UPDATE: Dominique Johnson should return for 2023 season

Two season ago, Arkansas had a very young group of running backs led by senior Trelon Smith. There were three young pups by the names of Raheim Sanders, AJ Green and lightly recruited Dominique Johnson. The latter of which exploded onto the scene in the first three weeks scoring 3 touchdowns and displaying a physical nature not seen in the Arkansas backfield in a half decade.

At 6’1 235 pounds, Johnson had 97 carries for 575 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also boasted a 5.9 yards per carry mark which led all Arkansas tailbacks.

Johnson’s productivity earned his first start of his career against Penn State in the Outback Bowl. He would undergo a knee procedure and not return with the same impact.

“Dominique, he started the Outback Bowl for us, but he just never had the confidence to play much last year,” Pittman said. “He’s healthy, he’ll be back.”

Once he missed the summer, Sanders and Green seemingly passed him on the depth chart. Even true frehsman Rashod Dubinion seemed to take a portion of carries away from Johnson. The Texas native ended playing meaningful snaps during the Southwest Classic rivalry game in Arlington and seemed to regain that mojo that he had during the 2021 season. However, he injured his knee again and wouldn’t be seen from again after the BYU game.

“I think we’ll have a good running back room again,” Pittman noted. “But the leader of that room is Rocket (Sanders) with AJ (Green) being right there with him.”

With Pittman sharing the current state of the running back room it looks like Johnson will have to claw his way back into the rotation. He came out of nowhere just two seasons ago and shouldn’t be doubted to make a run again.

Arkansas had one of their best rushing outputs in program history during the 2022 season. The Razorbacks averaged just over 237 yards per game last season and combined for 3099 yards and 27 touchdowns.