FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas tight ends coach Morgan Turner isn’t spending any energy looking back at 2025. With the next season sitting 19 days away, Turner said the entire building is locked in on what comes next, not what already happened.
“I think we got enough on our plate right now that we got to focus on what's in front of us," Turner said Tuesday. "Every day we got so much to think about, whether it's the install, film, practice, whatever it may be.
You don't have time to go dwell on the past or anything like that. We got goals we want to accomplish this year, and really, last year doesn't matter.
We're a new team."
That reset matters because Turner is the only coach retained from Ryan Silverfield’s 2025 staff, and the tight end room is also built around one familiar face: Jaden Platt. He is expected to be Arkansas’ No. 1 tight end and a primary target for either AJ Hill or KJ Jackson after catching 21 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns last season.
Turner said Platt has taken real strides away from the ball as well as with it.
"I think he's realized how much his body, how important that is to him, how much his diet matters to him," Turner said of Platt. "He's really taking the next step there.
He's done a nice job trying to learn more. He's had to start from scratch with this offense, but really trying to learn defenses more, trying to learn fronts, coverages, blitzes, how things fit together, and I think he's come a long way in that world."
The fit could be significant if Platt does make the jump many around the program expect. Turner spent 10 years coaching tight ends at Stanford and helped turn that position into a pipeline to the NFL, with Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz and Dalton Schultz among the players he coached there.
Turner stopped short of comparing Platt directly to any of those names, but he made it clear the ceiling is there.
"He's his own guy," Turner said. "It's always hard to compare one person to another because there's so many different types of players and what they all could be. I don't really want to compare him, but he's got some really good traits and, I mean, a high ceiling."
Platt already has some national recognition before the season even begins. He was named to the Mackey Award watch list on Aug. 5.
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Silverfields message was as much about identity as it was about attendance. He talked about creating a program tied closely to the campus community and about the value of a strong homefield edge fueled by student energy, while also pointing to the academic results his previous program produced in graduation rates and GPA. For a team trying to deepen its connection with campus, the bigger picture was clear even if the on-field payoff is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas QB Battle Just Raised The Stakes For This Offense
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Jackson and Hill have both given the staff reasons to keep this competition open, which is part of why Silverfield is refusing to rush the call. The longer it stays unsettled, the more important those final tests become, because once the choice is made, the Razorbacks can finally build the offense to fit that quarterback's skill set and start moving toward a clearer identity. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Receiver Emerging As Key Piece In Cramseys New Offense
Courtney Crutchfield has been one of the more intriguing receivers to watch in Arkansas camp as Tim Cramsey starts installing his new up-tempo offense. The redshirt sophomore is trying to build on a quiet first season in Fayetteville after a redshirt year at Missouri, and the early signs point to a player gaining ground in the kind of system that should create more chances for receivers to separate and make plays.
Crutchfield is part of a wideout group being challenged to clean up the details, with an emphasis on precise route running, ball security and team bonding under the new staff. That competition has only gotten tighter with newcomers and returning targets in the mix, including Chris Marshall, CJ Brown, Jamari Hawkins and Jelani Watkins, making every rep in camp feel like it matters for a unit trying to grow together fast. [Read more 🡒]