National Signing Day is finally gone and the Arkansas football program wrapped up an impressive 2015 recruiting class that features 24 commitments. Among the twenty-four, are seven 4-star recruits and eight of the state’s top ten, according to Rivals.com.
ESPN has Arkansas rated 22nd in this year’s final recruiting rankings. This makes their class the 2nd best in the last 15 years at Arkansas. How is Bret Bielema and the coaching staff getting it done? Despite having only 4 players inside the Top 300 in the state of Arkansas, the Razorbacks have managed to grab three of those players and add two more in the category.
Bielema stated, “Rawleigh reminds me of (former Wisconsin running back) Montee Ball.”
Overall, they collected seven 4-star recruits with four of those coming from the state of Arkansas. They also nabbed two ESPN Top 300 prospects, Hjalte Froholdt and Jalen Merrick from the state of Florida. Then, they added another 4-star prospect from Kansas named Jeremiah Ledbetter, according to Rivals.com.
Arkansas finished with 10 commitments from their own state, 5 from the state of Florida, 4 from the state of Texas and 1 each from Louisiana, Georgia, California, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Although Bielema and staff have put together one of their best recruiting classes ever, Arkansas still ranks only 12th out of 14 teams in the SEC. The class is ranked dead last in the SEC West and 12 SEC teams finished in the Top 22 of the 2015 rankings.
The SEC finished with more than twice the amount of ESPN Top 300 recruits than any other conference. Also, for the 5th straight year, the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle goes to the SEC. The conference also gathered the top 3 overall recruits, 5 of the top 6 overall, the top 2 quarterbacks, the top 2 defensive ends and the top 3 defensive tackles. And once again, Alabama finished as the No. 1 recruiting class for the 4th straight year.
The conference statistics are simply remarkable, but that’s just life inside the SEC for the beloved Arkansas Razorbacks. Let’s quit looking at the numbers and see what exactly the Razorbacks accomplished.
Offense A-
The team missed out on a few big time prospects with the likes of K.J. Hill and Toby Weathersby, but that certainly didn’t diminish an impressive group of offensive talent. Bielema signed three tight ends to compliment Hunter Henry. O’Grady, Gragg and Cantrell will all compete for playing time next season. Bielema stated, “Gragg is probably the biggest, O’Grady is probably the best at catching the ball and Cantrell is probably the meanest and nastiest.”
Arkansas also added three offensive lineman to a line that was already the biggest in the country. With only one starter graduating, the Hogs added the much needed depth for years to come. Two recruits, Zach Rogers and Jalen Merrick were rated in the top 15 at their position.
The Razorbacks also added a running back to compliment the two-headed monster of Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams. Rawleigh Williams, of Dallas, Texas, is likely to become the 3rd back and should still see plenty of playing time with the transfer of Korliss Marshall. Bielema stated, “Rawleigh reminds me of (former Wisconsin running back) Montee Ball.”
However, the biggest need came at wide receiver, where Bielema and staff rounded up three in-state prospects; Dominique Reed, Deon Stewart and La’Michael Pettway. Reed is a Ju-Co transfer and the most highly regarded of the three. He’s quite possibly the biggest signee for the staff on Wednesday as Arkansas lacked that big, dynamic threat to go along with the amazing running game in 2014. Bielema said, “Reed was our number one target that could change the game for us.”
Last, but not least, we signed the most decorated player in the state. Quarterback Ty Storey will likely redshirt in his freshman year with senior Brandon Allen manning the position, but Storey could be future of the Hogs as he’s the prototypical Bielema-style quarterback.
Defense A+
Only three of seven 4-star recruits come on the defensive side of the ball, but the Hogs filled exactly what they needed. With two defensive lineman, two linebackers and one cornerback gone from the starting lineup, the Razorbacks quickly replenished its needs by signing 11 on defense.
Arkansas signed three 4-star defensive lineman to replace All-SEC players Trey Flowers and Darius Philon. Hjalte Froholdt, Jeremiah Ledbetter and Jamario Bell could make immediate impacts in Fayetteville. “Ledbetter is a 271-pound guy that can do a back flip” and “Hjalte is destroying everything the training staff puts in front of him in the weight room,” says Bielema.
The Hogs added two linebackers to their commitment list when Derrick Graham stayed true and Kendrick Jackson signed just a day before the deadline. Both 3-star linebackers are said to be very underrated and the staff is very excited to get them.
Lastly, Arkansas collected 4 defensive backs in Nate Dalton, Ryan Pulley, Dre Greenlaw and Willie Sykes.