Arkansas’ football team may be on a bye, but the Razorback coaching staff has no time to relax following last Saturday’s 28-7 home loss to TCU.
Head Coach Bret Bielema and his assistants hit the recruiting trail on Sunday and will be in and out of the offices this week as they look to finalize the 2018 class and get a head start on the 2019 cycle.
The Hogs’ current recruiting class is almost full with 14 of 16 scholarships already accounted for. The remaining positions of need include offensive linemen, defensive linemen and tight end, and, fortunately for the Razorbacks, some of their top targets at those spots plan to visit this fall.
Arkansas is expected to receive official visits from two of the nation’s top offensive linemen in Penei Sewell of St. George, Utah, and Jerome Carvin of Cordova, Tenn., later this season.
Sewell is considered the No. 4 offensive tackle and the No. 40 overall prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, while Carvin, a four-star prospect, is rated as the No. 20 offensive tackle in the country.
Highly-recruited defensive end Nick Fulwider of Tyrone, Ga., Sandy Creek will also take an official visit in Fayetteville this fall. The 6-6, 260-pound lineman has offers from North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Louisville and others.
Tight end Luke Ford of Cartersville, Ill., is the top overall tight end for the Class of 2018, according to Rivals.com, and will make his third trip to Fayetteville for an official visit later this season.
Fellow tight end Glenn Beal of River Ridge, La., John Curtis is another heavily-recruited target who plans to visit this season.
For the 2019 class, the Razorbacks didn’t have a great showing in last weekend’s game but did get a chance to host three of their top overall targets on unofficial visits.
Four-star tight end Hudson Henry of Little Rock Pulaski Academy said he enjoyed his time in Fayetteville and will be back for another game later this season.
Henry, the nation’s No. 1 tight end for the Class of 2019, is the younger brother of former Razorback tight end Hunter Henry, as well as current Arkansas linebacker Hayden Henry.
Another major tight end target, Grayson Boomer of Collinsville, Okla., said Arkansas remains in his top three choices following Saturday’s visit. Grayson is rated as Rivals.com’s No. 7 tight end for the 2019 class, and holds offers from the likes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Michigan, Texas, Arkansas and others.
The Razorbacks also hosted a top junior wide receiver prospect in four-star Dylan Wright of Ennis, Texas. Wright, 6-5, 190, has offers from Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana and others. He is considered the No. 200 overall prospect in the nation for the 2019 class.
New scholarship offers could be extended throughout the week as Arkansas coaches make their way into Texas, Louisiana, Missouri and Oklahoma to check on prospects. Arkansas Director of Recruiting E.K. Franks said the staff’s plan is to first see the current commitments before moving on to the remaining 2018 and 2019 targets.
As for the current Razorbacks, Bielema’s staff has a lot to figure out on the field before returning to action against Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Sept. 23. The Hogs (1-1) allowed TCU to pick up 10 of 14 third-down attempts last weekend while the Horned Frogs held Arkansas to just 4 of 14 on third down. Arkansas finished the game with just 267 yards of offense and went 0 for 2 in the red zone.
The Razorbacks will face an A&M team that barely got by lowly Nicholls last Saturday, 24-14.
Texas A&M will face Louisiana-Lafayette this Saturday at 11 a.m.
Arkansas’ game against the Aggies will also kick off at 11 a.m. on ESPN.