Arkansas has two more names on the Senior Bowl radar.
Senior defensive linemen Quincy Rhodes Jr. and David Oke were both placed on the 2027 Panini Senior Bowl Top 300 List, the organization announced Thursday morning. The list is the latest checkpoint in what the Senior Bowl calls the first stage of the NFL Draft process, and this year’s pool was trimmed from more than 2,000 players down to 300.
The Senior Bowl, long regarded as college football’s premier all-star game, brings heavy traffic to Mobile, Ala., every year. More than 900 NFL personnel - including decision-makers from all 32 teams - and over 1,100 media members are on site for the week of workouts before the annual game.
Rhodes Jr. enters the 2026 season with plenty of preseason recognition already attached to his name. The North Little Rock, Ark., native has been picked for preseason second-team All-SEC by Athlon Sports, SEC media members and SEC coaches, and he also landed a third-team preseason nod from Phil Steele.
That buzz is backed by what he did in 2025. Rhodes broke out as a junior with 44 total tackles, a team-high 15.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, six quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
His 15.5 tackles for loss were the most by an Arkansas defender since Trey Flowers matched that number in 2015. He also became the first Hog to hit double-digit tackles for loss in a season since Landon Jackson posted 13.5 in 2023, and he was the first Razorback with three multi-sack games in a season since Tre Williams in 2021.
By the end of the regular season, Rhodes ranked 13th nationally and second in the SEC in tackles for loss per game at 1.23, while also sitting 23rd nationally in sacks per game at 0.67.
Oke’s path to the list looks a little different. Injuries limited his first season at Arkansas, where he played in three games and finished with four tackles and a tackle for loss.
Before arriving in Fayetteville, the Lagos, Nigeria native spent the 2022 through 2024 seasons at Abilene Christian and put together a productive run there: 84 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups. His best season came in 2024, when he logged 64 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss as a junior.
The 2027 Senior Bowl is set for Jan. 30, 2027, in Mobile inside Whitney Hancock Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. and NFL Network carrying the broadcast.
Arkansas opens its season at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium against North Alabama on Sept. 5 at 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network.
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