Arkansas football all-time roster: Defensive starters and backups
The list of all-time greats at the University of Arkansas is hardly a short one.
So when it came time to select the Razorbacks’ All-Time Roster, the task took months. Even now, about 16 weeks after considering the undertaking, we could hear arguments for moving some our listed back-ups to starters, adding a player for another here and there. We aren’t perfect.
But it isn’t about being perfect. It’s about re-living the greatness. It’s about talking again about the careers of Hogs from the recent past and, in some cases, the not-so-recent past.
Take a look.
We started Monday with the offense. Now, it’s the defense. Let us know who should have been represented that wasn’t and how we got it all wrong.
Just if you do, make sure to create your own list and share it with us, too. Hopefully you’ll have just as much fun as we did.
Without further ado, this is Razorbacks Wire‘s All-Time Arkansas Football Roster: The Defense.
Check out our other College Wire all-time lineups: Alabama / Auburn / Clemson / Colorado / Florida / Georgia / Iowa / LSU / Michigan / Michigan State / Nebraska / North Carolina / Notre Dame / Ohio State / Oklahoma / Oregon / Penn State / Rutgers / Tennessee / Texas / Texas A&M / USC / Wisconsin
Starting DE 1: Billy Ray Smith Jr.
Oct 16, 1988; Miami, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; San Diego Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith (54) in action against the Miami Dolphins at Joe Robbie Stadium during the 1988 season. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Smith was a monster, especially for a guy even during his era considered on a the slender side. He was a two-time All-American at Arkansas in the early 1980s and was an All-Pro with the San Diego Chargers in 1989.
Starting DE 2: Raylee Johnson
Jan 29, 1995; Miami, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; San Diego Chargers defensive end Raylee Johnson (99) reacts after sacking San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young (8) during Super Bowl XXIX at Joe Robbie Stadium. San Francisco defeated San Diego 49-26. Mandatory Credit: Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Johnson’s career at Arkansas was good, registering 16 sacks in his seasons in Fayetteville. He then went on to play 11 years in the NFL and finished with 47 sacks in 2004.
Reserve DE 1: Chris Smith
Nov 9, 2013; Oxford, MS, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks defensive end Chris Smith (42) breaks through the block of Mississippi Rebels defensive back Cliff Coleman (6) during the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mississippi Rebels defeat the Arkansas Razorbacks with a score of 34-24. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
With this Smith coming off one edge and his fellow reserve on this list coming off the other, Arkansas’ pass rush in the early 2010s was something to behold. Smith’s 21 1/2 sacks are fourth in school history.
Reserve DE 2: Trey Flowers
Jan 06, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks defensive end Trey Flowers (86) during the game against the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2012 Cotton Bowl at Cowboys Stadium. Arkansas won 29-16. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Flowers – along with Johnson – has probably turned in the best NFL career among players who played defensive end primilary. He was a stud in Fayetteville, where his 18 sacks are seventh all time.
Starting DT 1: Dick Bumpas
Dec 28, 2010; Los Angeles, CA, USA; TCU Horned Frogs defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas at the press conference for the 2011 Rose Bowl at the Marriott in downtown Los Angeles. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports
Bumpas was an All-American and perhaps the best defensive player on the field in the Game of the Century against Texas in 1969, putting him on a short list of Greatest Arkansas Players of All-Time
Starting DT 2: Wayne Martin
Sep 29, 1991; Atlanta, GA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Wayne Martin (93) in action against the Atlanta Falcons at Fulton County Stadium. FILE PHOTO; Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY Sports
No former Razorbacks player has more NFL sacks than Wayne Martin’s 82 1/2. He’s third in New Orleans Saints history. He’s also tops in Arkansas history. Martin registered 25 1/2 in his four years in Fayetteville from 1985-88.
Reserve DT 1: Henry Ford
Ford was a defensive end and defensive tackle at Arkansas and no one in school history could shift between the two like he did in the early 1990s. Throw on top of that a decade’s worth of NFL and his status as the first player in school history to earn All-SEC and All-American honors from both the AP and coaches and he deserves his spot.
6 Sep 1998: Defensive tackle Henry Ford #92 of the Tennessee Oilers looks on during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Oilers defeated the Bengals 23-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark Lyons /Allsport
Reserve DT 2: Dan Hampton
Aug 4, 1990; Canton, OH, USA; FILE PHOTO; Chicago Bears defensive end Dan Hampton (99) during the 1990 Hall of Fame Game against the Cleveland Browns at Fawcett Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Photo By USA TODAY Sports
Defensive tackles don’t register lots of tackles totals or sack totals. Even the best ones of all-time, if that’s their primary position, they aren’t leading the league very often. Such was Hampton, a heck of a player for Arkansas and those horrifyingly good Bears defenses of the 1980s.
Starting LB 1: Ronnie Caveness
Jul. 16, 2010; South Bend, IN, USA; College Football Hall of Fame enshrinees Chet Moeller of Navy, left and Ronnie Caveness of Arkansas wave during the College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival Grand Parade before the enshrinement ceremony. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Caveness was a first-team All-American in both 1963 and ’64 and led the Arkansas defensive in its national championship season. He owns three of the top four individual tackling games in Arkansas history, including the first two spots. An absolute icon.
Starting LB 2: Jermaine Petty
Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt, center, gets his team motivated during practice at Brentwood Academy on Dec. 27, 2002, as they prepare for the Music City Bowl.
Houston Nutt Music City Bowl
Petty’s career at Arkansas was brief, but memorable. He was a first-team All-American in 2001 after registering 140 tackles. But to many, he’s the guy who stopped Ole Miss in the longest football game ever played (at the time).
Starting LB 2: Cliff Powell
University of Arkansas defensive line coach Jim Mackenzie, left, new head coach of the University of Oklahoma football team, talks over final defensive plays with head coach Frank Broyles on Dec. 31, 1965 in Dallas, TX, as they wind up practice for their game against Louisiana State University in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. (AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky)
Powell was the best linebacker on the best Arkansas teams in history. A two-time All-SWC first-teamer and an All-American in 1969, Powell was the school’s all-time leading tackler until 2002. He’s still seventh despite playing his final game more than 50 years ago.
Reserve LB 1: Steven Conley
12 Oct 1997: Steven Conley #53 of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at the Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Colts 24-22. Mandatory Credit: Robert Laberge /Allsport
The pass-rushing specialist of the group, no one has matched Conley’s 23 1/3 tackles for-loss in 1995 since he put it up in 1995. Nor his 14 sacks that same season. An edge-rusher supreme.
Reserve LB 2: Caleb Miller
DALLAS – JANUARY 1: Linebacker Caleb Miller #43 of the Arkansas Razorbacks gets up after tackling running back Quentin Griffin #22 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the Cotton Bowl on January 1, 2002 in Dallas, Texas. The Sooners defeated the Razorbacks 10-3. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Quick, name the first Arkansas linebacker to show up in the school’s all-time tackles-for-loss leaderboard. It’s Miller, the steady, perpetually underrated leader of the Arkansas defense in the mid 2000s. He’s sixth in school history in total tackles and TFLs.
Reserve LB 3: De'Jon Harris
Aug 31, 2019; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks linebacker De’Jon Harris (8) gets ready for the snap during the game against the Portland State Vikings at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports
Scoota had the unfortunate distinction of being the best defensive player on bad teams. It’s unfair to his legacy, as Harris ranks fifth all-time in tackles. He’d have been a stud on any Hogs defense and could have been a playmaker with more help.
Starting CB 1: Ahmad Carroll
**FILE** Former Arkansas cornerback Ahmad Carroll looks on during practice in Fayetteville, Ark., in this August 18, 2003, file photo. Carroll, a first round draft pick with the Green Bay Packers, was signed by the team on Monday, Aug. 2, 2004. (AP Photo/April L. Brown, File)
The man called ‘Batman’ was a pure athlete. So much so that even with only four interceptions in his three-year career at Arkansas, Green Bay took him in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.
Starting CB 2: Chris Houston
October 18, 2009; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons cornerback Chris Houston (23) and linebacker Mike Peterson (53) shake hands after stopping the Chicago Bears on fourth down at the end of the game in the fourth quarter at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons defeated the Bears 21-14. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine/USA TODAY Sports
Houston and Carroll are the two corners the university named to its All-Decade team of the 2000s. Rightfully. Houston was a shut-down corner, an All-SEC player and an honorable mention All-American with the Hogs from 2003-06.
Reserve CB 1: Orlando Watters
4 Oct 1997: Head coach Danny Ford of the Arkansas Razorbacks looks on during a game against the Florida Gators at Florida Field in Gainesville, Florida. Florida won the game 56-7. Mandatory Credit: Scott Halleran /Allsport
Watters is perhaps the best ballhawk Arkansas has had the last 30 years. His 12 interceptions from 1991-93 remain tied for third in school history. He even had three more in one and only season in the NFL with Seattle.
Reserve CB 2: David Barrett
Aug 30, 2007; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Jets cornerback David Barrett (36) prior to playing a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. The Jets defeated the Eagles 13-11. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2007 Howard Smith
Barrett’s name isn’t atop many of the Arkansas leaderboards. That’s because teams hated throwing to him in the 2000s. Pre-dating Houston and Carroll by a touch, Barrett was the first shutdown corner of Arkansas’ SEC generation. He turned his career with the Hogs into a nine-year NFL career after that, too.
Starting S 1: Ken Hamlin
Safety Ken Hamlin #6 of the Arkansas Razorbacks. The picture was taken during the NCAA Cotton Bowl game against the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas, Texas. The Sooners defeated the Razorbacks 10-3. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory copyright notice: Copyright 2002 NBAE Mandatory Credit: Ronald Martinez /NBAE/Getty Images
Hamlin or Atwater. Atwater or Hamlin. Let’s be honest, picking between the two legendary safeties is folly. They were more or less clones separated by 15 years.
Starting S 2: Steve Atwater
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS – NOVEMBER 06: Head Coach Sam Pittman of the Arkansas Razorbacks arrives at the stadium with former NFL great and Hall of Famer Steve Atwater before a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on November 06, 2021 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Atwater is the best NFL defender the school has ever produced and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Nuff said.
Reserve S 1: Kenoy Kennedy
Sep 20, 1997; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Shaun Alexander (37) carries the ball as Arkansas Razorbacks defensive back Kenoy Kennedy (29) attempts to make the tackle at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
One of the better safeties in the NFL during the first decade of the 2000s, Kennedy plied his trade in the Hogs’ secondary first. He was a two-time All-SEC selection and an All-American in 1999 who followed in Atwater’s hard-hitting footsteps.
Reserve S 2: Tony Bua
ATLANTA – DECEMBER 7: Tailback Musa Smith #32 of the University of Georgia Bulldogs carries the ball past outside linebacker Tony Bua #22 of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks during the SEC Championship game at the Georgia Dome on December 7, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Bulldogs defeated the Razorbacks 30-3. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Perhaps the most popular player on the Razorbacks roster during his time in Fayetteville, Bua was a tackling machine. Able to play both linebacker and safety, he’s still one of the top stoppers in school history. Watching him play was like watching a firecracker explode.
