Arkansas closed its regular season with yet another loss to Missouri on Black Friday, finishing at 6-6.

There were plenty of high expectations for the Razorbacks following a 9-4 season in 2021, so an up-and-down season is actually hard to grade considering there were so many highs and lows.

But here we go:

Quarterback: B-

If it weren’t for KJ Jefferson, this position group would’ve been in a helpless state. It was very apparent how needed Jefferson was in the quarterback room when the Hogs went on the road to play Mississippi State.

Arkansas played musical chairs at the position throughout the 1st half of the season before settling on Malik Hornsby. Although he showed flashes with elite speed and deep throws, Hornsby was inconsistent otherwise. And his performance against LSU left much to be desired.

Jefferson had to fight through pain throughout the regular season, posting another impressive touchdown-to-interception ratio of 22 to 4. The redshirt junior threw for 2,361 yards with a 68.3% completion rate.

Running back: B+

Wow! Wasn’t Raheim Sanders impressive this season? The true sophomore finished the regular season with 1,426 yards. That alone was good enough for the 4th-best rushing season in school history.

Sanders also finished with 10 total touchdowns and a career-high 232 yards against Ole Miss. He rushed for at least 101 yards in 6 of his 1st 8 games in 2022. But it was easy to tell he was worn down after the Auburn performance.

AJ Green and Rashod Dubinion played their roles perfectly as change-of-pace backs. Green finished with 317 yards and 2 touchdowns, which were both career-highs for the Oklahoma native.

Dubinion, a Georgia native, scored 3 touchdowns as a true freshman. He showed plenty of speed on the edge to beat defenders.

Wide receiver/tight end: B

When the season turned to the BYU game, it was apparent how lucky Arkansas was that it landed 2 transfer receivers. Matt Landers had a terrific 2nd half of the season, finishing with 44 receptions for 780 yards and 7 touchdowns, which are all career-highs. He was an exceptional deep threat, too, finishing at 17.7 yards per catch.

Jadon Haselwood also had a career season, with a team-high 59 receptions for 702 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Offensive line: C+

The offensive line was very impressive through the first 8 games of the season. However, when the Hogs returned home to play Liberty to begin the November slate, things took a turn for the worse.

Arkansas cut its teeth offensively by running the football and being the alpha in physicality. The Razorbacks rushed for 335 yards against Ole Miss on Nov. 19. But Arkansas only rushed for a high of 144 yards during its other 3 games in November.

Defensive line: B+

This unit had to be the surprise of the team, as it helped the defense sack opposing quarterbacks 39 times, good enough for 4th in all of college football. The defensive line recorded 19 of those sacks. That’s outstanding for a defensive unit that hasn’t recorded that many sacks since the 2010 team had 37.

Linebacker: A

We’ll keep it short and sweet here. Chris Paul is the future of this defense. He played in certain pass rushing situations and when Bumper Pool or Drew Sanders needed breathers. Paul was finally awarded his 1st start against Missouri. The redshirt freshman finished with 50 tackles — the 6th-highest on the team — 8 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.

Pool and Sanders were expected to be stalwarts on defense, and they met their expectations as elite tacklers. They even rushed the passer well.

Sanders finished with a team-high 103 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.

Pool finished his career against Mississippi. The super senior’s season ended with injuries to both hips. He still recorded 92 tackles, 4.5 for loss and 2 sacks. The Texas native also topped the school’s all-time leading tackler list, breaking Tony Bua’s record that he had held since 2003.

Defensive back: C-

Look, I’m being very generous with this grade. The secondary was quite awful and, honestly, the worst unit on the team. It was continuously beaten with the deep ball, and the warning signs were there from the jump.

Some of the blame can be put on the injuries to Jalen Catalon and Myles Slusher. Their backups were marginal at best. At 1 point the Hogs had to bring over 2 wide receivers to provide depth at the position when they traveled to BYU. In that game, the Hogs had 6 defensive backs out but still came through with a win.

The bright spot from this group was Clarendon, Arkansas, freshman standout Quincey McAdoo. He started the final 4 games after converting from wide receiver. McAdoo almost single-handedly brought his team back from a 21-0 hole against Liberty by forcing a safety and with an interception.

Specialists: C

Cam Little missed a huge game-winning field goal against Texas A&M, and the season began to spiral downward. The sophomore still had an exceptional season, not missing an extra point for the 2nd straight year. He was also still just as accurate on field goals, finishing 12 for 15 with a career-long 51-yarder against Mississippi State.

However, punting was a little Jekyll and Hyde. Arkansas used 2 punters in senior Reid Bauer and true freshman Max Fletcher. They averaged 41 yards per punt, with Bauer booming an 83-yarder.

It wasn’t always pretty, and it wasn’t always easy, but that’s why the Razorbacks finished the regular season at .500.