Arkansas football walks into fall camp without a settled answer at running back.
Junior Braylen Russell and senior transfer Sutton Smith sit atop the depth chart but neither has locked down the job.
The Razorbacks also bring in a handful of younger backs who could push for snaps once camp wraps up.
Russell stands 6-foot-1 and 227 pounds after trimming down from 252 pounds as a true freshman back in 2024.
He sat around 235 pounds this spring and has dropped another eight pounds heading into camp.
That kind of change matters for a back built to absorb contact rather than dodge it.
As a freshman Russell carried the ball 67 times for 354 yards and three touchdowns.
His best moment came against a top-five Tennessee squad when he ripped off back-to-back runs of 24 and 11 yards on Arkansas’ final drive to set up the winning score.
He followed that with 175 yards on 16 carries the next week before a hamstring injury cut his day short.
That injury bug followed him into 2025. Russell missed the final three games of last season and finished with just 55 carries for 286 yards and five scores.
When he has had the ball in his hands though he’s held onto it well with only one fumble on 122 career carries.
Smith brings a different style to Hogs
Sutton Smith gives the Razorbacks a completely different look.
The 5-foot-9 196-pound senior transfer ran for 669 yards and seven touchdowns on 102 carries last season while adding 20 catches for 109 yards.
His 6.6 yards per carry average shows he’s more of a big-play threat than a between-the-tackles bruiser.
Smith has also protected the ball at a high level with just two fumbles across 197 career carries and neither one lost. Arkansas fans already got a look at what he can do against them last year when he broke off a 64-yard touchdown run that put his old team ahead for good.
Coach Ryan Silverfield’s staff will lean on backs who can hang onto the football.
Fumbles hurt the Hogs badly a year ago and any back who struggles with ball security this fall will likely see his carries shrink no matter how explosive he looks.
Younger backs could steal snaps
Sophomore Cam Settles only picked up six carries for 16 yards and two catches for 16 yards last season. Silverfield has called him a good in-between mix of what Russell and Smith bring to the table.
That could get him more touches in 2026.
Jasper Parker transferred in after a freshman season that saw him run 25 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
He played behind three older backs so his workload was limited but coaches reportedly liked what they saw from him in closed spring scrimmages.
Redshirt freshman Markeylin Batton brings serious speed to the room at 5-foot-10 and 181 pounds while true freshman TJ Hodges checks in at 6-foot and 189 pounds.
Both are worth watching once fall camp opens for real.
Key takeaways
- Arkansas football has no clear starter at running back with Russell and Smith both fighting for the job
- Ball security will be a major factor in how coaches divide carries this fall
- Younger backs like Settles Parker Batton and Hodges could all carve out roles behind the top two
