Under the leadership of new offensive coordinator Dan Enos, the Arkansas football team might be get back to being a program that produces elite tight ends in 2023.
This wouldn’t be the first time Arkansas has had a talented group of tight ends on campus. From 2007-15, the Razorbacks had three of the best tight-ends in program history — DJ Williams, Chris Gragg and Hunter Henry.
Since then, tight end play has been inconsistent at best for Arkansas. That could be changing, though, after the offseason hire of long-time Stanford tight ends coach Morgan Turner, who helped put Zach Ertz, Austin Hooper, Dalton Schultz and others in the NFL.
Coaching can only go so far, and after former starting tight end Trey Knox’s departure to South Carolina — which is where former tight ends coach Dowell Loggains is now the offensive coordinator — Arkansas was in desperate need of depth in the tight-end room.
Turner delivered on the recruiting trail by adding Var’keyes Gumms and Francis Sherman via the transfer portal. On top of finding experienced players at the position, Turner was tasked with making sure four-star freshmen Luke Hasz and Shamar Easter remained committed, and he delivered there as well.
Those four were added to a room that already contained veteran Nathan Bax and intriguing redshirt freshman Ty Washington.
On paper, the talent is undoubtedly present. But there are still questions, some from head coach Sam Pittman himself.
"The tight ends, are we going to be serviceable?" Pittman said Wednesday. "Are we going to be pretty good? Are we going to highlight them? And I don’t know what the answer is yet.”
The answer to that question may not come for a while, but that doesn’t mean one can’t ponder the possibilities of their potential.
“But boy, they can run, they can catch and they are bigger and more physical than we’ve had at that position,” Pittman said. “Obviously the potential’s there at that position for us to use them.”
Pittman went as far as saying that he believes two or three tight-ends on the roster could be matchup problems for defenses this fall.
Gumms is a North Texas transfer and he will likely one of those who will be a matchup nightmare for opponents. The Houston native caught 34 passes for 458 yards and five touchdowns en route to being named to the 2022 Second Team Freshman All-American squad by The Athletic and College Football Network.
“He’s very fast and can run,” Pittman said of Gumms. “Physical guy. He can do anything. He can run, catch, block. Gumms is a guy that he looks like he’s played college ball before when he goes out there and he’s running around.”
Enos is an offensive coordinator with a history of consistent tight-end usage, especially during his previous tenure from 2015-17. Fans should expect an uptick in production this season from the once-heralded position at Arkansas.
The stars might end up aligning for the Razorbacks to be re-entered the “Tight End U” conversation and it all starts with fall camp, which begins with the team’s first practice Friday morning. HawgBeat will have you covered with all of the latest updates, practice takeaways and much more on The Trough premium message board.
