Arkansas Football's Most Important Players for 2026: No. 9 Caden Kitler

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Redshirt senior center Caden Kitler is ready for one last go around with the Razorbacks in 2026 beginning with a trip to Tampa for SEC Media Days.

Kitler started all 11 games that he played in last year for an offensive line that graded out as one of the way in the nation, according to Pro Football Network.

The Colony, Texas native helped pave the way for an Arkansas offense that surpassed the 500-yard mark on six occasions last season.

With Kitler up front, the Razorbacks had a 119-yard improvement per game on the ground in terms of rushing yards. While blocking for running back Mike Washington, Jr., who rushed for a career high 1,070 yards and eight touchdowns.

Last season, Kitler and the Razorbacks' offensive line allowed 29 sacks, which was the fewest by an Arkansas team since 2019 when Chad Morris' group yielded a total of 19.

The Hogs' also went two full games without yielding a sack in a win a against Arkansas State and the last minute loss to Ole Miss. That was the first time Arkansas went back-to-back games without allowing a sack since 2015.

For a first-year offense with a brand new coaching staff, Kitler can potentially be the calm in the storm as the Razorbacks transition under coordinator Tim Cramsey.

While there could've been some hard feelings considering how things ended last year, Kitler embraced the changes Silverfield's staff implemented during spring ball and genuinely just wants to play football.

"I'm having a great time with the new coaches," Kilter said in April. "It's a bit of a culture change, but for the better. We're really excited about playing football again, and that's something I think we were lacking last year, especially with the losses."

During the offseason, Kitler gained some good weight up to 305 pounds that will allow him to engage further against SEC defenders.

While he has plenty experience throughout his career as a starter along with the football smarts that gives offensive line coach Jeff Myers just one lone concern and that's improving his center's fundamentals within the offense.

"Kitler's on the back end of his career – it's a lot of fundamental things," Myers said earlier this spring. "But I feel like from watching Kitler last year, his biggest strength is how athletic he is. He's very smart and those things, but it was like 'Man, listen, I'm going to need you to sit down on a 330-pound bull rush down the middle. We're going to have to do that.'"

Despite Kitler being one of two returnees to the Arkansas offensive line, that's not a reason to be down on the position group given two of the transfers, Malachi Breland and Bryant Williams, each have extensive playing experience going into the 2026 season.

Arkansas has the pieces in place up front to establish physical line play, but it'll take teammates at the skill position doing their jobs to be productive as last season's group.

One thing coaches know they don't have to worry about is who will bee making the calls in the middle, because if they see something odd from a protection standpoint, he'll have a teammate to his left in Malachi Breland who he can lean on if something is amiss.

"Malachi [Breland] takes command when it comes to communication," Arkansas offensive line coach Marcus Johnson said during the spring. "There's time that he gets [Kitler] on the right page again, because he's ahead in this system. I see him communicating, or over-communicating. Not only that, usually he's the first one in drills to be the example set in that room. He's lived it and been there."

Razorbacks' Most Important Players in 2026

No. 9 Caden Kitler
No. 10 Jaden Platt
No. 11CJ Brown
No. 12Sutton Smith
No. 13Khmori House
No. 14KJ Jackson
No. 15AJ Hill
No. 16Steven Soles
No. 17Jamari Hawkins
No. 18Ismael Cisse
No. 19La'Khi Roland
No. 20:David Oke
No. 21:Christian Harrison
No. 22:Jamonta Waller
No. 23:Charlie Collins
No. 24:Miguel Mitchell
No. 25:Caleb Bell
No. 26:Donovan Faupel
No. 27:Reginald Vaughn
No. 28:Maddox Lassiter
No. 29:Ja'Quavion Smith
No. 30:Danny Beale

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arkansas as Arkansas Football's Most Important Players for 2026: No. 9 Caden Kitler.

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