Senior defensive back on Arkansas's 2025 roster.
6′0″ · 205 lb · Philadelphia, PA
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The story
4 defensive back on Arkansas's 2025 roster.
Shakur Smalls
Erases the deep middle of the field. Maine to Arkansas — the move that set up everything since. One game to point at: 4 tackles, 1 TFL against Alabama A&M — Week 1, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
Career arc
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (18th percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Ryan Silverfield
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2025
Tackle volume for the position at the early end of the ladder.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-SEC
Based on 2025: #45 of 57 SEC DBs
15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Arkansas | 15 | 11 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3 | -- | -- |
| Career | 15 | 11 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3 | -- | -- |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025
W 52–7
vs Alabama A&M
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 9 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 52-7vs Alabama A&M | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 3 | L 35-41@ Ole Miss | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 31-32@ Memphis | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 13-56vs Notre Dame | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 31-34@ Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 24-33vs Auburn | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 35-38vs Mississippi State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 22-23@ LSU | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | L 17-31vs Missouri | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 11 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 3 |
Play style
Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.
CFB Index positional classification
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
15 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 1 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
2026 Outlook
Arkansas
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Arkansas
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Arkansas · Last season: 2-10 · Talent rank #36 · 2026 recruiting class #46
Player DNA
Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jason Marshall Jr.’s 2024 season.
Matches Jason on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Fentrell Cypress's graduate season at Florida State (2024).
Matches Fentrell on
Player DNA