Isaac TeSlaa – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Projecting Arkansas’ stat totals leaders by end of the season

Picking Arkansas’ record at the end of the season is tough. For now, let’s take a guess at the team leaders’ statistical numbers.

Arkansas is a bit of a strange team for the masses in the college football world of prognostication to put a finger on.

The Razorbacks have been on the rise each of the last three years with coach Sam Pittman at the helm. So much so they’re a team receiving votes in the preseason Top 25.

They’re also a team that plays in the gauntlet that is the SEC West. And they also have, basically, a whole new receiving corps and almost completely revamped secondary.

Back to the other side, KJ Jefferson and Rocket Sanders may be a top-five-in-the-country quarterback-running back duo.

Then to the questionable, the defense has no proven superstars.

The entire thing has led to mixed opinions on how the Hogs will finish record-wise.

Well, we aren’t going there today. That’s saved for a bit later this week. For now, we’re just going to look at the individuals and project who may be the best for Arkansas on the stat sheet.

Here are managing editor E. Wayne’s projections for Arkansas’ leaders in each of six different categories and what he thinks those numbers will be by season’s end.

Players To Watch: Arkansas vs. Western Carolina

In what looks like a mismatch on paper, look for these key players on both teams to make an impact.

NOTE: As always here on Razorbacks Wire, we aren’t simply going to pick the best players to watch on Saturday when Arkansas hosts Western Carolina. That’s too easy. Instead, this is where we try to look inside trends and storylines and give you the best idea of who could make some surprise noise in the game.

As we know throughout the history of Razorback football, even less imposing mid-major schools can never be taken too lightly, especially early in the season. But this matchup on paper looks very one-sided and should be smooth sailing for the revamped, improved Razorbacks.

Western Carolina rolls into War Memorial Stadium on Saturday as heavy underdogs, following a subpar 6-5 season in 2022, under third-year head coach Kerwin Bell, the 1984 SEC Player of the Year at Florida. ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) gives Arkansas a 99 percent chance to breeze through their opener.

Arkansas Preseason Depth Chart – Wide Receiver

The Hogs should have six regulars in the rotation, but guys like Davion Dozier could crack it.

The last time we took a look at Arkansas’ wide receiver depth chart was in June, after spring camp had concluded. Now, with just over a week before the team’s 2023 opener, let’s see what – if anything – has changed.

The Razorbacks open the season Saturday against FCS Western Carolina in Little Rock. Quarterback KJ Jefferson is back and with plenty of experience as one of the best in the SEC. But his receiving corps is almost entirely new.

Coach Sam Pittman brought in a top-25 transfer portal class, some of whom are finding themselves as Jefferson favorites in August. In fact, expect three of the team’s top four wideouts during the season – at least the early part of the season – to include those new guys.

But which ones and where exactly do we think they’ll slot? Let’s take a look at our projected wide receiver depth chart.

An Arkansas player you might not expect makes Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks” list

Not KJ Jefferson. Not Rocket Sanders. Arkansas’ biggest freak hasn’t even played for the Hogs yet.

Remember Treylon Burks?

Of course you do. You’re here because you’re an Arkansas fan, probably, and Burks is perhaps the best wide receiver in school history. At least the best of this millennium. The current Tennessee Titans wide receiver was also the highest ranked freak on writer Bruce Feldman’s annual list of such college players back in 2021.

Now, in 2023, Arkansas has had another player crack Feldman’s Top 100 over at The Athletic. It isn’t quarterback KJ Jefferson or running back Rocket Sanders, though, the players who probably came first to mind.

No, instead, it’s a player who hasn’t yet played a down for the Razorbacks. A player who hasn’t yet played a down of Division I football, actually.

Arkansas wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa checked in at No. 83 on the 2023 Freaks List (subscription required) released earlier in the week.

The list isn’t one that ranks the best players in the sport. It also doesn’t rank players based on projection or future status. Simply put, the list is Feldman’s notation of the greatest athletes the sport has to offer from across the spectrum of college football.

At 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds, TeSlaa has the build of an SEC wide receiver, certainly. He benches 315 pounds, has a 38-inch vertical and a 10-feet, 5-inch long jump. His statistics at Hillsdale College in Division II were dynamite, too (68 catches for 1,325 yards and 13 touchdowns).

It remains to be seen whether it all comes together in Fayetteville, of course, what with the season still two-plus weeks away. But early signs in Arkansas’ fall camp seem to suggest that TeSlaa will be the Razorbacks’ No. 1 receiver.

After DII ball? That would be freaky enough.

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Which receiver can emerge as KJ Jefferson’s favorite target in 2023?

The Hogs have a lot of fresh faces in the receiving room, so who can become “the guy” this season? Let’s take a closer look at the best candidates.

[autotag]Kenny Guiton[/autotag] had a tough challenge ahead of him following the 2022 season.

Entering his third year as wide receivers coach in Fayetteville, he was going to have to replace 72.5% of the team’s total receiving production from the prior year.

Matt Landers, Jadon Haselwood and Trey Knox? All gone.

Guiton knew he needed to go out and get some weapons for returning quarterback [autotag]KJ Jefferson[/autotag], and he was able to do just that. Isaac Teslaa, Andrew Armstong and Tyrone Broden all chose to come to Fayetteville over other SEC schools.

The reason? Guiton says that was simple.

“Look at the room. Any starters coming back? Really no seniority. Nobody in the room that’s caught any balls yet in live action,” Guiton told the media earlier this week. “So I wanted some guys with college experience, make the room competitive and let’s go from there.”

So far this offseason, the room has been extremely competitive. As a result, Jefferson will have plenty of talented pass catchers to throw to this year. Though the question remains, which receiver can emerge as the go-to option in Arkansas’ passing attack this season?

Let’s take a look at the most likely candidates.

Recruiting guru Guiton revamps Hogs’ receiving corps

Arkansas receivers coach Kenny Guiton is proving to be an outstanding recruiter, bringing in talented new faces to fill some voids.

With the departure of Arkansas’ four top receiving targets from a year ago, the Razorbacks went into the offseason with a definite need to fill the void.

To the rescue was receivers coach and emerging recruiting guru Kenny Guiton, who proceeded to land three coveted replacements.

Gone are wideouts Matt Landers (47 catches, 901 yards and 8 TDs), Jadon Haselwood (59, 702, 3), and Ketron Jackson Jr. (16, 277, 3) and tight end Trey Knox (26, 296, 5). Landers and Haselwood opted to turn pro, while Jackson and Knox chose to transfer. The primary back-up Warren Thompson (12, 178, 2) also decided to leave the program.

Guiton proceeded to out-recruit a number of Power 5 programs to bring in a trio of highly touted transfers: Andrew Armstrong (62, 1,020, 13) from Texas A&M-Commerce, Isaac TeSlaa (68, 1,325, 13) from Hillside College and Tyrone Broden (32, 506, 7) from Bowling Green. The three should be an immediate welcome addition for senior quarterback KJ Jefferson and new offensive coordinator Dan Enos’s pro-style offense.

Guiton, a former quarterback at Ohio State, worked his magic last season, bringing in a pair of transfers that quickly blossomed – Landers and Haselwood.

Along with another Guiton recruit, freshman Isaiah Sategna, the reworked receiving corps looks to pose a definite threat to opposing secondaries. The speedy Sategna had two impressive TD catches in last spring’s Red-White Game.

Despite having a group that lacks playing experience in the SEC, Guiton is confident that he has the right mix of talent to support a stellar Razorback passing game this season.

“The further and further you go, the more ease you start to get,” he said after the fifth practice of the fall. “I don’t know if I will ever be fully eased until we win some games. But right now, I’m feeling good. I love the competitive nature in our room. You can tell everything is up for grabs.”

With 20 practices remaining before the season opener against Western Carolina in Little Rock, Guiton will just let everything sort itself out.

“We have plenty of guys competing their butts off, in order to be one of those three starters, but they also know when your time comes to shine, you better be ready for it.”

Wide receiver room is hungry to prove a point

Arkansas’ wide receiver room is full of talent, it’s just unproven. Luckily they have a veteran quarterback getting them the ball.

It’s arguable, but probably the most unproven position group going into Arkansas’ fall camp are the wide receivers.

Matt Landers? Gone.

Jadon Haselwood? Gone.

Ketron Jackson? Gone.

Warren Thompson? Gone.

Only Jaedon Wilson, Bryce Stephens, Isaiah Sategna and Sam Mbake return from last year’s crew, and got minimal snaps, mainly in blowouts and the bowl game.

Arkansas did reload with talent there, however. They added Andrew Armstrong and Isaac TeSlaa from Division II schools and also added Davion Dozier as a true freshman along with a few portal guys like Tyrone Broden from Bowling Green and Marlon Crockett from Memphis.

“It’s kind of neat to bring a couple of guys from DII ball,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said. “Here comes Armstrong, he’s fast and big. He had made a catch from KJ in the two-minute drill and KJ really believes in him and those things. You’ve got him and TeSlaa.”

Sategna was also impressive to Pittman on day one.

“Today I was excited about (him),” Pittman said. “He did some things today, part of it was his blocking. But with Wilson, Mbake, and those guys, I feel like we’re going to have a nice receiving corps.”

Wilson understands the system, especially with the reps he got in bowl preparation and in the Liberty Bowl itself.

But other guys weren’t so lucky.

“I wasn’t too concerned about (Wilson),” Pittman said. “He showed up today, he showed up all summer. (Tyrone) Broden was the one where he doesn’t understand our system, doesn’t understand the offensive system, that I felt like got hurt in the spring because of that. As far as I know watching the tape, I know he made a few catches today and did some good things.”

Arkansas football: Offseason depth chart – wide receivers

Wide receiver is the biggest question mark on the Arkansas football roster. But it could also be the biggest breakout unit.

No position on the Arkansas football roster is a bigger question mark heading into the 2023 season than wide receiver.

And don’t take “question mark” to be a negative. It’s just that. A question. The group returns a grand total of 14 receptions as Razorbacks last year. But don’t mistake the lack of experience at Arkansas as a lack of experience at all. Or talent.

Between Isaac TeSlaa, Andrew Armstrong and Tyrone Broden, the Razorbacks’ top three projected wideouts have all played college ball before. TeSlaa played at the Division II level, Armstrong at FCS and Broden in Mid-American Conference.

Among returners, Isaiah Sategna, Jaedon Wilson and Bryce Stephens look to make the biggest impact.

But keep in mind, it’s June. The order below is just a projection. In June. With all the inexperience, plenty could change between now and September.

In the meantime, you can check our quarterbacks here and our running backs here.