2023

I don’t see us losing to Baylor, but who knows.  I didn’t see us losing to Penn State either.

9-3 Utah to the Vegas bowl?  Ok…

RB is the easy choice, and what a difference a year makes. Everyone was excited about the RB room last year, and by mid season it looked nothing like a dumpster fire. I just hope we are able to keep some of the promising underclassmen happy long enough to utilize them. I would love to see JQJ really establish himself and get himself into the draft next year.

QB and TE I think will start off as a liability early in the season, and build to a position of strength. I just don’t see Kuithe or Rising starting off at 100% and that Jacobsen kid is supposed to be a sleeper in the class but even best case he’ll need reps to get there. I think Barnes could do better with reps and with the offense tailored more towards him, but he’s just not going to be the big play guy that we know we need. NJ has that big play potential, and I think he would get the nod due to the ceiling being higher, even if the floor is lower.

I could see us dropping 2 out of 3 vs Oregon/WA/USC, and maybe 1 out of 3 with Oregon St/Florida/UCLA. I think a 9-3 season would put us top 15 again and I think we’re still pretty loaded going into 2024. I think we wreck Baylor.

I don’t think we have any idea and need to be patient. As for position groups, we don’t know much at all about anyone that is not a returning starter and healthy. As an example, last year the LB group had the best prospects we have had in years but not so much made it to the field. We often have a couple of new comers that really perform much more than expected. With the portal we should see more new guys get onto the field each year.

The spring should help us understand how our needs are met. We need a QB1 and that won’t be Rising until healthy enough to beat out the one developed in spring. We also need a center. I have always felt that QB2 and C2 need to be viewed like starters and see the field more than they do at Utah because of the sudden impact when they must play is more than other positions. I hope the all the transfers are in spring ball. I hope we have several players move up unexpectedly.

As for schedule, it is hard to see Utah run thru with very few losses. It is also hard to see any other Pac teams do the same. The CCG may feature a team with 3 losses, hopefully our losses are league games not OOC. I think USC will lose to more than just Utah, I think Washington is the team we need to beat twice.

Y’all are starving for a sport that is 6 months away. There are other Utah student athletes competing currently.

Breakdown by Position

QB
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild Concern/Mild Excitement
Reason for Excitement: Cam Rising has put together 2 stellar seasons and returns; Nate Johnson, Brandon Rose, Mack Howard provide lots of avenues for upside
Reason for Concern: Cam Rising Injury means he may not be back (or not fully capable) by start of season and backups lack either experience (everyone besides Barnes) or upside (Barnes)

RB
Level of Concern/Excitement: High Excitement
Reason for Excitement: Ja’Quinden Jackson established himself late as a legit lead back.  Micah Bernard is back as a do-everything RB and Chris Curry is ALSO returns. Plus Jaylon Glover played well as a true freshman and there’s a bunch of highly touted new recruits coming in as well (John Randle Jr, Dijon Stanley, Michael Mitchell)
Reason for Concern: None really; things CAN always go poorly, but the position is very well stocked. The one thing I’d like to see is Jackson catch the ball more out of the backfield.  Utah’s historically been best when the RB can do that (Booker, Moss) whereas Thomas and Jackson haven’t contributed in that regard

WR
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild concern
Reason for Excitement: Vele is returning after catching 55 passes for 695 yards.  His 55 catches were #2 behind Kincaid, but more than any other pass-catcher since Covey in 2018. And his 695 yards (also behind Kincaid) were more than any other pass-catcher since Carrington in 2017.  Hopeful that Parks can take the next step and/or Matthews can immediately contribute
Reason for Concern: Beyond Vele, it’s a lot of unknowns.  Parks had 26 receptions for 414 yards, but with Dixon and Enis leaving, no other WR had more than 7 catches.  Team needs more depth and higher-end production – lots of guys who could step up with Makai Cope, Tao Johnson, Mikey Matthews probably the most likely 

TE
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild concern/mild excitement
Reason for Excitement: Kuithe returns, plus Yassmin and potentially Jacobsen are ready for larger roles
Reason for Concern: Losing Dalton Kincaid – not realistic to expect anyone to replicate what he did – not even Kuithe

OL
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild concern
Reason for Excitement: Keaton Bills is awesome and Utah just brought in two elite prospects in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu. Lots of depth
Reason for Concern:With injuries, underperformance, transfer, the OL has been a bit of a revolving door.  Kump, Mokofisi, Laumea, Kaumatele all have some experience, and I’m sure there’s other guys I’m missing.  But with a tough opening schedule, we have to get this ironed out quickly…lots of depth, but finding the right mix is tough

Defensive Interior
Level of Concern/Excitement: No concern, limited excitement
Reason for Excitement: Junior Tafuna and Simote Pepa both return as solid contributors, plus some depth. 
Reason for Concern: None of those names have shown themselves as a top-notch disruptor from the inside.  Which is fine… but you’d love to see someone grow into that

Defensive Edge
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild excitement
Reason for Excitement: Van Fillinger started to look good after a rough start, plus strong seasons from Jonah Elliss and Conner O’Toole.  Everyone returning, lot of potential with a relatively safe floor. 
Reason for Concern: Like the interior, needs someone to take that next step and become someone the offense has to scheme around.  Fillinger has the most potential for it, but could be any of a couple guys. 

Linebacker
Level of Concern/Excitement: Very excited
Reason for Excitement: Lander Barton and Karene Reid return and Levani Damuni comes in from Stanford.  So much depth – Justin Medlock has high potential, Hayden Furey has starting experience and several more highly rated recruits in the wings (Kaeo Akana, Owen Chambliss, Johnathon Hall)
Reason for Concern: None

Cornerback
Level of Concern/Excitement: Excited
Reason for Excitement: Injuries from previous years mean lots of experience returns in Zemaiah Vaugh, Miles Battle as the high-profile transfer and JaTravis Broughton.  Faybian Marks has even played, plus Utah brings in CJ Blocker and Smith Snowden.  Sione Vaki has also played at safety or slot corner so lots of depth.
Reason for Concern: None, though depth would definitely help if one of the young guys came on strong.

Safety
Level of Concern/Excitement: Excited
Reason for Excitement: Nate Ritchie, Cole Bishop are both great safeties.  Solid depth with either Vaki or Isbell as well
Reason for Concern: Ritchie coming off the mission may take a while to get back to his top level, but otherwise looks solid.

Overall, I feel pretty good about most of the defense (though more pass rush would be appreciated).  The offense has more concerns – the QB situation will eventually be solid, the RB room is great, but the pass-catchers and the OL are a bit unsettled.  The OL is probably the most pivotal, but hardest to assess early. 

Of course it would be great to improve all position groups, but I think the D line needs it the most. Last year there were some serious lapses in stopping the run (which is No. 1 for coach whitt). We could use a premium pass rush from the D line without need for blitzing linebackers and DBs. We need either the existing players to develop their talents, or some great transfers to happen.

Some improved, even great pass rushers, could take the team to the next level. I am truly happy with what the team has achieved and of course am always looking for more!

Really excited to see the WR group. I thought they would make abigger leap last yr – but that’s okay. Vele is solid as a possession guy and is lethal on the slants – just needs to battle more for the 50:50 balls. Money flashed potential and has good RAC/YAC. Has the speed to be an outside deep threat guy. Stoked to see what Mikey Mathews can do. May not be a big contributor year one, but I think by year 3 he is a major contributor and will be seen as a potential NFL guy. Haha I know I may be dreaming, but I dream big!