Arkansas Football: Possible new role for the now returning Malik Hornsby?

Arkansas Football player Malik Hornsby has withdrawn his name form the transfer portal, just days after declaring he was ready to explore new opportunities, according to multiple reports.

It’s unclear why he’s decided to return to the Hogs, but it could be that the market has dried up for project quarterbacks and was likely going to have to go down to the Group of Five to have a chance at starting for a team in 2022.

Malik Hornsby not transferring, set for return to Arkansas Football team in 2022

The back-up quarterback saw limited action in 2021 for the Hogs, serving as the back-up to starter KJ Jefferson.

We saw Hornsby get some action on gadget plays and whenever Jefferson was too banged up to get back out on the field in select games.

So what made the Hogs want to welcome him back in to the fold after seemingly being ready to move on? Was he promised an expanded role?

When Hornsby gets back in to the swing of things with the Razorbacks, he may be doing so not as QB2, but maybe as a multi-positional player.

We saw Hornsby play at wide receiver in the 2022 Outback Bowl on a handful of plays, maybe that was a sign of things to come for the phenomenal athlete. Whenever he lined up at receiver, it created immediate confusion and drew the attention of defenses.

Might we also see some scenarios in which Hornsby lines-up along side Jefferson as a back to run option plays?

It will largely depend on the development of the other quarterbacks the Hogs will have on the roster. They’ll be spending the off-season developing Kade Renfro once he gets healthy and recovered from tearing his ACL and Lucas Coley.

If the Hogs don’t like their development, they may need Hornsby to stick around at QB2 and keep that his priority moving forward next season.