We continue our HawgBeat position preview series ahead of the start of fall camp with the tight ends. The group is led by first year position coach Morgan Turner, who came over from Stanford during the offseason following the departure of Dowell Loggains to South Carolina.
Gone is former starter Trey Knox, who followed Loggains to South Carolina. The Razorbacks reloaded, though, and they plan to utilize the tight end position much more with new offensive coordinator Dan Enos running the show rather than Kendal Briles, who left for the same position at TCU.
Here is a full preview of the tight ends position for Arkansas ahead of fall camp, including a breakdown of each guy and how we project the depth chart to look...
Arkansas Tight Ends
Returning players: Nathan Bax (super senior), Ty Washington (redshirt freshman), Hunter Talley (redshirt freshman - walk-on),
Additions: Francis Sherman (senior), Var'keyes Gumms (redshirt sophomore), Luke Hasz (freshman), Shamar Easter (freshman), Luke Johnston (freshman - walk-on)
The Starter
The starter at tight end is tricky, because it really depends on the personnel package. If the team is running 11 personnel with just one tight end on the field, it would likely be Nathan Bax to begin fall camp.
A super senior from Jefferson City, Missouri, Bax played in 11 games for Arkansas during the 2022 season. He caught just three passes for 16 yards on the year, but he played 212 total snaps.
Don't expect Bax to catch many passes in 2023, though his number should be up from three receptions. If the team moves to 12 or even 13 personnel, Bax is more than likely going to be blocking and not running routes.
During the 2022 season, Bax recorded a 58.0 run block grade from Pro Football Focus. He also contributed a bit in pass blocking and earned a 75.7 grade in that category.
