Sam Pittman weighs in on Arkansas' open QB competition, other key position battles during spring practice

The starting quarterback position is up for grabs at Arkansas with spring practice set to kick off Thursday. The Razorbacks lost KJ Jefferson, who started each of the past three seasons, to the transfer portal, and coach Sam Pittman is giving everyone a chance to compete.

Arkansas added Boise State transfer Taylen Green, who is expected to battle with Jacolby Criswell and redshirt freshman Malachi Singleton. Speaking on The Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday, Pittman seemed to indicate that each player will get the chance to show what they can do.

He also addressed a couple of other positions at receiver and in the secondary where battles will take place.

“We’ll have an open battle for (quarterback),” Pittman said. “Obviously, I think everybody knows we went into the portal and got Taylen Green, who we’re very happy he’s on our football team. Obviously with competition, everybody gets better out of it. For one thing, we’ve extended 7-on-7. We’ve got some quarterbacks that we need to see. We’ve got some receivers, Jordan Anthony‘s a new receiver. We’ve got some new safeties and corners, so we’ve extended 7-on-7 period up to eight minutes each day.”

Green brings the most starting experience of the bunch. He started each of the past two seasons at Boise State, winning the Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2022. Standing 6-foot-6 and 221 pounds, he also brings a dual-threat ability similar to what Jefferson displayed at Arkansas.

Green totaled 3,794 yards, 25 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in the past two years with the Broncos. He also managed 1,026 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns. He figures to be the unofficial frontrunner, but Criswell also has a solid case.

Criswell transferred from North Carolina ahead of the 2023 season and played four games. His best game came at the end of the year against Missouri as he finished 12-of-20 for 96 yards and a touchdown. He would also brings capability as a runner as it looks like Arkansas will continue to have a dual-threat option.

Finally, Singleton come in a little bit behind both Green and Criswell due to having the least experience. He ranked as the No. 372 overall prospect and No. 23 quarterback in the 2023 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Pittman hopes to find an answer on who the Arkansas starting quarterback will be by the time spring practice is over, and it will certainly be an exciting race to follow. Green and Criswell will get the chance to show fans what they can do when the Razorbacks host their annual spring game on April 13.

“We’ve got to evaluate these quarterbacks,” Pittman said. “We’ve got to do it early because I would like to know who the starting quarterback is coming out of spring ball. I think we can, but the only way you can do that is to give the kids more reps to get them more opportunity to compete. So that’s one of the ways that we’re gonna get that evaluated.”