive 2022 season. He said the one thing pro teams are worried about is his lack of experience at the Mike linebacker position.

"Really just a lack of experience at the position," Sanders said. "So I mean you kind of have some experience issues there, where it’s just like reading something or something like that."

While nine other Razorbacks from the 2022 squad will be hoping to get a call this weekend, just three have been listed in a select few seven-round mock drafts. Center Ricky Stromberg, wide receiver Jadon Haselwood and receiver Matt Landers all have a shot at hearing their names called.

Of the five seven-round mock drafts HawgBeat used, Stromberg and Haselwood both were listed in three.

Stromberg's draft stock seems to be all over the place, as he was mocked in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.

The native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, played 898 total snaps last season. According to Pro Football Focus, Stromberg didn't allow a single sack on the year and he gave up just four sacks across his four seasons as a Hog. He became the third Arkansas player to win the SEC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy, given annually to the league’s best offensive lineman, and he was also named First-Team All-SEC by the AP, Coaches, PFF and USA Today in 2022.

"Yeah, I think I feel pretty good," Stromberg said after Arkansas' Pro Day. "I've been working hard. I lost weight, took my body fat down, gotten stronger. I feel pretty confident. And now, since Pro Day is over, I'm just waiting for the draft to come up next and see where it goes."

Haselwood transferred from Oklahoma and put together a solid redshirt junior campaign. He led the team with 59 receptions — eighth on the all-time single-season list at Arkansas — and he added 702 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

After running a 4.66 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, Haselwood improved to a 4.47 40 at Arkansas' Pro Day on March 29.

"The combine was a long week," Haselwood said. "I really wasn’t feeling good. Probably shouldn’t have ran it. After I left, I went straight back to work the next day and those two weeks I was grinding and the results showed today."

Landers led Arkansas with 901 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on 47 receptions as a senior in 2022. After running a 4.37 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine — third fastest of any receiver — he seemed to have earned himself more looks from NFL teams.

"I mean I felt like I just went out there, ran fast," Landers said. "You know, I work hard to run fast, so hopefully it helped my stock. I’m hoping it did help my stock."

The remaining Hogs that will be hoping to get a shot include offensive tackle Dalton Wagner, defensive back Latavious Brini, linebacker Bumper Pool, defensive tackle Terry Hampton, defensive end Dorian Gerald and kicker Jake Bates.

Below is a look at where Sanders, Stromberg, Haselwood and Landers have been mocked in seven-round mock drafts from Drafttek, Lines, WalterFootball, Pro Football Focus and Sporting News.

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