RAZORBACKS (cont.)

Fortin was a four-star recruit, ESPN rated him the No. 17 quarterback in the nation, and he started his career at North Carolina.

Whether it’s Jefferson, Hornsby or Fortin throwing passes Arkansas has to find other wide receivers to get the job done.

Pittman is counting on Oklahoma transfer Jadon Haselwood and former Georgia and Toledo wide receiver Matt Landers to be in the mix. Haselwood led the Sooners with 39 receptions for six touchdowns in 2021. Those catches went for 399 yards. Landers had 20 catches for 514 yards and five touchdowns.

Haselwood, true freshman Quincy McAdoo, Landon Rogers, Jaedon Wilson and Harper Cole all went through spring drills.

Landers, Isaiah Sategna and Sam Mbake have since joined the team in the summer.

“Isaiah has very good ball skills, can separate,” Pittman said. “He’s exactly what we thought he would be. Mbake is a big, long, physical guy that can run.

We like him as well. We think we hit on all three of those guys there.”

Landers started his career at Georgia and played one season at Toledo. In Pittman’s first game at Arkansas, Landers caught two passes for the Bulldogs. Pittman remembered Landers from his freshman year in Pittman’s last season with the Bulldogs.

“Matt is a guy I knew from Georgia when I was there,” Pittman said. “He certainly looks different than he did when he was a freshman at Georgia. He’s big, physical. He can run, now. I mean, he can fly. I think what he’s done is he’s made us better. He’s made Warren Thompson better. He’s made Ketron Jackson better, and that’s because of the heat his presence puts on them. So I think on the outside we’re going to be in pretty good shape. I really do. But I think he’s going to help us, and I think he’ll help us a lot.”

Sategna is a true freshman from Fayetteville High School who didn’t report until late May, early June.

As a senior, Sategna caught 100 passes for 1,908 yards and 17 touchdowns while also rushing four times for 147 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s really smart, so he learns fast,” Pittman said.

“That’s the one thing that NCAA has allowed us to do is have meetings, so that’s helped us. In the past, there wasn’t as much meeting time. Now, we’re able to meet, so he’s picking it up fast. He picks up the offense fast. The number one thing that keeps young kids off the field is they don’t know the offense. They don’t know the defense. So therefore, they’re thinking and you’re not seeing their full athletic ability. Again, he has great ball skills, and he can separate on a route. And I think those are things you saw in high school. And he’s fast.

Those things you saw in high school, but I knew he was a smart guy. I knew he was a smart kid, but he really picked up the offense fast.”