TUSK TALK: Who's on the Menu Should Pittman Go Quarterback Shopping?

Hogs landing coveted prospect would potentially doom 2022 for Kiffin's Rebels

With Kade Renfro down with a torn ACL and Malik Hornsby having struggled with live action throughout the season, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman has indicated there is now a possibility that he will consider looking for a quarterback after choosing to not sign one in the early signing period.

"If we got to a total of six [available scholarships], would we use it on a quarterback? Possibly," Pittman said. "If you ended up doing (the portal), you’d certainly need to sit down and talk to Malik and KJ about it before you ever would do it."

Clearly Pittman and his staff are busy with preparations for the Outback Bowl game against Penn State. However, just like a good athletics director always keeps a side eye out for the next coach in line should the need suddenly arise, any coach worth his salt does the same with quarterbacks.

Arkansas backup quarterback Malik Hornsby during drills in spring practice in April / Photo by Andy Hodges

So who might Pittman and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles have in mind?

If the idea is to go the transfer portal route, the shiniest toy on the shelf appears to be Cameron Ward.

Ward is the second highest rated quarterback in the portal behind five-star Quinn Ewers who recently left Ohio State for Texas. He also is highly desirable because whoever lands him gets a player with up to four years of eligibility.

Ward is a curious case because, although he grades out just short of being a five-star, he chose to sign with Incarnate World last year out of high school.

Ward’s light offer list probably had more to do with him being from West Columbia, Texas, a town of less than 4,000 people. It could also be the system from which he came, an early 1990s style Wing-T offense that limited him to just over 1,000 yards passing.

However, after Ward made FCS teams look like opponents from the old Tecmo Bowl game, throwing for 4,648 yards and 47 touchdowns and laying claim to the Jerry Rice Award for most outstanding FCS freshman, he’s become a hot commodity.

Ward’s most infamous game came in a shootout against former Arkansas Razorback quarterback Cole Kelley and Southeast Louisiana. Ward threw for 610 yards and seven touchdowns in a 55-52 regulation win.

Landing Ward would not only mean adding a talented quarterback to the room at Arkansas, it would mean denying Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin a key piece he’s intending to build his entire 2022 season around.

However, with offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby gone to Oklahoma, the Hogs have an outside chance should they choose to make a push. Winning the battle would most likely force the Rebels into the Zach Calzada sweepstakes, which is a far cry from the Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, Ward buffet Ole Miss fans thought they’d be snacking from a few weeks ago.

As far as signing a high school quarterback in February, it probably isn’t going to happen.

Not one Top 300 quarterback delayed signing last week. Scour the list of top unsigned high school talent and you won’t find a quarterback among them.

If it’s going to happen and it’s not Ward, the Razorbacks may have to run with K.J. Jefferson, Lucas Coley, and Hornsby during the spring and see what shakes out in the portal afterward.

Either way, Pittman and Briles have an eye somewhere. We just may never know for sure where.

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