Linebackers Make Plays In Scrimmage

For years Arkansas has found a hard time fielding a group of linebackers on a given Saturday. Heck, for a long time it has been tough finding enough of them to fill the depth chart during the preseason. To shore up things, defensive coordinator Barry Odom went back to his old stomping ground to find graduate transfer linebacker Levi Draper.

Draper, a former four-star linebacker from Collinsville, Oklahoma was a U.S. Army All-American at inside linebacker during his high school career. The 6’3 linebacker committed to the Oklahoma Sooners over instate Oklahoma State, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and many more. He was ranked as the 118th prospect in his class.

“Draper seemed to play well today,” Pittman said. “JT (Towers) played well today and so did Edwards. They knew that they did not play very well last week and they made sure to make plays today.

JT Towers was another one of those guys that did not receive much attention from larger FBS and Power Five programs. Towers, a former quarterback turned linebacker at Joe T. Robinson High School, was a force at his linebacker position in high school. He also gives you more size at the position at 6’4 but on the smaller side concerning late as he is listed at 205 pounds on the Razorback roster. During his senior year Towers led his team with a staggering 171 total tackles as a senior in 2019, producing 105 solo stops and 47 tackles for loss, including 11 sacks. He also forced four fumbles and recovered another leading Senators to a 14-1 record and number seven ranking in the state of Arkansas, rolling to the 2019 4A State Championship behind a 56-28 victory in the title game.