It’s official — Ryan Mallett has decided to skip his senior year at the University of Arkansas and hop into the NFL draft.

Mallett made that announcement official when he released a statement through the university today (Jan. 6).

We at First Arkansas News can’t say we’re shocked by this development. The first story we ran on this site when we started back in April was this one about Mallett being named one of the top five offensive players to watch for the NFL draft in 2011.

So the news isn’t exactly shocking, but it’s hard to watch Arkansas lose the quarterback that contributed mightily to the Razorbacks’ first Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game and a No. 8 national ranking. Still, there were some fans here in the Natural State hoping Mallett would stick around for another year.

Still, such hopes were unrealistic. Mallett set more school records than you can shake a stick at and was, clearly, one of the better quarterbacks in conference history. Sure, he threw the interception that cut short Arkansas’ second half comeback this week in the Sugar Bowl and that’s probably not how he wanted his career at the university to end, but it’s hard not to understand why he’d leave for the NFL.

While a lot of fans hated to hear the news, you’d better believe a good number of them enjoyed watching him play at Arkansas and wish him well in the NFL. Want proof? Head over to the forums at Hogville.net and read the praise and words of appreciation for yourself.