We don’t require a telephone booth or hot tub to travel back in time to tell us which Arkansas alum would be best to pluck from the annals of Razorbacks history to help out the 2016 Hogs.

The first player to come to mind is a resounding Darren McFadden, a former All-American and the program’s leading rusher. This especially makes sense when you consider that Arkansas is looking to replace both Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams out of its backfield this summer.

However, if we’re going all Bill and Ted, perhaps a running back isn’t the best way to go when we take a step back and examine the needs of the fourth installment of the Razorbacks under head coach Bret Bielema. The best route might be to go with a quarterback.

McFadden would help in any era. Who wouldn’t want a player who earned 4,590 yards and 41 touchdowns in three seasons? And Arkansas has its share of questions at running back this year. Gone are Collins and Williams to the NFL, taking with them a combined 6,024 career rushing yards and 52 touchdowns. Collins’ early departure is particularly vexing for Bielema’s offense, given that the back rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his three seasons in Fayetteville — leaving as the Hogs’ second all-time rusher.

Arkansas will enter the fall with a three-way race for the starting running back position between veteran senior Kody Walker and talented underclassmen in sophomore Rawleigh Williams III and touted true freshman Devwah Whaley. The trio has the talent to match, or come close to matching, Collins’ 1,577 yards from last year — whether that’s individually or via a three-way platoon.

The strength of the 2016 Razorbacks rests in the hands of the team’s wide receivers and, true to the modus operandi of Bielema, the squad’s tight ends. The talented corps of pass-catchers returns 10 players who caught a pass in 2015, including six of the Hogs’ eight wide receivers. The lone Razorback wide receivers not back on The Hill are Jojo Robinson and Kendrick Edwards, who were both released last October.

Robinson (6 catches, 53 yards) will be playing at Independence Community College in Kansas, while Edwards (4 catches, 51 yards) traveled down US-63 to Arkansas State.

Add to the mix four-star athlete T.J. Hammonds and three-star recruits in Jordan Jones and Kofi Boateng from the 2016 recruiting class and Arkansas is very deep at the position.

That’s also before we consider the return of Jeremy Sprinkle, who led all SEC tight ends with six receiving touchdowns — three more than teammate Hunter Henry, who was the No. 35 overall pick in this year’s draft by the San Diego Chargers.

This team is built to catch passes now. Bielema needs to find ways to get the ball in the hands of Dominique Reed (535 yards, 6 TDs) and Jared Cornelius (393 yards, 3 TDs) as well as 2015 leading receiver Drew Morgan (843 yards, 10 TDs) and his 2014 counterpart Keon Hatcher, who missed all but two games last year.

There are questions out of the Arkansas backfield, but those issues are dwarfed by concerns under center. Bielema has already dubbed Austin Allen as his starting quarterback, but the junior with 19 career attempts will be on a short leash with pressure coming from backup underclassmen Rafe Peavey, Ty Storey and Ricky Town. The quartet isn’t without its talent but is sorely lacking in the experience department.

If we’re going to select an alumni to come in and take control of the 2016 team, it has to be a quarterback.

Two popular choices are Tyler Wilson and Ryan Mallett. After all, just 272 yards separates the former over the latter atop the Razorbacks’ all-time passing leaderboard. Both have the numbers, acumen and leadership ability that Arkansas needs from the position with such a loaded arsenal flanking out wide.

It’s essentially a coin flip between Mallett and Wilson. Which leads us to another potential option at quarterback.

Alas, the best player for the job is probably the guy who Bielema is attempting to replace.

Brandon Allen came of age in the second half of the 2015 season, the last of his roller coaster (and sometimes fiery) career in Fayetteville.

Allen finished his time at Arkansas third on the all-time list behind Wilson and Mallett with 7,463 yards but left the program as the record-holder for career touchdowns with 64 scoring passes. He developed a toughness toward the end of his career that propelled the Razorbacks to wins in seven of their final nine games. That came on the back of a 3,440-yard and 30-touchdown campaign. No one has a better rapport with this collection of receivers than him.

Of course, it would sting presumptive starter Austin Allen to be replaced, once again, by his older brother. But another year with Brandon Allen under center could be what Arkansas needs, particularly due to the tough nature of this year’s Razorback schedule that includes a cross-divisional game against Florida and an early season tilt with TCU.

We don’t even need a time machine to go back and get him. We just need something exponentially more difficult to obtain: the NCAA’s approval for a sixth year of eligibility.

Christopher C. Wuensch is a contributor to Saturday Down South. Contact him at Christopher.Wuensch@gmail.com