A stat sheet won’t tell you why Arkansas is worried about losing Maddox Lassiter for the year.
His college numbers add up to a two-yard catch a one-yard carry and five tackles on the coverage units.
That’s not a highlight reel. That’s barely a box score line.
Coaches don’t measure every player by yards and catches.
Lassiter’s upper-body injury that ended his season before it started has forced Arkansas’ tight end room to re-think everything about how it blocks and covers kicks.
The Warren native spent more than two years grinding through a role that doesn’t show up on ESPN highlights. He took snaps at fullback and rotated through special teams.
He hit people hard and he did it every single snap he got.
Being a Lumberjack myself over 50 years ago, that’s not surprising or unusual. That’s the way players have always been taught down in that southeast Arkansas town through several coaching changes years ago.
Tight ends coach Morgan Turner says there’s no single player who can just step into Lassiter’s exact job.
How Arkansas plans to replace him
Memphis transfer Matt Adcock known around the program as “Meat” will likely soak up plenty of those fullback and wing snaps since he ran a similar role before arriving in Fayetteville.
“That’s what he did a lot in Memphis,” Turner said. “He did a lot of that fullback role a lot of the wing stuff. So he’s going to be there. Looking at different guys it’s not just plug and play. We’re going to find different spots for different people and different roles.”
Turner made it clear this isn’t going to be one guy stepping in and doing everything Lassiter did. It’s going to take pieces from multiple players.
“And it’s not just because Maddox did something well this guy just replaces all of it,” Turner said. “Like ‘Hey maybe Ty’s going to do it well.’ ‘Maybe Jaden’s gonna do it well.’ We’ll find the right fit for whatever we’re trying to do.”
Arkansas tight end Jaden Platt said Lassiter’s toughness rubbed off on the whole position group long before the injury happened. It wasn’t about touches. It was about how hard he played every time his number got called.
“Maddox brought a certain edge in the way he hit guys the way that his mentality was,” Platt said. “Whenever he was called to do something he was going to go blow that guy up. So we all kind of adopted that mindset.”
Platt admitted watching a teammate go down for the season is tough to process but it’s also lit a fire under the rest of the room.
“When we see Maddox go down someone that’s willing to put their body on the line it just motivates us to want to go do the same and really hit some guys,” Platt said.
Ty Lockwood who’s been open about blocking not being his strongest skill said the group knows extra responsibility is coming its way.
Still part of the team
“We got to pick up a little bit of that slack that just comes with it with the reps and the certain plays that he was in but you got to be able to adapt in this game,” Lockwood said. “So now we got three guys and we got a couple young guys that are doing really well and I think we’ve done really well picking that up.”
Lassiter isn’t disappearing from the program just because he’s not suiting up.
Turner wants him staying locked in with the group all season helping younger tight ends learn while he recovers.
“The big thing for him is going to be staying engaged and still learning,” Turner said. “I mean he’s going to be valuable to this team. He may not know it or realize it or get why or how yet but he’s going to be.”
Arkansas heads into the season with a tight end room built on pieces instead of one dominant blocker.
The Hogs will lean on Adcock’s Memphis experience Platt’s toughness and Lockwood’s willingness to adapt. Whether that adds up to Lassiter’s edge is something the Razorbacks will find out snap by snap.
Key takeaways
- Maddox Lassiter’s season-ending upper-body injury takes away a do-it-all blocker who played fullback tight end and special teams for Arkansas
- No single player replaces him. Matt Adcock Jaden Platt and Ty Lockwood will split his old responsibilities by committee
- Coach Morgan Turner and teammate Jaden Platt both say Lassiter’s physical mentality shaped how the tight end room plays even though he’s sidelined
