Arkansas football added 18 scholarship transfer players since the end of the 2022 season and most of those have a chance to make a serious impact for the Razorbacks this fall.

Not all 18 will see significant playing time, but some will be key players for the Hogs as they try to build on a 7-6 campaign capped off by a Liberty Bowl win over Kansas last season.

Arkansas brought a strong group of transfers who helped make an impact in different areas last year. Highlighting the group was Alabama transfer linebacker Drew Sanders as an AP First Team All-American, transfer receivers Matt Landers and Jadon Haselwood being the team’s leading receivers and Georgia Tech transfer Jordan Domineck leading all defensive linemen with 7.5 sacks.

With what the transfer portal has turned into, transfers defining the identity of a team is becoming more and more common. Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and his staff have adapted well to this new age in college football and they have some impact transfer additions entering the 2023 season.

Here are who HawgBeat sees as three most important transfer additions that the Razorbacks made over the offseason…

Of the defensive transfers that participated during spring practices, Johnson was the most impressive. He’s a pesky defender in coverage who will let you know his presence with his voice.

Johnson is a former 5.7 three-star prospect out of Lancaster, Texas. He spent two seasons at Baylor, where he recorded 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, five pass deflections and one forced fumble in his 2022 campaign.

With former LSU Tiger Dwight McGlothern holding down one of the starting cornerback spots, Johnson can provide another lockdown option on the outside. For a team that was dead last in the FBS in pass yards allowed last season, Arkansas needed to add legit secondary pieces and Johnson provides that.

Nicknamed “Snaxx,” Johnson is a high-energy guy that can make as big of an impact as any of the transfer additions on the defensive side of the ball.

“I bring energy,” Johnson said in the spring. “I don’t know if I’m just trash talking. I don’t know. Whatever gets them off (their game). Whatever gives the defense an advantage I will (do).”

Not the name you were expecting to see here, huh? Hear me out.

KJ Jefferson is going into his third year as the starting quarterback for the Razorbacks and if anyone tries to tell you there is a competition for his job, there simply isn’t. There is a competition for the No. 2 spot behind Jefferson, though, and Criswell seems to be the man for the job.

Last season, it could be argued that three of Arkansas’ six losses were direct results of Jefferson not being healthy and there was not quality enough quarterback play behind him.

In the loss at Mississippi State, Arkansas started Cade Fortin at quarterback in a 40-17 beatdown. Fortin was eventually replaced by Malik Hornsby, who now plays for Texas State.

Arkansas’ defense wasn’t stopping much on that day against the Bulldogs, but the offense didn’t help a whole lot and that narrative might be different if Jefferson was playing.

Jefferson also had to miss the 13-10 loss to LSU on Nov. 12 — a game Hornsby earned the starting nod. Fortin eventually replaced the struggling Hornsby, but he couldn’t make enough plays to lead the Hogs to a win. If Jefferson started that game, maybe there is a different outcome.

The third instance was a 21-19 loss to Liberty the week before the LSU game. Jefferson played that game, but was noticeably less than 100% healthy.

All of this information is laid out because there wasn’t an option behind Jefferson that brewed confidence and provided little drop off in talent.

After playing behind Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell and Heisman candidate Drake Maye at North Carolina, Criswell brings a valuable backup option with plenty of knowledge behind Jefferson.

Fortin is also back for another season in Fayetteville, but his advantage of being in the system for a year didn’t mean much after Kendal Briles left for TCU and Dan Enos came in as the new Arkansas offensive coordinator. Fortin will battle Criswell, but the latter should win out for the backup spot.

Pittman even said himself after the Red-White spring scrimmage that Criswell could help them win games if he had to step in.

“I think this, you look at a kid coming in, and Jacolby hadn’t played a whole lot of ball over at North Carolina,” Pittman said after the Red-White scrimmage. “To be where he is and what he’s done, I mean, he’s thrown some stuff in practice that was like crazy good.

“I think he’s just going to get better and better, so yes, I think part of the question would be can we beat an SEC team with him at quarterback, and the answer would be absolutely, in my opinion. So he was very, very valuable to us to bring in.”

This decision could’ve gone to Armstrong or Division II Hillsdale College transfer Isaac TeSlaa after watching both in the spring. Bowling Green transfer Tyrone Broden is also another option, but he dealt with a leg injury in the spring that limited the availability to see what he can do.

While TeSlaa had two or three of the most impressive catches during any of the spring practices, Armstrong was consistently finding success each day. Very rarely did he not make a contested catch and he had little trouble finding separation in one-on-one drills against the likes of Johnson and McGlothern at times.

Armstrong was named an FCS sophomore All-American for his performance during the 2022 season. He recorded 1,020 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns on 62 receptions for the year. He was rated as a 5.8 four-star transfer prospect by Rivals after earning just a two-star rating out of Bishop Dunne High School.

Adjusting to life in the SEC has already happened to an extent, but he will likely have a wake up call at some point this fall. He said during the spring that he was focused on locking in the playbook.

“That’s my main thing I’m trying to lock into, the playbook,” Armstrong said. “I’m starting to really zone in on it. I’ve been at home every day for like 45 to an hour looking at it every day in my playbook. Going over it, going over the signals and what I’m supposed to do on this one besides the other one. That’s really the main thing is the playbook. Once I get the playbook down I’ll feel more comfortable.”

Arkansas needed playmakers at the wide receiver after losing starters Jadon Haselwood and Matt Landers to the NFL and Ketron Jackson and Warren Thompson to the transfer portal.

The addition of Armstrong, TeSlaa and Broden was exactly what the doctor ordered at a key offensive position and Armstrong has a great shot at having the most success of that trio.

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