Razorback Football: Class of 2024 recruiting board

Arkansas Football is recruiting at a pace under Sam Pittman that’s not been seen in the modern era of recruiting. Former head coach, Houston Nutt was very successful at bringing in athletes that developed into big time contributors. He often signed more than 30-40 players in a class.

The NCAA eventually caught on to his tactics and limited programs to just 25 scholarships per class. Until last season that was the case. Now, the current rule in place is sign as many players you would like in an offseason as long as a program has 85 scholarship athletes.

In the current landscape that is NIL, transfer portal, college football needed to pull back the 25-man limit. All heck has broken loose but the fact is it makes the off-season more fun tracking who your team is after.

What the transfer portal is doing right now possibly diminishes high school recruiting. The top teams that are wanting to compete want more veteran players out of the transfer portal sprinkled in with true freshmen. Does that mean the talent pool around the country will be on more of a level playing field? Not necessarily because the top players could transfer out before smaller schools see the success.

The great thing about Arkansas is they see the need to keep their hand in the high school ranks while bringing in talent to compete at a high level with the portal. Arkansas currently sits 16th in the country for 2024 with 8 four-star athletes committed.

2024 Commitments

4-star QB: KJ Jackson

3-star RB Jadan Baugh

4-star WR Courtney Crutchfield

4-star DL Charleston Collins

4-star DL Kavion Henderson

3-star DL Dion Stutts

4-star DB Noreel White

4-star DB Jaden Allen

4-starDB Julius Pope

3-star DB Tevis Metcalf

3-star WR CJ Brown

3-star DB Ahkhari Johnson

There’s quite a few big targets that aren’t currently committed to a program. Several of these are highly sought after by other successful Power Five schools. Arkansas had to develop the talent they beat AAC and Sun Belt schools for.

Now, they’re pulling in athletes that can play nearly right away due to competing with schools like LSU, Alabama and Georgia. Simply put, Pittman has Arkansas after the talent needed to take the next step as a program.

Hot Targets

4-star RB Braylen Russell

•This Natural State native was previously committed to Arkansas as their first member of the 2024 class. His pure size at 6’2 235 pounds fits the Razorback backfield already. Getting Russell back onboard is a must.

4-star WR Parker Livingstone

4-star OL Fletcher Westphal

4-star OL JacQawn McRoy

•The Pinson, (Ala.) native has pure size for an offensive tackle at 6’8 360+ pounds.

4-star LB Brian Huff

3-star OL Kobe Brahman

4-star DB Chris Johnson, Jr.

3-star DB Ashton Hampton

4-star LB Jordan Burns

3-star TE Decker DeGraaf

Keep an eye on

3-star LB Wyatt Simmons

•The Searcy, (Ark.) native’s recruitment blew up about a month or so ago with several high profile offers came flowing in. Clemson, Arkansas, Florida State, Auburn and Oklahoma have offered the rising linebacker. If Simmons decides to go to a few camps this summer his ranking will rise.