Tight Ends Could Be Heavily Featured In Petrino Offense
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Arkansas stumbled a bit early on, including five losses by a touchdown or less in a six week span. One major reason was a lack of playmakers on offense after tight end Luke Hasz broke his collar bone in a week five loss to Texas A&M.
He was on his way to an All-SEC type season as a true freshman, steadily improving as a dependable pass catcher for former quarterback KJ Jefferson. Through four games and one drive against Texas A&M, he caught 16 passes for 253 yards, three touchdowns and 15.8 yards per catch.
Hasz showed a knack for finding the open spot in zone defenses and a high IQ in scramble situations. Two of his three touchdowns spanned 19 and 59 yards. With Petrino's history of tight end production, Hasz, along with the other Arkansas tight ends, are expected to be a solid unit this fall.
"It's been awesome, really exciting to learn from [Bobby Petrino's] perspective," Hasz said. "What he's been doing with the tight ends but just this offense in general. Just having [Varkeyes Gumms] and Andreas [Paaske] come is going to be really good for us."
Petrino's offense during his time as head coach was tight end friendly. DJ Williams was won a Mackey Award after a stellar 2010 campaign. The Little Rock native caught 54 passes for 627 yards and four touchdowns. Warren's Chris Gragg had an electric 2011 season which saw him catch 41 passes for 518 yards and a pair of scores.
Those teams featured loaded wide receiver rooms to go along with the group at tight end. With returners like Hasz, Gumms and Ty Washington, Petrino has options in the passing game. There's a lack of proven production right now for the wideouts, so transitioning to a new offense which leans on tight ends can't be a bad thing.
A big plus for the tight ends is the return of their position coach, Morgan Turner. The former Stanford assistant produced half a dozen NFL players during his time in Palo Alto. Hasz said he was able to lean on Turner a lot while he was injured and learned about the game.
"With coach Turner, he’s the best of the best," Hasz said. "Just being with him, even when I wasn’t playing, being able to learn from him on my footwork and technique has been a huge deal for me. Just going into this spring ball, I’ve been able to notice it pay off a little bit."
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