Xavian Sorey Jr. taking leadership role in final season at Arkansas
There are a bevy of new players on the defensive side of the ball for the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2025, and Xavian Sorey Jr. is taking on a leadership role with the Hogs.
A second-year linebacker at Arkansas, Sorey transferred in from Georgia ahead of last season. He started all 13 games and led the Hogs with 99 total tackles while tying for the team lead in tackles for loss with 9.5. He also had two sacks, an interception, a pass breakup and three quarterback hurries.
Now with just one year of college football left, Sorey said he’s starting to become a more vocal leader.
“I lead by example, but since the spring I’ve been better about being vocal,” Sorey said at SEC Media Days. “More comfortable, I would say. When you know your teammates well, you can, not get on them, but you can talk to them and do things like that.”
In the linebacker room, Sorey is one of two redshirt seniors who played on last year’s team along with Stephen Dix Jr. They’re tasked with helping put together a defense that has a lot of new pieces.
“I feel like everything’s coming together good,” Sorey said. “Even since the spring, we’ve added a lot of players in the summer. So when we line up to play football this fall, it’s not the same team as the spring.”
Several of those new pieces are true freshmen, with guys like Tavion Wallace and J.J. Shelton, among others, who could contribute to the Hogs in 2025.
“All our freshmen that came in,” Sorey said of new faces that could earn snaps. “All those guys are dogs, all them are hungry and they’re working…our freshman class is a great freshman class.”
The Razorbacks will begin fall camp soon ahead of the start of the season, which is against Alabama A&M on Aug. 30 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
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