{"id":74991,"date":"2025-07-05T15:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T19:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=74991"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:56:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T18:56:16","slug":"arkansas-needs-strong-offensive-line-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/07\/05\/arkansas-needs-strong-offensive-line-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas Needs Strong Offensive Line Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Taylen Green to be money for Arkansas, the Hogs up front will need to be successful throughout the season. This is what head coach Sam Pittman was known for as he returned to Arkansas six seasons ago. In what was surprising to some, this unit has struggled in Fayetteville despite many injuries that derailed consistent play. Will Arkansas have strong offensive line play in 2025? We take a deeper look to find out.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Arkansas Needs Strong Offensive Line Play<\/h2>\n
\"Arkansas
Photo courtesy: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Look In The Rear View Mirror<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Last season, Arkansas had the third-best rushing offense in the SEC, with 185 yards per game, including an average of just under five yards per carry. This was fueled by players such as Fernando Carmona, Keyshawn Blackstone, and Addison Nichols, who were all acquired through the transfer portal. In the end, each would earn starting nods for Arkansas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue came in the form of allowing sacks for this bunch. In total, the Arkansas quarterbacks were brought down 36 times. This number contributed to losses such as the road game in Stillwater versus the Cowboys. Despite\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We saw Pittman become more involved with this unit last season, and the play improved. Can we see a repeat action this season? Despite losing Josh Braun, Nichols, and Patrick Kutas, this has the potential to be a strong suit of the team.\u00a0 Just how strong can it be?<\/span><\/p>\n

Anchoring 2025\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0Despite what others may feel, we believe this group can be the anchor of what we have discussed and can be a potent offense. This season, Arkansas returns three starters and adds more depth from the transfer portal. In comes former Central Florida Knight Caden Kitler<\/a> as well as former Yellow Jacket Corey Robinson, to alleviate some holes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If this wasn’t enough, Pittman and staff snagged Shaq McRoy from Oregon to boost the career starts on the line from 62 to 101 as the season kicks off. Pittman has shown throughout his career the ability to build and develop talent. The offensive line is included, and the talent is there in 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediate needs were filled with Kitler at Center and Robinson manning the Left Tackle positions. This includes a returning Carmona who brings 13 starts of knowledge to this season. Offensive Line coach Eric Mateos has much to be excited about as the season nears. How good can this offensive line be in 2025?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Could This Be The Season?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As this season nears, we want to emphasize the importance of this group. In honesty, the success of the offense hinges on how strong they are in 2025. We have discussed the talent and some of the coaching already.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, we look at the reality of the situation for Arkansas. Bluntly speaking, the season rides on how they perform, and last season’s outcome furthers this point. As we have discussed, based on starts, this unit should continue to excel in a brutal conference. With weapons surrounding them, this offense can be one of the more exciting ones across the nation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In closing, this season is vital for not only Pittman but the program. In order for the team to operate fluently from an offensive perspective, the men up front must stay healthy and proficient. `Will the guru of the offensive line finally get a push? We will soon find out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Image: William Purnell-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Taylen Green to be money for Arkansas, the Hogs up front will need to be successful throughout the season. This is what head coach Sam Pittman was known for as he returned to Arkansas six seasons ago. In what was surprising to some, this unit has struggled in Fayetteville despite many injuries that derailed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4207,"featured_media":75005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35588,3],"tags":[34295,314,111],"class_list":["post-74991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-arkansas-razorbacks","category-sec","tag-2024-arkansas-football","tag-arkansas-razorbacks","tag-sam-pittman"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74991"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75007,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74991\/revisions\/75007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}