Arkansas is heading to SEC Media Days in Tampa with a veteran-heavy group and no quarterbacks in tow.
Senior defensive end Quincy Rhodes, senior center Caden Kitler and senior tailback Sutton Smith will represent the Razorbacks at the annual event July 20-23, joined by first-year coach Ryan Silverfield. Arkansas is scheduled for the final day, Thursday, alongside LSU, Mississippi State and Texas.
The quarterback omission stands out. Arkansas did not choose sophomore KJ Jackson or freshman AJ Hill, and Silverfield has not named a starter at the position. He is not expected to do so before the Razorbacks open training camp later this summer.
The trio Arkansas did send reflects different pieces of the roster Silverfield is building. Rhodes has been with the program since signing out of North Little Rock for the 2023 season, and the 6-foot-6, 273-pound defender delivered a breakout 2025 campaign with 8 sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, 6 hurries and 44 tackles.
His return for his senior season gave Silverfield an immediate lift after the coach was hired last year.
Kitler, a second-year transfer from The Colony, Texas, started all 11 games he played last season and has already been a familiar face in public settings this summer, including as a team spokesman on the annual Road Show in Frisco, Texas.
Smith brings another transfer connection, this one tied directly to Silverfield. The first-year Razorback spent three seasons playing for him at Memphis and ran for 669 yards and 7 touchdowns last season. His best game came in a 32-31 win over Arkansas on Sept. 20, when he piled up a career-high 147 rushing yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown.
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Gibsons profile helps explain why the pursuit has picked up. He has backed up the hype in top event settings and shown the kind of two-way guard game Calipari has long sold to elite backcourt prospects. For Arkansas, the appeal is obvious: keep stacking future perimeter talent and stay in the mix with the kind of player who can change the ceiling of a class, even if the race for him is still very much unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes this one especially worth watching is that Ourigou is still early in the process, with the possibility of moving up a cycle hanging over everything. If he stays put, he would join Davion Thompson as part of Arkansas 2027 class, giving the Razorbacks an encouraging early foundation as they keep building out a roster that has been in need of more length inside. [Read more 🡒]