Commitment Analysis: Enoch Jackson

Arkansas football helmets sit atop storage bins during a game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, in Fayetteville.

— The hits just keep on coming - in a good way - for the Arkansas football program.

Mansfield, Texas, Legacy three-star defensive tackle Enoch Jackson (6-0, 290 pounds) committed to the Razorbacks on Friday to push the number of commitments to 17 in the high school class of 2019.

It has been a remarkable two weeks for coach Chad Morris and his staff, who had nine commits and were ranked outside the top 50 in national team recruiting before the latest flurry, which has pushed Arkansas into the top 25.

The Razorback class is now ranked No. 17 in Rivals' rankings and No. 21 in 24/7's opinion while ESPN has not yet factored in the latest pledge.

Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr., one of two holdovers from the previous staff, believes it is a matter of excitement, aggressiveness, hard work and connections.

“Obviously when there is a new regime you can sell the excitement and the buzz that is going on around that,” said Lunney, who cannot mention recruits by name but can speak generally about recruiting efforts. “I think you sell yourself as people and individuals and we have a bunch of guys on this staff that really embrace recruiting and are really aggressive in doing it.

“Obviously it starts at the top with Coach Morris and how aggressive we have been branding, how aggressive we have been in recruiting days, how aggressive we have been in going out and offering guys.

“You take all those things combined and I think that is why you see the success we are having, not to mention connections. We have got some guys in some very strategic areas that they are strong in and that goes a long ways when you have had a long and strong history."

Arkansas has missed out on the state’s top two offensive linemen in Camden Fairview’s Stacey Wilkins, who committed to Oklahoma on Friday, and Jonesboro’s Darius Thomas, who committed to Ole Miss last week.

While those are two big losses, they are mitigated some by the addition of Jackson to what was arguably already the best defensive line haul in recent history.

Jackson is a big-time run stopper, who chose Arkansas over Clemson and Texas Tech in addition to other offers from Georgia, Florida, Ole Miss, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas State and others.

Arkansas was the second offer for Jackson, who had 52 tackles, 16 for lost yardage and 6 sacks last season after moving from Stillwater, Okla.

It is proof once again that the new Arkansas coaches are intent on fixing a defense that has been lacking in recent years. Eleven of the 17 commits are defenders.

Nine of those pledges are ranked as four-star prospects in at least one of the four major recruiting services.

“It is a really exciting time where we are in recruiting and I think it is only going to get better," Lunney said.

The Razorbacks remain in contention for two other Mansfield Legacy standouts, safety and return specialist Jalen Catalon (5-10, 180), a four-star prospect and the 211th-best overall prospect, according to ESPN, and defensive end Taurean Carter (6-3, 260).

Catalon, who has plans to play baseball in college as well, has narrowed his list to Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Nebraska and TCU, and is simply a game-changer in the defensive backfield and in the return game.

Catalon had 93 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 3 pass deflections, 4 recovered fumbles and a forced fumble as a junior while also playing quarterback and completing 61 of 116 passes for 1,120 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Carter, who has a knack for disrupting a quarterback whether or not he records a sack, is also considering Texas, Michigan State, Florida, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and others. He recorded 65 tackles and 8 sacks last season.

All three Legacy players are planning to take their official visits to Arkansas when the Razorbacks host Alabama on Oct. 6.

The Dallas Morning News has Mansfield Legacy ranked as the second-best team in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and as the top defense. Mansfield Legacy opens it season Aug. 31 at Jenks, Okla.

The 2019 class now includes three defensive tackles in Warren’s Marcus Miller (6-5, 300), Carl Williams (6-4, 320) of Lufkin, Texas, and Jackson; and three defensive ends in Joe T. Robinson’s Zach Williams (6-4, 225), Memphis native and IMG Academy’s Eric Gregory (6-3, 240), Oklahoma City Putnam City’s Collin Clay (6-5, 255) and Douglasville, Ga., Douglas County’s Mataio Soli (6-3, 227).

Most of those linemen been on campus at least a couple of times with events like last Friday night’s "Woo Pig Nic" cookout proving to be a home run.

“The more guys we get on campus, the more guys get to see how great a state we have, what a great community we have, what a great a university we have in Fayetteville," Lunney said. "And then when they get to interact with us I think they see how genuine people are and parents and kids are drawn to that.”