Carter Stoutmire has a case as one of the more overlooked additions in Arkansas’ 2026 transfer portal haul.
The Colorado transfer has been tucked behind higher-profile names like wide receiver Chris Marshall, running back Sutton Smith and quarterback AJ Hill, but he brings something Arkansas can use on Ron Roberts’ defense: experience, versatility and real speed. The Plano, Texas, native spent three seasons with Deion Sanders at Colorado from 2023-25 and arrived with a résumé built on work at multiple spots in the secondary.
At 5-10 and 216 pounds, Stoutmire has mainly lined up at STAR during fall camp, but that only tells part of the story.
“As a freshman I played corner,” Stoutmire said Tuesday. “Then played a little bit of STAR my freshman year, too.
My sophomore year, I played several positions. I played every position in the secondary, I played a little bit of linebacker, too.
I feel like I was [a] Swiss Army Knife. Last year I played a lot of free [safety].
On third down, I played dime and stuff like that.”
That kind of flexibility is a big part of why Arkansas brought him in. So is the speed. Stoutmire said he was clocked at 23 miles per hour during the offseason, and he wasn’t shy about comparing himself to the rest of the room.
“The numbers said 22.9, but I'll say 23,” Stoutmire joked. “I feel like we all in the room know who is the actual fastest guy on the team, but if we go by the numbers on the GPS, I would say I'm the fastest on the team.”
Production followed him from Boulder, too. Stoutmire finished with 90 tackles across his three seasons at Colorado, including 42 in 2024 and 37 last season. He also broke up 12 passes and forced two fumbles over the last two years, though he has not picked off a pass in college.
As camp winds down, Stoutmire said the mood shifts when the end starts to come into view.
“This is the point of camp where we're kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Stoutmire said. “I feel like the closer you get to the end of the camp, you really start to feel like a fresh start once again, because you're not going against each other every day with no end in sight.
“Now, it's like, you really start to prepare for an opponent. I wouldn't say the excitement goes away during camp, I say more so the monotony of going against each other every day with no one to play except you. I feel like the excitement starts to come back around knowing you have an opponent that you're preparing for.”
Arkansas opens the season Sept. 5 in Fayetteville against North Alabama. Kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m. CT, with the game on the SEC Network and the Razorback Sports Network.
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