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Published Apr 17, 2023
Checking out the comp: Arkansas
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Jarod Hamilton  •  PowerMizzou
Staff Writer
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@jarodchamilton

Missouri finished spring football a little over a week ago and is moving on to the next portion of its offseason, and until the transfer portal opens May 1-15 things may enter a bit of a quiet period around the program. So, while we give the Tigers a break for a little while there's nothing stopping us from checking out what their 2023 Power 5 opponents' rosters are looking like.

We've already covered Mizzou's first four Power 5 opponents in Kansas State, Vanderbilt, LSU, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida.

Arkansas just finished up spring football with its spring game over the weekend.

Last season's record:

Key departures: (NFL Draft) WR Matt Landers, WR Jadon Haselwood, OT Dalton Wagner, C Ricky Stromberg, LB Drew Sanders, LB Bumper Pool, S Latavious Brini

(Transfer Portal/other) S Myles Slusher, S Jalen Catalon, DL Jordan Domineck, DL Isaiah Nichols, QB Malik Hornsby, TE Trey Knox, WR Ketron Jackson, LT Luke Jones

Key additions: DB Jaheim Singletary, DB Al Walcott, DB Lorando Johnson, DL John Morgan, DE Trajan Jeffcoat, LB Antonio Grier, WR Andrew Armstrong, WR Tyrone Broden. WR Isaac Teslaa, OL Josh Braun

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Key departures

Arkansas' has several players that have declared for the NFL Draft with two of them, Matt Landers and Jadon Haselwood, being its leading receivers from a season ago.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Landers, showed how good he was at tracking the ball and using his soft hands to rack up 47 receptions, a team-high 901 yards and a team-high eight receiving touchdowns in 13 games.

In last season's regular season-finale against Mizzou, Landers had four catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.

A team in need of a possession receiver on the third day of the draft could draft Landers to fill that role.

Haselwood led the team in receptions with 59 and also had 702 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games.

The 6-foot-2 and 215-pound Haselwood is more of a physical receiver who is good at making catches in traffic and hauling in passes downfield.

He's projected to be an undrafted free agent but could be a priority for teams once Mr. Irrelevant is called at the end of the seventh round.

Right tackle Dalton Wagner was a solid starter for the Razorbacks last season and had solid pass-blocking (78.2) and run-blocking (76.6) grades in 12 games, according to PFF College. But he also allowed two sacks, four quarterback hits, 15 pressures and had a pair of penalties.

Wagner is projected to be an undrafted free agent.

A couple of spots left of Wagner on the offensive line is center Ricky Stromberg, who also performed well in both the run and pass blocking game.

He had a run-blocking grade of 83.7 and a pass-blocking grade of 77.1 and gave up no sacks or quarterback hits in 12 games.

On the flip side, he allowed 11 pressures and committed five penalties.

He's projected to be a fifth-round pick.

Probably the best player of the bunch heading to the draft is linebacker Drew Sanders, who led the team in tackles, tackles for loss, sacks and forced fumbles.

He recorded 103 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, five pass deflections, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception in 12 games a season ago.

He recorded seven tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and a couple of pass deflections against Mizzou last season.

Sanders could be a good fit for many defenses, especially 3-4 defenses wanting to use him at middle linebacker or as a stand-up EDGE.

Sanders is projected to be a second-round pick.

Fellow linebacker Bumper Pool was the team's second-leading tackler with 92 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and three pass deflections in 11 games in 2022.

Pool, who is a bit undersized at 6-foot-2 and 232 pounds could be a useful weakside linebacker for a team in need of one, but he's projected to go undrafted.

Safety Latavious Brini recorded 55 tackles, four tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, a pass deflection and an interception in 13 games last season.

He's likely to be an undrafted free agent.

Safety Myles Slusher, who was ranked as a four-star transfer and the No. 48 overall available transfer, decided to take his talents to Colorado.

Slusher played in six games last season and recorded 28 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks and a pass deflection.

Joining Slusher out the door is fellow safety Jalen Catalon, who only played one game last season due to a shoulder injury. He was also limited to six games in 2021 to a shoulder injury.

However, Catalon was an All-Southeastern Conference selection as a redshirt freshman, so he's proven that when he's on the field he's one of the better safeties in the nation.

Catalon was ranked as the 157th-best available transfer, according to Rivals.com.

Arkansas also lost a couple of defensive linemen with Jordan Domineck and Isaiah Nichols both leaving for other Power 5 schools.

Domineck decided to follow Slusher to Colorado after recording 34 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 2022.

He was ranked as the No. 166 overall available transfer.

Nichols transferred to Purdue after recording 16 tackles, a tackle for loss and a bat down in 13 games a season ago.

He was ranked as the 475th-best available transfer.

On the other side of the ball, Arkansas lost a quarterback, but not the one most SEC fans were probably expecting.

KJ Jefferson decided to come back for another season with the Razorbacks and Malik Hornsby decided to go back to his home state and transfer to Texas State.

Hornsby, who is one of the more dynamic players in the FBS, played in eight games last season at quarterback, running back and wide receiver.

He completed 48% of his passes for 268 yards a touchdown and a pair of interceptions. He rushed for 172 yards on 31 carries (5.5 yards per carry) and had a pair of receptions for eight yards.

Hornsby was ranked as the 259th-best available transfer.

Wide receiver Ketron Jackson transferred to Baylor after recording 16 receptions for 277 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games in 2022.

He was ranked as the No. 323 overall available transfer.

Rounding out the last of the impact transfers is Trey Knox, who was also ranked as a four-star transfer and the No. 121st-best available transfer.

The tight end transferred to SEC foe South Carolina where he looks to be more of a threat in the passing game than he was at Arkansas.

Knox recorded 26 receptions for 294 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games last season.

Another starting offensive lineman departing from the Razorbacks is left tackle Luke Jones, who could've returned for another season but decided to stop playing football altogether.

He started in 12 games last season and had a run-blocking grade of 69.3 and a pass-blocking grade of 67.4. He also allowed three sacks, three quarterback hits, committed three penalties and allowed 23 pressures.

Key additions

The Razorbacks' biggest addition came in the secondary with defensive back Jaheim Singletary transferring over from Georgia.

Singletary, who was a five-star prospect in the class of 2022 and rated as the second-best cornerback in that class, only played three games last season for the reigning and defending national champions of the last two seasons.

He won’t enroll until June but he has signed his SEC agreement, according to head coach Sam Pittman and HawgBeat.com,

Singletary was ranked as a four-star transfer and the eighth-best available transfer.

The Razorbacks also added a couple more defensive backs with the additions of former Baylor defensive backs Al Walcott and Lorando Johnson.

Walcott, who was ranked as the No. 80 overall available transfer, racked up 83 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, four pass deflections, three forced fumbles and an interception in 13 games a season ago.

Johnson recorded 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, five pass deflections and a forced fumble in 12 games.

On the defensive line, Arkansas added John Morgan and Trajan Jeffcoat.

Morgan transferred from Pittsburgh after recording 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles last season.

He was ranked as the No. 140 overall available transfer.

Jeffcoat is a player Mizzou fans are very familiar with since he spent 2018 and 2020-22 with the Tigers.

He started the first nine games of the 2022 season and played in 12, racking up 21 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

Jeffocat was ranked as the 170th-best available transfer.

Lastly, on the defensive side of the ball, Arkansas added former South Florida linebacker Antonio Grier.

Grier, who was ranked as the No. 502 overall available transfer, recorded 21 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss in four games in 2022.

Offensive lineman Josh Braun transferred from Florida after getting just 24 snaps at left tackle in 2022.

He did appear in 24 games as a starter and reserve guard in 2020 and 2021.

Braun was ranked as a four-star transfer and the 35th-best overall available transfer.

Wide receiver Andrew Armstrong, who was ranked as the No. 79 overall available transfer, came over from Texas A&M Commerce where he was an FCS All-American in 2022.

He racked up 62 receptions for 1,020 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.

Joining Armstrong in the wide receiver room are Tyrone Broden and Isaac Teslaa.

Broden, who was ranked as the 532nd-best available transfer, had 32 receptions for 506 yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games in 2022.

Teslaa had 68 receptions, 1,325 yards and 13 touchdowns in 11 games for Hillsdale last season.

He was ranked as the 810th-best available transfer.

Armstrong, Broden and Teslaa are all 6-foot-4, so the Razorbacks will have no problem replacing Landers and Haselwood in the size department.

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