Cover athletes for College Football 2015 through 2025- Arkansas edition

2022: Feleipe Franks

Sam Pittman encountered every obstacle you could think of in his first season as a head coach. He took over the worst program in the country at the same time that every coach in the country was trying to navigate the newly implemented transfer portal, all while dealing with COVID-19. 

The Quarterback position probably wasn't at the top of his priority list, but it had to be pretty close. Chad Morris spent two years trying to find a suitable QB and couldn't find one (or at least make one work), so Coach Pittman needed to find one in a hurry. Fortunately, that's where Filipe Franks comes in.

The Florida transfer was a consensus four-star and a top-100 recruit out of high school. He had some an injury with the Gators in 2018 after leading them to a 10-3 season and lost his starting spot in 2019 to Kyle Trask. Just like the Razorbacks, he was down and needed help coming back up.

Franks wasn't a world-beating QB at Arkansas, but he was exactly what it needed; he was a consistent and efficient game manager with some mobility to run Kendal Briles' offense. He led the Hogs to 3-7 (4-6 if you're a rational human being who knows Bo Nix spiked the ball backward) and recorded 17 touchdowns to four interceptions with 2,107 passing yards. He was also Arkansas's third-leading rusher with 204 yards and another touchdown.