Pass-catching playmakers emerging for Arkansas offense
Four months ago, Arkansas finished its offensively-impaired season with the 105th-ranked passing offense (187.5 yards per game) in the country. One partial offseason later, the Razorbacks hope that new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino and a large crop of returning pass-catchers flip the switch ahead of a crucial 2024 campaign.
Two wide receivers receiving praise from the coaching staff for their emergence as go-to threats are redshirt seniors Andrew Armstrong and Tyrone Broden. The former shouldn't come as a surprise to Hog fans, as Armstrong racked up 764 yards and five touchdowns on 56 receptions last season.
"To me, Andrew (Armstrong) is playing at a high, high rate and I know he was a good player last year," Pittman said Thursday. "I believe he’s a lot better right now. Really proud of him, and (Tyrone) Broden too and (Isaac) TeSlaa and all those guys. But Andrew, to me, has really changed. Him and Broden have changed. They’re older, they’re taking leadership responsibility and they’re catching the ball extremely well.
"Him and Armstrong are the two guys, TeSlaa’s always had that confidence about him, but him and Andrew are the two guys that are like, call the play, I’ll get open. Throw me the football and I’ll catch it. I don’t care who’s on me, and that’s where he’s gone to right now."
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Broden's improvement and growth in confidence is a bit more startling after only catching 15 passes for 109 yards and three touchdowns a season ago. Either way, the experienced duo has been relentless in helping younger players develop while setting an example with their leadership.
"They’re so self-motivated as a group, those older guys and they really push the room," Fouch said on Thursday. "They call out other people before me sometimes. We coach technique, we’re really firm on our splits and alignments and they’ll help me coach those guys up.
"They’ve really been leading the group from the front and they want the ball like Coach Pittman said. They want their name called on key situations, third downs and I’ve just been impressed with how eager they are to learn and allowing me to push them where they want to go."
Standing at 6-foot-7, 198-pounds, Broden has the size and speed combination designed to do damage in a Petrino offense. It wasn't long ago that he recorded back-to-back 500+ yard seasons at Bowling Green with a combined 12 touchdowns.
"He’s gained some strength," Pittman said. "A lot of confidence. Again, part of his problem last year was a lot of reps that he missed because he was injured when he came in or early when he was here. He’s a weapon. He’s a threat. Like you just said, he’s tall. He’s fast, and again, I believe his route running has improved as well."
Across eight games last season, Broden only eclipsed the 30-yard mark once but did snag the game-winning touchdown in Arkansas' lone SEC win against Florida. His versatility and positional flexibility gives him an edge for new wide receivers coach Ronnie Fouch.
"Very impressed," Fouch said Thursday. "We’ve just been putting him inside in the slot a little bit while he’s normally an outside receiver in our offense. But just his ability to play in the slot and get mismatches on nickels against linebackers and hit slot fades and things like that. Just getting him over the middle with his big frame.
"It’s an easy throw for Taylen (Green) and the quarterbacks to put the ball on him. He’s just been impressive to me with his ability to play in the slot as well with his releases and foot quickness. Because a lot of taller guys, they don’t have the quickest feet. He has quick feet like (Isaiah) Sategna and he’s 6-6. It’s just been impressive with his talent overall."
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Speaking of players rising from the depths, Sategna has looked mightily impressive through the early goings of spring practice and could be on the verge of a breakout redshirt sophomore season.
"He’s a different route runner,” Pittman said. “He’s running his routes and getting out of his break and getting separation better than he has before. I think if you go back and look at his high school tape, it was a lot of reverses and a lot of gos.
“They did a wonderful job over there at Fayetteville High with him, but now he’s running so many different types of routes, I think Ronnie’s done a really good job of getting him in and out of his breaks. With that comes confidence and that, to me, is why he’s catching the ball better than he has."
A former four-star prospect from Fayetteville, Sategna caught 15 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns in 2023 after racking up just 12 receiving yards his freshman year. Everyone remembers the kind of in-state receiver talent that Petrino coached at Arkansas from 2008-11 — Jarius Wright, Greg Childs, Joe Adams, etc. — and Sategna could be next in-line.
"I heard about his speed, I heard about his high school career, but just getting to know him, he loves the game and he goes hard every day," Fouch said. "Every time he comes up the ball he's going full speed, and I love the way he attacks the football. He's got strong hands and the way he tucks the ball right away looking to run, that's the main thing because we want to get the ball in his hands and let him run with it. So, he's doing a great job with his attention to detail."
Don't discount other young playmakers to step up early in their collegiate careers, either. Redshirt freshmen Dazmin James and Davion Dozier both possess SEC frames and freshman CJ Brown looks the part as another in-state product out of Bentonville.
"Some of the younger guys, CJ Brown, Dazmin James, Davion Dozier's made a couple good plays and those guys are really stepping up,” Fouch said. “The older guys like (Jaedon) Wilson and TeSlaa are playing well and providing that toughness in the room as well."
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Most people understandably look at wide receivers first when they think of pass-catchers in football, but Arkansas' tight-end room has the chance to be one of the best in the SEC next season thanks to players like Luke Hasz, Tyrus Washington and the ascending Var'Keyes Gumms.
"I think (Gumms is) the guy that we were hoping that we were getting a year ago," Pittman said. "Gumms also, we’re doing a little bit of crossover training. One-on-ones with linebackers and tight ends. One-on-one with running backs and linebackers. Right now, he’s one of our better protectors when we use our tight end in protection.
"But what we saw off of tape at North Texas, we’re seeing now here. He was hurt some last year with the ankle and things of that… like that. Right now, he’s playing at a high rate of speed and I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence, but he’s worked extremely hard since the last of the season."
Injuries held back the tight-end room from truly dominating like it could in 2023, but almost everyone is back to full health and showing off their ability to learn Petrino's new schemes and route trees.
"I wish I worked with them a little more," Fouch said. "They're pretty talented receivers but I would love to. They've done a great job. They come do one-on-ones a lot, and they've done a great job understanding the routes. We do a couple type of option routes, stuff like that, and they've done a great job separating at the top of the route.
"Luke (Hasz) and (Var'Keyes Gumms) are very talented and Andreas (Paaske) has brought some spark and Shamar (Easter) is a great receiver as well. They all have a lot of value in the pass game."
The Arkansas football team will practice again on Saturday with gates opening to the fans at 8:30 a.m. CT. For coverage of every Arkansas spring practice, follow along at HawgBeat and our premium message board — The Trough — for videos, stories and more.
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