Tag: Jordan Crook

Jordan Crook the latest to enter transfer portal

Duncanville, Texas native Jordan Crook, a linebacker, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday morning.

After Chris Paul Jr. entered the transfer portal late Monday afternoon, fellow linebacker Jordan Crook joined him on Tuesday morning.

Crook, a Duncanville, Texas native, had eight solo tackles in 2023 and assisted on 20 while recording a sack and forcing a fumble.

He also had eight tackles in 2022 and provided critical depth at a position group that was light as it is.

With his departure, the linebacker room is bleeding and will be a major area that will need addressing in the transfer portal by Travis Williams and his staff.

The portal officially opens on December 4, where other teams can begin contacting players and they can begin to announce their future destinations.

Arkansas preseason depth chart – Linebackers

Linebacker should be a strength for Arkansas this year. The Hogs have to get healthy there first, though.

The Arkansas linebacker spot should be a good spot for the Razorbacks in 2023.

But heading into the team’s opener on Saturday against FCS Western Carolina, the unit looks perhaps least like it was expected among all the positional groups. One projected starter is all but out and the other is iffy, though coach Sam Pittman has been somewhat vague on the latter’s status.

When Chris Paul Jr., Antonio Grier, Jordan Crook and Jaheim Thomas are all healthy, Arkansas can roll a combination of near-stars, established talent and future all-league players among its first four.

Grier and Paul could be iffy for the opener, but that may be a blessing in disguise. Thomas and Crook have experience and will get plenty of reps, but the players behind them have almost no idea what it’s like to play college football. A game against the Catamounts will help make that a thing of the past.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how the Arkansas linebackers stack up, or rather, how we expect them to stack up by the end of the season.

Arkansas Football: Offseason Depth Chart-Linebackers

The linebacker room is no longer thin, although it may not be packing the star power it had in 2022.

Defensive coordinator Barry Odom and linebacker coach Michael Scherer coached up one of the best linebacker groups in the country last season, headlined by Bumper Pool and Drew Sanders.

All parties are no longer in Fayetteville. Odom is in UNLV, taking Scherer with him. Pool completed his eligibility, and Sanders is in the NFL.

The linebacker group is not left with anything, though. New defensive coordinator Travis Williams will also coach the linebackers, a deep group with 12 players.

Chris Paul Jr. is the group veteran, and the newly acquired transfer Antonio Grier should be an apparent starter. The extent of how deep Williams will go in the rotation will depend on the progress of younger players and the potential addition of more transfers from the portal.