Sam Pittman explains change in mindset regarding depth chart

Depth charts don’t necessarily mean much during the spring. It gives a very simple idea of where a program’s football team starts. However, that will all definitely change by the fall, let alone several times already over the spring. Still, considering how Arkansas’ has looked during this period, Sam Pittman had to explain the method to his madness.

Pittman addressed his continuously changing depth chart during media on Tuesday. He said he had the idea to repeatedly rotate the chart sometime last season because of the injury issues that the Razorbacks dealt with. He then added that he’s using it as a way to show everyone in the building that nothing is set in stone as they continue to evaluate their talent.

“I think it first came up in my mind when we had injuries last year,” Pittman said. “At some positions, we were ready for that. And some we weren’t. I just think that was the beginning of the thinking of that.”

“The other thing is we’re really not gonna play anybody until September. So we have plenty of time,” added Pittman. “It’s not like we’re not finding out where they can play…A little bit of that is helping us find out who our really good players are. And then who are our guys who we need to continue to develop.”

Again, not much is decided at this time of the year, especially down in Fayetteville considering all things. Some of the only guarantees you could even begin to forecast are names like KJ Jefferson at quarterback or ‘Rocket’ Sanders at running back. Besides that and a few other veterans, you can’t put much else in bold yet.

A big part of that is because of the turnover Pittman and the ‘Hogs are dealing with. To start, they signed 18 players in their 2023 class that finished Top-25 in the country. After that, we get to their transfer portal interactions where they were an incredibly busy program with 39 transactions. 27 players ended up leaving Arkansas, which was the most among the Top-50 classes in On3’s Team Transfer Portal Rankings. 12 transfers then came in to join their roster.

Combine all those circumstances and you see why everything is up for grabs in Pittman’s eyes. They’re dealing with a major mix of old friends and fresh faces. Until Arkansas can get it all sorted out themselves, putting out some form of a depth chart would be useless considering what all will change for them on a day-by-day basis. That’s why, for now, Pittman has no issue keeping everyone on the outside guessing because, in all honesty, he and his staff are likely having to do it for the time being too.