FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas safety Simeon Blair intends to leave the Razorbacks’ program.
Blair, a Pine Bluff native, has entered the NCAA transfer portal less than two days after Arkansas’ 55-53 victory over Kansas at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. He had seven tackles, including one for lost yardage, in the game.
A former walk-on, Blair finished third on the team in 2022 with 73 tackles. He also had 2 tackles for loss and 5 pass breakups, including 1 in 3 straight games against Mississippi State, BYU and Auburn.
Blair, who had a career-high 10 stops against Missouri State this fall and 9 against Alabama, totaled 136 tackles and 11 pass breakups in his Arkansas career.
Following the season-ending injury to captain and safety Jalen Catalon in the 2022 opener against Cincinnati, Blair was named a captain in his stead.
He played a team-high 962 defensive snaps in 13 games this season and finished with the fourth-lowest overall defense grade among Razorbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, at 51.2. Blair also posted the second-worst coverage grade (42.0) on the team.
Blair’s tackling grade of 79.1 was Arkansas’ second best in 2022.
“I feel like I had a pretty good season,” Blair told WholeHogSports on Monday in Memphis. “I feel like I got better in my coverage this year. I was covering some good guys. I felt like my tackling was better.
“I had way less missed tackles this year than I had the year before.”
Razorbacks linebacker Jackson Woodard announced in a post to his Twitter account on Friday that he also intends to transfer.
A Little Rock native, Woodard had seven tackles in 2022, including two in the Liberty Bowl against the Jayhawks. He was listed as a backup linebacker on Arkansas' depth chart for the game and broke up a pass on fourth down late in the fourth quarter.
Woodard saw the field for 51 defensive snaps in eight games, per PFF, and had an overall defense grade of 54.1.
“First I would like to thank Coach (Sam) Pittman and his staff for giving me an opportunity to play for the Razorbacks,” Woodard wrote. “I would also like to thank the fans for giving me the awesome experience of being a Razorback. To my teammates, thank you for the memories we’ve made on and off the field. I will never forget my time at Arkansas!
“I would also like to thank my family and friends for supporting and believing in me.”