Kobe Branham 'brings a great presence' to Arkansas offensive line

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Whether or not he is penciled in as a starter when the Arkansas Razorbacks open their season against Alabama A&M on Aug. 30, redshirt freshman Kobe Branham will be a valuable piece on the offensive line in 2025.

The 6-foot-5, 329-pound homegrown Fort Smith Southside alumnus has only played in five games for the Hogs thus far, including his first career start in Arkansas' Liberty Bowl win over Texas Tech last December, but he was referred to as "like a fifth-year senior" by one of his peers who actually holds that title.

"He's such a young guy, but he just has such an old mentality," redshirt senior offensive lineman and team leader Fernando Carmona said about Branham following Friday's opening practice of 2025 fall camp.

"Just the way he knows his playbooks, the way he leads at such a young age, it's something you hardly ever see. So, he brings a great presence out there, and it's really nice to have him back out there because I've always said he's going to be an Arkansas great."

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After earning his first start at right guard in the Liberty Bowl, all signs were pointing to Branham filling that role for the foreseeable future before a torn pectoral muscle kept him out for the majority of spring practices.

Branham's return to the offensive trenches has provided some much-needed depth for a unit fans expect to see progress from a season ago. He ran with the second team at right guard during Friday's practice.

"It's fun, you know, to have competition - like legit competition, man, it's fun to see it and that's what we have," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said. "Getting Kobe back certainly does help that as well."

Pittman, who has built a long resume of producing high-caliber offensive linemen, went into further detail of what Branham brings to the table.

"Kobe's big and he's got great balance, I mean, he really does," Pittman added. "He's big, he's physical, he's got good feet, and he loves to play. He has all the tools, and you put that together, and a guy that really loves where he's at and loves the game, he's going to be pretty good.

Branham played for former Razorback player and graduate assistant Kim Dameron at Fort Smith Southside. Dameron, who has coached at multiple Division I colleges throughout his over three-decade-long career, served with Pittman on Rick Minter's staff at Cincinnati in 1996.

Dameron recalled a youth football camp last month held by Branham at Southside High titled "KB50" in which teammates Taylen Green, KJ Jackson, CJ Brown, plus Carmona and Caden Kitler participated that showed Dameron the unity Branham has with fellow Razorbacks.

"You could tell Kobe is very entrenched in that team and the players respect him as well," Dameron said. "They would not have been down here if they didn't."

It came as no shock to Dameron hearing the praise Branham has received from his teammates in terms of his preparedness.

"I would have been shocked if Kobe wasn't (prepared)," Dameron said. "Him knowing what to do and being able to adjust on the fly, that doesn't surprise me at all and the game comes naturally to him."

Branham's first offer during prep career actually came from current Hogs offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino in January of 2023 when Petrino held the same position at Texas A&M. The Hogs offered two months later and Branham committed to the home state team a few months after that in June.

"Kobe grew up here, he's 45 minutes from home and his family is here so he always wanted to be a Razorback," Dameron, a native of Rogers, said. "That is the kind of kids that I hope Arkansas will continue to recruit and have success with because there is something about playing for your home state.

"Sometimes kids have a tendency to even play above what their ability level would show when they know that they are out in front of family, the whole state of Arkansas and that's their people. That's Kobe."