FAYETTEVILLE -- Morgan Turner returns as the tight end's coach at Arkansas, but he has a lot of new faces in the room.

Last season, four tight ends combined to catch 32 passes. The only returning player among that group is redshirt senior Andreas Paaske. Paaske caught three passes for 19 yards and two touchdowns. Gone is Luke Hasz (26 receptions now at Ole Miss), Ty Washington (two catches 25 yards and a touchdown now at Notre Dame) and Shamar Easter (one catch for 16 yards and now plays at North Carolina).

Paaske, 6-6, 257, is now joined by senior Rohan Jones, 6-3, 242, redshirt sophomore Jaden Platt, 6-5, 265, true freshman Gavin Garretson, 6-7, 263. Redshirt sophomore Maddox Lassiter, 6-3, 250, originally walked on at Arkansas, but has since been put on scholarship. He also plays fullback. The Razorbacks have some walk-on tight ends as well including Hutson Hendrix, 5-9, 232, who will double up at fullback. Turner talked about the group on Saturday following the second preseason practice.

"I like the way they've picked it up," Turner said. "It all started when they showed up in January, and Andreas got the whole group together. He's like, 'We're going go-karting' and took them all out. So, I mean, they hit the ground running. Like, we've had enough transfers. We've had enough movement that they know the faster we could mesh together, the faster we get along, the better we're going to be as a team. And that started right away. I was really impressed with how they did that, and that's just helped all the way through to where we are now."

Jones came from Montana State where he was a First-Team FCS Football Central All-American. In 14 games, Jones caught 30 passes for 470 yards and nine touchdowns. Turner talked about both what Jones does best and where he needs to improve the most.

"I mean, way in his past, he was a receiver," Turner said. "So naturally, he's going to be a good route runner. He's going to catch it well. He runs well, all that stuff. So, the run game is going to be something he didn't spend as much time on growing up. That's the same for, really, any tight end. I mean, they spend most of their life wanting to run routes and catch balls. So, the run game takes a little longer to come along. And just by nature, he's a smaller tight end. So it's a little harder for him, but he's working hard to do everything we ask, and we're going to be smart in what we ask him to do."

Turner was asked if Jones, who has a lot of talent, flew under the radar as far as recruiting in the past?

"I mean, he's got a different backstory than what you usually hear," Jones said. "He's from Canada. Like, you see a lot of Ontario guys going, but he's from Montreal. You don't see that a ton. So, he went and went to Maine, which is near where he's from, and then went to Montana, which is a high-level FCS. He's put in the work every step to climb and making good use of what the portal could be and playing above where he's at and keep showing up. I mean, it's been impressive."

As far as Jones, Paaske and Platt Turner indicated each has a place where they can improve.

"Really like they each have their own small, different things," Turner said. "But as a group overall, like we need to be smart. We’re not going to worry about not getting lined up, not knowing. Like we’re going to know our stuff, so that’s studying the offense. Like we’ve got to do it extra. It’s a lot of plays but we have to make sure we’re on top of it. And then being physical. In this league the most physical team is going to win, so we’ve got to bring that. We’ve got to embrace that O-line side and so all of them are working on that. Even though if they’re there you can always get better with it. So there’s a lot of different little things that they’re each working on but overall you see growth in a lot of areas."

Garretson played both tight end and on the defensive line at Chico (Calif.) Pleasant Valley last season. Turner feels Garretson has a very good upside.

"I like his growth," Turner said. "I do. He’s working on getting bigger and stronger in the weight room. He’s got some natural size to him … and that strength is going to come. But he’s picking it up. The one thing you see, he’s not scared. Like he’s going to go be physical. And as he picks it up more and more he’s going to start playing faster. And he’s doing well in the pass game. He had a nice, low catch today, which is tough for a big guy to make, so it was good to see."

Turner was also asked if he expects this group to catch more than 32 passes?

"I think too early to tell," Turner said. "Right now we’re learning what they do well, like Rohan. We had the guys in the spring, but they were still learning the offense. So now, all right, what do they really do well? How can we use them the best? So that’s always a growth as you go through fall camp to kind of see who’s going to make the plays, who you can count on, what you want to do and all that."

Turner said the team will continue to do the motion stuff with the fullbacks who also double up at tight end including Lassiter.

"Him, Kyle (Thompson) and Hutson (Hendrix) are all my room," Turner said. "And they're all learning both positions and doing it all."

Arkansas will return to the practice fields on Sunday at 9:15 a.m. for the third preseason practice.