Musical Chairs at Tight End Presents Opportunity

Injury to freshman Luke Hasz gives opportunities to those buried on depth chart

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Oct 4, 2023 6:30 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Losing freshman tight end Luke Hasz, one of the few bright spots on a struggling Dan Enos offense, couldn't have come at a worse time. Hasz beat out whatever competition there was for the starting job in camp and quickly became one of quarterback KJ Jefferson's favorite targets.

Hasz racked up 16 catches for 253 yards in four games (plus the one drive against Texas A&M before suffering a broken clavicle, ending his regular season). With Hasz now firmly on the sideline, the door opens for someone else to jumpstart the anemic offense.

Senior Nathan Bax has the most experience of everyone on the roster. In his fourth year on the hill, Bax has played in 37 games in his career.

Two transfers will certainly get more playing time with Hasz out. Francis Sherman (Louisville) and Var’keyes Gumms (North Texas). Sherman has been used almost exclusively as a blocker throughout his time at both Louisville and with the Hogs. Gumms and redshirt freshman Ty Washington look to split some of the receiving duties at the position.

"I think what we’re going to do is we’re going to play two of them with the first group and two of them with the second group," coach Sam Pittman said. "We’re going to let them battle it out and figure out who it is on Saturday... You have two different types of guys. You have Washington and Gumms, then you have Bax and Francis. They’re kind of over here and they’re kind of over here. We’re just going to let them battle it out this week and get them all the equal amount of reps and see who we’re going to throw out there."

One other name to potentially keep an eye on down the road is Maddox Lassiter. The preferred walk-on freshman from Warren, Ark. played quarterback and linebacker in high school but is listed on the website as a tight end. He has some tight end experience from junior high before getting switched to quarterback. Lassiter earned a name-drop in Pittman's press conference on Wednesday.

"There are some other guys over there," Pittman said. "I like Maddox Lassiter. I do. I like him a lot." Lassiter passed for 2,221 yards and 23 touchdowns his senior year at Warren High School, making him a prime candidate for creative/trick plays.

No matter what way Pittman decides to split the reps, the tight ends will be forced into a tough bind. They must replace the production of arguably the most functioning piece in a struggling offense that needs to keep up with Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, who is firing on all cylinders.

The game against the Ole Miss Rebels starts 6:30 p.m. October 7 in Oxford, Miss. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game can be streamed on SEC Network and fuboTV .