Arkansas Football: Top 3 prospects for 2021 NFL Draft

Rakeem Boyd came to Fayetteville before the 2018 season with plenty of fanfare. He was a star on Netflix’s Last Chance U and he brought excitement as a big-time JUCO running back at Independence C.C. to Arkansas and didn’t disappoint right away.

In fact, Boyd took over as a starter almost immediately, rushing for 734 yards and two touchdowns while also catching 23 passes for 165 passes as a sophomore in 2018. This was the season Devwah Whaley was expected to break out but he was overshadowed by the JUCO transfer who had everyone in the fanbase in his corner.

Boyd followed that breakout sophomore year with an even better junior season, rushing for 1,133 yards, averaging 6.2 yards per rush. He did average six yards per carry in his first season with Arkansas, but improved just slightly with more carries.

Fans were shocked when Boyd decided to come back for his senior season after rushing for over 1,100 yards, but it’s clear that he still has some work to do if he wants to get selected anywhere from the second to the fourth rounds. He is the Razorbacks’ best chance of a draft pick in 2021, however.