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The Razorbacks have added five players to the commitment list and lost two others since we last played with the 247sports.com Recruiting Class Calculator, so let's take another look and see how Arkansas can still earn that Top 25 ranking.
Since last week, Arkansas has added:
And parted ways with
In spite of all the movement, Arkansas' current ranking is virtually unchanged. The Razorbacks now have 204.26 points and ranked 32nd. Why? The players added, even if they turn out to be fantastic players down the line, are not highly rated so adding them doesn't help Arkansas' ranking very much. And while losing Mosley doesn't really hurt Arkansas for the same reason, Pierce was one of the higher-rated prospects on Arkansas' list, so the Hogs point total is slightly less than what it was last week.
The Razorbacks now count 23 players to the commitment list, and at this point, are basically awaiting word from a few of the higher-profile names on the wish list. They'll need some of them to substantially move up in the rankings. And currently, there's a sizable gap between #31 Virginia (205.30 points) and #30 Wisconsin (210.09) so the Hogs still have work to do.
The biggest name is still 5* defensive end Solomon Thomas. Thomas took his official visit to Fayetteville last weekend. Of course, all reports indicate he had a good time. Bret Bielema is scheduled to do an in-home at Thomas' house today, and it's expected that Thomas will announce on Signing Day. Still like last week, Thomas alone puts Arkansas at 218.52 points and likely in the Top 25.
Arkansas fans were hoping to get a commitment from 4* wide receiver Jojo Robinson during or immediately following his visit this weekend, but it didn't happen. Robinson is also expected to announce on Signing Day, and his Crystal Ball predictions are still heavily in favor of Arkansas. Just adding Robinson put Arkansas at 209.86 points, so the Hogs will still need more help.
Announcing Friday afternoon is offensive lineman Frank Ragnow, and most believe he's choosing between his home team Minnesota and Arkansas - with the Gophers owning most of his predictions. We'll have to see if Sam Pittman can pull another rabbit out of his hat. Ragnow puts Arkansas at 209.01 points. Paired with Robinson, Arkansas is at 214.13 - just those two probably puts Arkansas barely on the outside of the Top 25.
Another offensive lineman the Hogs are shooting for is Andrew Mike, who visited Fayetteville the January 17th weekend. He visited Florida last weekend but didn't commit as some thought he might. His most recent Crystal Ball predictions are from the Arkansas reporters on 247 and they both picked him to go to Arkansas. His commitment would be worth about 3.4 points in the rankings.
There's been a lot of talk about Demetrius Jackson, but I'm not going to pretend to have any idea what's going on there. We'll just have to watch this one play out. All I know is he'd be worth about the same as Andrew Mike in the rankings. He'd also potentially be Arkansas' 6th player from South Florida in this class, which would be impressive.
Last week we mentioned Zack Wary, the linebacker from Rogers, and although he's still the same player and this doesn't impact his ability on the field whatsoever, 247 dropped him from a 4* to a 3*, which means his impact on the class ranking is now very small. It's unfortunate, but that's how this works. We also mentioned linebacker Sharieff Raheed, who was getting several Crystal Ball predictions to Arkansas a little over a week ago, but updates on him have fallen quiet. One of the Arkansas 247 reporters also changed his prediction from Arkansas to Michigan State. At least on the surface it appears he won't be coming to Arkansas. Of course, that could change, but that's how it appears right now.
So, in short, Arkansas is in a pretty similar place to last week, but the options are being eliminated. If Arkansas doesn't get Thomas, they'll need Robinson (most likely) or Ragnow, plus some help from somewhere else. If the Hogs whiff on Thomas, Robinson, and Ragnow, I don't see them making the cut into the Top 25. If they get both Thomas and Robinson, there's a good chance Arkansas could be around Top 20.
Other than Ragnow, it appears all these players won't be announcing until next week, so it should be fun.
And, as always with recruiting, there could always be a total surprise somewhere. Arkansas is expected to host 4* linebacker and Ole Miss commit Breeland Speaks this weekend, and while I haven't seen anybody say they expect Arkansas to get him, we'll wait until they all sign.
*Disclaimer: all references to rankings are from the 247 composite rankings. They may be slightly different at Rivals, Scout, or ESPN. We're not advertising one as being the best, but 247 does have the cool recruiting class calculator, so we used it.
