The Arkansas Razorbacks signed 17 scholarship freshmen in the 2024 recruiting class, and a handful of those newcomers are already primed to see action in their first season of college football.
Most of those freshmen were early enrollees in the spring, while three joined the team in the summer. All of them have now experienced their first fall camp, and they are currently going through the first week of classes while preparing for their first game against UAPB on Thursday, Aug. 29.
After going to all the fall camp (and spring) practices, HawgBeat has tabbed four freshmen who can make a true impact on the Razorbacks this fall.
WR CJ Brown - Bentonville High School (AR)
As far as I can tell, no other freshman has played more with the starters than Brown in practice. Part of that is due to injuries suffered by projected starters Andrew Armstrong and Tyrone Broden (neither serious, stay calm), but Brown has also held his own.
"CJ with his position is kind of like Broden's where he has to move around a lot inside and outside," receivers coach Ronnie Fouch said Aug. 6. "He's really good in the slot on, you know, some out option routes and stuff like that."
In a wide receiver room that returned all of its notable targets from a year ago and added two transfers, it's Brown who's been earning the opportunity to play with the first team offense. At 6-foot-1, 193 pound pass catcher is a smooth route runner, but he also has breakaway speed that made him an elite returner in high school.
"CJ Brown has really been phenomenal," co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson said Aug. 12. "He does a good job. He doesn’t look like a freshman from my seat and what we face at practice."
The top three wideouts are Armstrong, Broden and Isaiah Sategna, but Brown has a case for being as high as the next man up on the depth chart. Other names such as Jaedon Wilson, Davion Dozier and Monte Harrison are right there are well.
A three-star out of Bentonville High School, Brown caught 55 passes for 1,254 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior for the Tigers in 2023. He also returned five kickoffs, three of which he took for touchdowns.
"CJ Brown’s done a great job as a freshman," tight end Luke Hasz said Thursday. "He doesn’t look like a freshman. He’s done a great job."
CB Selman Bridges - Lake Belton High School (TX)
Arkansas secondary is pretty loaded with returning talent and transfer additions, but that didn't stop freshman Selman Bridges from seeing limited time as a first team corner in fall camp.
Rated as a four-star prospect out of Lake Belton High School in Temple, Texas, Bridges has the size (6'2", 175 lbs) combined with skills to see the field early in his college career.
"Selman Bridges is another one that the future is bright with him as well," Marcus Woodson said. "He's a long corner, can run, loves to compete. Got to continue to work on getting him stronger to be prepared for this conference and everything that he has to face, but we're excited about him. He's someone that's going to have to play as well. So we're excited about the corner group as well."
Sophomore Jaylon Braxton has one starting corner spot locked down, but the other seems to be up for grabs still. While Bridges is not the first option, he could see himself log a decent amount of snaps in the secondary this year similar to how Braxton made a move as a true freshman last year.
"If you would have asked me last year at this time, would Jaylon Braxton have played the role that he played for us last year, I wouldn’t have believed it," Woodson said. "But he had to step in when some older guys got banged up and the rest is history. So we just have to have him prepared. Once you go on that field as one of the 11, you are a starter, right? So we feel like if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. That’s the expectation."
Braxton ended up with 376 total snaps on defense last year at corner. While it will be hard for Bridges to replicate that, he has the tools. As a senior at Lake Belton, Bridges had 19 total tackles, three pass breakups and one interception.
RB Braylen Russell - Benton High School (AR)
The freshman myself and others are anticipating the most is big freshman running back Braylen Russell out of Benton High School. The four-star prospect checks in at 6-foot-1, 253 pounds.
Russell is part of a backfield that begins with Ja'Quinden Jackson and Rashod Dubinion, but is somewhat of a question mark after that. Florida State transfer Rodney Hill is a solid option as a 5-foot-10, 186-pound receiving back, while JUCO transfer Tyrell Reed Jr. is a little different at 5-foot-10, 211 pounds.
As for Russell, he can really do it all, but it's the speed paired with his size that makes it look pretty daunting to tackle him.
"He’s been good, he’s been good," running backs coach Kolby Smith said Aug. 9. "He’s still a freshman. It’s a lot different, the volume that we carry on offense is more than what he’s used to, but he’s doing a good job of studying and doing all the little things he needs to do to understand what we’re doing offensively."
During the second closed scrimmage of Arkansas' fall camp Thursday, Russell broke off runs of 30 and 25 yards, while also adding a 7-yard touchdown run. According to Smith, Russell can also catch the ball out of the backfield well.
"He has nice, soft hands," Smith said. "He can make people miss in the open field when he catches it. He did it a couple of times yesterday in the scrimmage. I think that’s another option for us, another weapon for us, using him as a receiver from the backfield."
Russell ran for 1,359 yards and 20 touchdowns for Benton High School last fall. While he won't have a workload like that for the Razorbacks this year, head coach Sam Pittman said Russell will play.
"He’s going to be in the rotation and he’s going to help us," Pittman said Aug. 8. "He’s a good player. He’s a hard runner but he’s also faster than what you might think and he’s also got a bad to the bone stiff arm. I mean he’s really good with that.
"His consistency of hitting the hole hard is what he’s got to improve on and he knows that. He won’t be disappointed that I said that. He knows that. If he does that he’s going to become a really, really good football player, a real good back."
LB Bradley Shaw - Hoover High School (AL)
After Arkansas lost its top four linebackers to the transfer portal over the offseason, the Hogs needed to go out and rebuild that position group. Defensive coordinator Travis Williams did just that, and he might've proven some doubters (myself included) wrong.
Looking at the team's linebacker room in the spring was concerning, but summer additions — including Shaw — made it arguably the deepest room on the team.
Headlined by Georgia transfer Xavian Sorey Jr., the room also added Shaw, Utah State transfer Anthony Switzer, Marshall transfer Stephen Dix Jr. and freshman Wyatt Simmons.
What was once an inexperienced group is now a linebacker room that features plenty of players with different skillsets.
Sorey, Dix, Switzer and sophomore Brad Spence are likely going to log the most snaps at linebacker. But Shaw is one of the more intriguing prospects of the next handful as a four-star prospect out of Hoover, Alabama.
"He's mean," Travis Williams said Aug. 14. "You won't even know he's in the room. Doesn't say much, very mature, very smart. His high school he came from Hoover, Alabama. They've done a great job just coaching him up. He gets it.
"Has some really good 'FBI.' He has really good football IQ. It comes easy. So, we're dual-training him as well. He's a kid that has a bright future. He's doing some really good stuff."
While I haven't seen as much as Shaw (6'1", 235 lbs) due to him enrolling late, I know the coaches were very happy when they landed him and they really believe in their young linebackers.
"He came in as a freshman and made a big impact," Spence said Aug. 14 of Shaw. "Most freshman don’t get to play as much when they first come in. I feel like he’s one of the ones that get to play their freshman year.
"I feel like he’s going to bring a lot of the help to the defense this year. He’s got a lot of speed on him. It was natural that he became my buddy. Me and him got the same name. Brad.”
