FAYETTEVILLE — Rakeem Boyd said his mind was on making the move to the NFL early in December.
But the University of Arkansas’ 1,133-yard rusher was going to hear from the NFL Draft Advisory Board, talk to his parents and hear out new UA football Coach Sam Pittman before making a decision.
“I really wasn’t planning to come back until I started talking to Coach Pittman,” Boyd said in a recent interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “He said, ‘Why don’t you come in and we’ll talk a little bit.’ It wasn’t until like the fourth time I talked to him … and I went back and talked to my mom and dad and then I decided to come back.”
Boyd announced his decision to return to Arkansas on Dec. 23, one of the best pieces of news the program has received since hiring Pittman two weeks before that.
Boyd pointed out that Pittman was at Georgia with star running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, and another year in a system that puts a premium on running the ball will help him.
Pittman talked last week about his discussions with Boyd on the subject of turning pro or returning.
“When you have those discussions with kids that are debating whether to leave or not, the number one thing you have to find out is their NFL eval[uation],” Pittman said. “You have to find out what their worth is in the National Football League. We had a conversation about that, and at that point you have to let them know how much you would like to have them back.
“Just like at Georgia, you had the conversation with Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson. Their eval came back first round. What do you say? ‘Bye.’ I mean there’s not a whole lot you can sit there and say when a guy is gonna sign 28 million guaranteed and $6.5-7 million guaranteed.
“But there’s so many others that aren’t in that particular position, so we talk to them about it. We found out about things he needs to work on and improve for his value to go up, because if his value is not going to go up, he should have went out.”
Boyd excelled on an offense that struggled much of last season, ranking 13th in the SEC with 340.1 total yards per game and 11th in the SEC with 147.2 rushing yards per game.
His numbers — 184 carries for 1,133 yards, 8 rushing touchdowns and 6.16 yards per carry — were remarkably similar to those produced by Georgia’s top back D’Andre Swift, who ran behind Pittman’s offensive line last year. Swift, taken in the second round of April’s NFL Draft with the 35th pick by the Detroit Lions, had 196 carries for 1,218 yards, with 7 rushing touchdowns and 6.21 yards per carry.
Boyd was named second-team preseason All-SEC by Athlon Sports last week, joining Texas A&M’s Isaiah Spiller on the second unit behind first-teamers Najee Harris of Alabama and Kylin Hill of Mississippi State.
Hill (1,350 rushing yards) and Harris (1,224) both had more rushing yards than Boyd in 2019, but Boyd averaged more yards per carry than Harris (5.86) and Hill (5.58).
Boyd’s career average of 6.1 yards per carry ranks third among qualifiers at Arkansas, behind only Felix Jones’ sublime school record of 7.7 ypc and quarterback Matt Jones’ 6.6 ypc.
Asked whether he realized what returning to Arkansas meant to the fans, Boyd said, “It was a power move when I decided to come back. When I got back here, it was all love.”
He said he understands there are parts of his game to improve.
“I think I can do a lot of things,” Boyd said. “But my real reason for coming back is to help Arkansas get some more wins and go to a bowl game. Maybe we can win five more games than we did last year.”
Pittman said Boyd has to show he has good hands in the passing game to improve his draft stock. Boyd caught 19 passes, fifth on the team, for 160 yards last season, an average of 8.4 yards per catch.
“That’s one of the things that came back on his evaluation, and we’re going to give him opportunities to pass protect a little bit more and become a more physical pass protector,” Pittman said. “Obviously he has great running skills and things of that nature, but those are two things that we talked to him about that he has to improve his game to certainly move up the draft board.
“To be honest with you, that is one of our jobs. One of our jobs is to get our players drafted as high as they possibly can, and we’re going to go to work for it.”
Boyd had been recruited out of Stratford High School in west Houston by Kendal Briles, who was then at Baylor and now the first-year offensive coordinator at Arkansas.
Boyd said the Briles’ offense is “right in my style.”
Said Briles: “Rakeem … is a very talented back. The thing about him, he’s a really powerful runner but he’s got elusiveness as well. He’s got good ball skills. He’s got the drive. He’s got the want-to.
“He’s a big kid, 205 pounds, broad shoulders. And he’s got long speed. He can run. I think he’s an all-around every down back.”
Briles said he and running backs coach Jimmy Smith were impressed with Boyd’s leadership from what they saw and heard from winter workouts.
“There’s only a handful of guys on the roster that have come back that have had a lot of production and a lot of success, and he’s one of those guys,” he said. “Those guys can do two things. They can pull down your team or they can really uplift your team. Rakeem is one of those guys that has led by example on a daily basis by being on time for workouts and busting his butt at all the workouts and what we were doing and then being very engaged once we were able to get a little bit of football.
“Coach Smith, our running backs coach, is a tremendous coach. Just being a people person, he and Rakeem have a great relationship. I’m excited for the future for Rakeem.”