Former Warren Quarterback Joining Group Working at Fullback

Maddox Lassiter walked on to do anything and is now working in backfield in Bobby Petrino's new offense

Arkansas Razorbacks' Maddox Lassiter during practice indoors Thursday at fall camp working with tight ends before moving to running backs group in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Apparently, Arkansas will have at least something in the offense this year that uses a fullback. It's a position that has pretty much disappeared from college football over the last couple of decades with the spread offense.

Now Bobby Petrino is bringing it back to the Razorbacks. Just don't expect them to line up in some Power I formation very often. Walk-on Maddox Lassiter, who has been working at tight end heading into his second year, is working there.

"We’re cross-training multiple people and Maddox is one of the guys," tight ends coach Morgan Turner said Thursday. "He’s working fullback and still doing tight end stuff. He’s done a nice job. He loves contact. That’s the number one thing you want out of a fullback. He checks that box."

Lassiter was a quarterback at Warren, throwing passes to a then-sophomore Antonio Jordan, who is a committed wide receiver for the Razorbacks. He also played defense in a very physical manner and wasn't shy when he had to run with the ball in high school.

He walked on in 2023 and told me then he just wanted to play. Lassiter is also smart, achieving academic honors as he's learned to play tight end at the SEC level. Loving contact is getting him into a mix with some other folks for that occasional fullback spot.

"Kyle Thompson is getting a little bit," Turner said. "I’ll work (Var'keyes) Gumms back there some. Luke (Hasz) will probably do some things. We’ll have a lot of guys doing different things back there."

The picture we're starting to get requires some old-school knowledge here. Petrino's use of a fullback is probably not going to be what a lot of folks think about. Go back and look at what a former Arkansas assistant, Joe Gibbs, did with the Redskins and won a couple of Super Bowls doing. It was called an H-back with a tight end that could catch passes and get better blocking angles from the backfield than on the line.

We haven't gotten many details on it. The key is Hasz and Gumms working there as well sort of lets the cat out of the bag. It's not going to be any sort of fullback being used the way it was done in the 1960's. He won't be lined up every play a couple of yards behind the quarterback and leading the tailback into the tackle gaps and going heads-up with linebackers.

It also sets up some interesting pass patterns on routes new quarterback Taylen Green can throw. The scouting report on him is that he needs improvement on his longer throws, but is very accurate moving out of the pocket and throwing on the run and short, quick-read routes.

That's where Lassiter could see some playing time along with the other tight ends. It also could get two tight ends in the game at the same time, which could be used in the running game.

The Razorbacks resume practices again Friday at 5 p.m. and with temperatures a little cooler than Thursday (only 10 degrees or so) practices may move outdoors like Wednesday.

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