FAYETTEVILLE -- The news that has felt imminent for University of Arkansas football since the end of the regular season became official on Tuesday as All-SEC linebacker Drew Sanders announced that he was declaring early for the NFL Draft and bypassing the Razorbacks' appearance in the Liberty Bowl.
Sanders delivered the news to ESPN, saying, "Football isn't a lifetime sport; it's a once-in-a-lifetime sport. It's always been a dream for me to play in the NFL, ever since I can remember. There's an opportunity for me to take and I want to take it."
The 6-5, 240-pounder and potential first-round NFL Draft pick was named first-team All-SEC by The Associated Press on Monday and SEC coaches followed suit on Tuesday.
The junior from Denton, Texas, made an immediate impact for the Razorbacks after his transfer from Alabama. Benefiting from schemes created by defensive coordinator Barry Odom to accentuate his pass-rushing skills, Sanders racked up five sacks in the first three games to lead the nation at that stage. He finished with 9.5 sacks, second in the SEC behind Alabama's Will Anderson (10) and he was fourth in the SEC with a team-high 103 tackles.
Sanders was asked after the Razorbacks' regular season-ending 29-27 loss at Missouri about his season and his prospects for 2023.
"It went pretty well," Sanders said. "Obviously with all of the close games that we lost it was frustrating, but playing in this defense is fun, and just the group of guys I have around me, it was a great environment to be in. It was fun every single game and every single practice."
Sanders touted the work of Coach Sam Pittman, Odom, and linebackers coach Michael Scherer in helping him bloom after a broken hand during his sophomore year and a position switch at Alabama made him decide to enter the transfer portal.
"To me, the only way to get better at football is playing football," Sanders told ESPN. "I've never doubted my skills. Arkansas has given me an opportunity for me to show my skills and get better by playing and providing the opportunity to be versatile."
Sanders is ranked as the best inside linebacker available and the 17th overall prospect for the draft by ESPN's Mel Kiper. Sanders is projected as the No. 24 pick in the draft by two analysts, Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports and Dane Brugler of The Athletic.
Sanders joined receiver Jadon Haselwood, a fellow junior transfer, and senior Ricky Stromberg as Razorbacks who plan to enter the draft and not compete in the Razorbacks' sixth visit to the Liberty Bowl.
Haselwood, Stromberg and sixth-year offensive lineman Dalton Wagner have all accepted invitations to the East-West Shrine game, which is scheduled for Feb. 2 in Las Vegas.
There are other Razorbacks with NFL aspirations who have not announced their plans for the postseason or 2023, most notably cornerback Dwight McGlothern, a junior transfer from LSU who led the Razorbacks with three interceptions and had
Pittman guaranteed there would be plenty of portal action for the Razorbacks and all the other FBS teams and he has not been wrong.
The Razorbacks had one of their more surprising roster moves of the period on Tuesday night when receiver Ketron Jackson entered the portal. Jackson seemed poised to move up in targets for the Razorbacks and Pittman said the rising junior could be moved to the productive slot position in the offense.
Jackson is the third Arkansas wide receiver to announce that he was entering the portal, following Jaquayln Crawford and Warren Thompson, and he is at least the seventh offensive player and 14th known Razorback to announce he was headed for the portal since the opening of fall camp.
In other Razorback news, linebacker Chris Paul was named a second-team Freshman All-America by College Football News on Tuesday.
Paul was one of 20 SEC players named to the outlet's three Freshman All-America teams. LSU linebacker Harold Perkins was a first-team selection, and Alabama's Deontae Lawson joined Paul on the second team.
Paul racked up 50 tackles to rank sixth on the team despite playing behind Sanders and senior Bumper Pool. The 6-1, 230-pounder from Cordele, Ga., also posted 8 tackles for 38 yards in losses, 4 sacks for 31 yards in losses, 2 quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
He is expected to lead the Arkansas linebacking unit in the Liberty Bowl and into spring drills.