Hogs Land One of Smartest Defensive Backs in Portal and He Goes by Joker The Razorbacks overhauled their entire secondary through the transfer portal and who's arriving, what coaches are saying. The faces are different. The names are unfamiliar. And nowhere on the depth chart is that more obvious than in the defensive backfield. The Razorbacks entered the offseason with a serious problem. Their secondary was gutted, and the numbers from last season told a painful story. Arkansas ranked 16th in the SEC giving up 33.8 points per game. The pass defense wasn't much better, surrendering 239.3 receiving yards per game — good enough for 13th in the 16-team conference. In other words, the Hogs were playing from behind almost every single week, and opposing offenses knew exactly where to attack.Hogs coach Ryan Silverfield leaned heavily on the transfer portal, bringing in 11 new defensive backs to reshape a room that featured just one returning player from last season's roster. The lone holdover is safety Miguel Mitchell, who'll be counted on for leadership and continuity in a group full of newcomers learning a new system together.The men tasked with turning this new group into a functional secondary are co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Deron Wilson and cornerbacks coach Eddie Hicks."It was an interesting time, it was a challenge for us, which was good," Hicks said Monday. "We enjoy those, but just going through watching the film with the player personnel, and watching the film from the coaching staff as well."The staff went to work evaluating portal options one by one, figuring out which players fit what Arkansas needed both athletically and schematically. "I thought we did a great job of evaluating the guys," Hicks said. "First off, once they got in the portal is just getting in contact with them, and making sure they understood our vision, and educating them on the type of system we were — our defense, and how fun it'd be to play in the secondary, and how successful that they can be."Maryland Terrapins defensive back La'khi Roland begins a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in his own end zone in the second half against the Towson Tigers at SECU Stadium. | Jamie Sabau-Imagn ImagesAmong the 11 new additions, three stand out as players the coaching staff is genuinely excited about heading into the spring. The first is La'Khi Roland, a transfer from Maryland. Hicks didn't have to search long for words when describing what Roland brings to the table. Size. Speed. Tools."La'khi is long, he's athletic, he can run," Hicks said. "The biggest thing we've got to continue to just work on his technique and things like that, making sure he's under control from a body position and movement standpoint. But he's been great. Super athletic, super talented guy that we're going to look for to make a lot of plays for us." Roland arrived in Fayetteville alongside fellow Maryland transfer Braydon Lee, giving the Razorbacks a pair of players who already know each other and come from a similar system. That kind of built-in familiarity can't be undervalued when you're asking a group full of new faces to play together for the first time. Then there's Jahiem Johnson — known simply as "Joker" — who made the trip from Tulane to Arkansas. And if you're trying to figure out what makes him different from the rest, it's not his athleticism. It's what's upstairs. "Joker Johnson is by far, probably one of the smartest guys I've ever been around," Hicks said. "Just a guy that can understand being a four-dimensional player like we talk about, understanding his job, everybody in the defensive back room's job, understanding the defense, understanding how the offense is trying to attack us." That's the kind of player every defensive coordinator wants anchoring a secondary. Not just someone who can cover, but someone who can process information at full speed and communicate it to everyone around him. In a rebuilt room with 11 new additions, having a player like Johnson who understands the full picture could end up being one of the most valuable things the Hogs added this offseason.If any addition has a natural comfort level heading into fall, it's Christian Harrison. The Cincinnati transfer didn't just pick Arkansas because of the program. He followed Hicks directly from Cincinnati to Fayetteville. That relationship matters. Harrison was actually the first transfer to commit during what Hicks described as a wild week in the portal for Arkansas. What makes him particularly valuable isn't just the familiarity with the coaching staff. It's his versatility. "Even when Christian was in high school, Christian played corner in high school," Hicks said. "At his first college stop he played nickel and then he played safety at the last spot. Very smart young man and very athletic. "We knew he could fill several roles on the team because he's done it in the past. His film was really good in high school and at both spots in college. So he's a great addition to us and we're happy to have him." A player who's lined up at corner, nickel and safety at various stages of his career gives Wilson and Hicks genuine flexibility. In a rebuilt secondary that's still sorting out exactly who starts where, having someone capable of sliding into multiple spots is a real asset.Eleven new defensive backs. One returner. A coaching staff asking all of them to learn a new system and build chemistry from scratch before the season kicks off.But the foundation is there — athleticism from Roland, football IQ from Johnson, positional versatility from Harrison and a coaching staff that genuinely believes in what they recruited. If Arkansas is going to climb out of the bottom of the SEC defensively, it starts in the secondary. It starts in no small part with these 11 new faces.Sports columnist, writer, former radio host and television host who has been expressing an opinion on sports in the media for over four decades. He has been at numerous media stops in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.