The Razorbacks got an Oregon transfer on the defensive line on Friday as the drama of portal season builds
Arkansas and Ryan Silverfield are trying to make a strong final push in the football transfer portal window. They added a depth piece to their defensive line and got a player who will be hungry for a starting spot. Arkansas was able to add Oregon transfer Xadavien Sims, a redshirt freshman with three years of eligibility remaining.
Sims, from Durant, Oklahoma, came to Oregon as a four-star recruit. 247Sports initially pegged him as the No. 20 defensive lineman and No. 112 player in the 2024 recruiting class.
The 6-foot-3, 305-pound prospect played in two games as a true freshman in 2024, totaling one tackle. He barely played in 2025, notching one tackle in Oregon's blowout of Oklahoma State in September.
Oregon's entire 2025 defensive line came back to chase a championship in 2026. This left Sims with no real choice if he was going to get meaningful playing time this year. Arkansas is getting a very raw and unproven player, but also someone who is motivated and will be physically fresh, given that he has not taken a pounding over the past two seasons and has sat behind starters in an attempt to pick up the nuances of the sport and learn how to improve.
Arkansas can throw Sims into the fire and give him the chance to establish himself in the defensive line rotation. If UA can hit on this and other similar portal acquisitions, the floor for this team could rise in 2026, perhaps beyond what many skeptics expect.
In other Arkansas football news, the program brought in Clemson transfer quarterback Cade Trotter as the fifth signal-caller in a crowded room. Trotter, a prospect from the state of Texas, is a 6-1, 190-pound quarterback who walked on at Clemson under Dabo Swinney. He will join Arkansas as a walk-on as well.
Speaking of quarterbacks, incoming Arkansas quarterback AJ Hill talked about why he committed to UA and Ryan Silverfield:
"The decision was really easy," he said. "Those are my guys. I already know the playbook and type of system they run. Fayetteville is a great place. The expectations at Arkansas are simple, win.”
The transfer portal window has closed in terms of players filing their paperwork to enter the portal. However, you will still continue to see players make portal decisions in the coming days, so it's not as though Arkansas' full transfer portal tally can be finalized just yet. Acquisitions will continue to be made and announced as January rolls on.