Carsen Ryan, 2022 TE, American Fork

[2008 National Champ]

I’m surprised Utah hasn’t offered yet. Kuithe, Fotheringham and Kincaid should all have moved on by the end of the 2022 season. Assuming Moa will play TE, there is still a need to take a 2nd.

[MDUte]

Totally agree. Do you know anything about him? Just wondering if he’s an LDS kid that wants to go to BYU and our staff knows that so they aren’t wasting time on him?

[dystopiamembrane]

No mention of interest in Utah on 247sports.com, listed as warm on BYU.

[2008 National Champ]

I’ve only seen his highlight reel. More of a “lumbering” TE than an athletic guy like Kuithe. Seems to really enjoy the blocking side of the position, decent footwork. I could actually see him putting on enough weight and being a really effective pulling guard.

He has a pretty good offer list. I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t hurt Utah in any way to offer a highly rated local kid, unless there are serious behavioral concerns. LDS shouldn’t be an issue in choosing Utah.

When I see an offer list with 5 Pact-12 teams, Ohio State, Big 12, Big 10, SEC on it, I have to wonder what they are seeing that Whit and the boys aren’t?

[CincyUte]

Sweet.  Is he any good?

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Looks that way.

Rivals has him as a 6-4, 230-lbs, 4-star TE, ranked 12th nationally at his position, the top-ranked recruit in Utah, and fielding a ton of impressive offers.

247 has him as a similarly sized, 4-star TE, but ranked 9th nationally at his position, and the 3rd-ranked recruit in the state.

#TopDrawer

 

[MDUte]

Looks like we are also losing the battle with USC for George Maile 4* OG from Bingham HS. 247 has their crystal ball at 100% SC. Hope we can turn that one around.

https://247sports.com/Player/George-Maile-46080814/

[ironman1315]

Probably shouldn’t be too worried since the predictions are from last year. Let’s see what happens. 

[dystopiamembrane]

Good to know. I wondered how this site gets their data. Keeping all that info correct seems more difficult than running a poltical polling firm.

[dystopiamembrane]

Hello, may I please speak with <insert name of 16 year old kid>? I have a quick survey for you about your level of interest in colleges and universities around the country. For each institution I name, please list your interest as hot, warm, cool, cold, or non-existent. Abilene Christian?

[PhiladelphiaUte]

On the upside, it looks like we’re WINNING the battle for Brighton OLB, Lander Barton!

#LegacyRecruit

[D T]

It doesn’t appear we’ve even spent much IF any time on this kid, as there’s no offer there….But he does have an impressive national offer list & is rated as a low 4-star by 247Sports….I just don’t know exactly which others we’re currently targeting….This would be good for a Tweet @ Fred.

[Fabian]

I think it was said before that the staff projected a low ceiling/ wasn’t a great fit because he wasn’t a great athlete like kuithe or otoole didn’t project to be a great blocker like fotheringham and didn’t have the length to be a red zone threat like Vaha 

talented kid no doubt, they might offer him eventually who knows 

[Charlie]

I agree. If he would join Barton and Moa coming to the U, I would be happy with the instate recruiting. Getting Maile also would be more than expected.

[Jake]

Do we know if we like Moa better at tight end? He looks like he’s more talented at pass rushing. OnlyU?

[Onlyu]

Carson is a very good player but doesn’t fit our scheme well. He would love to be a Ute and is a great kid but sometimes the fit just doesn’t match the scheme with the skill set we need or look for. That’s about as straight as I can put it…not a knock on him at all because he’s worked his butt off to improve and will find a place that matches up with his abilities much better than he would as a Ute.

[2008 National Champ]

Didn’t Zach Wilson just spend 3 years showing us that overlooking a kid who really wanted to come to the U might not have been the best plan?

[Charlie]

Not sure he showed that yet to me.  He would not have played over Huntely at all.  This year he didn’t compete with anyone at the Y for the job and I don’t have reason to feel he would have competed well in the Pac.  The Y did well showing they are one of the best G5 teams and Wilson looked very good against the teams they played, but what would be the case if they had played several P5 teams?  Star QB do often come out of the G5.  Gosh Allen has killed it but I’m not sure we know how good he was until making it in the NFL.  Wilson still needs to show that he can keep it going while getting regular pressure.  Might have it, but the status is still might have it.  But honestly, I have seen him mostly in the two games against Utah and in those games I didn’t feel we needed him.  Dart has me more concerned.

[2008 National Champ]

I’m not trying to relitigate the Tuttle recruitment. At the same time, these don’t have to be binary choices. As to Huntley, he missed time in 2018 so the comparison would be whether Wilson would have played over Shelley? Then in 2019, would he have beat out Shelley / Lisk as the backup? Which then leaves, do you go get Bentley for the 2020 season or let Rising / Wilson battle it out for QB1? Would Wilson be projected in the first round if he’d have come to Utah? Probably not. Did he prove that he should have been recruited? Absolutely.

To bring it back to Ryan, which was the point of the thread, a lot of very good schools see enough value in him to make an offer while Utah doesn’t. As mentioned, he very well could not be the prototype for what Utah wants from its TE’s, but that doesn’t preclude recruiting him for whichever position they feel he is best suited. If he chooses elsewhere, so be it. But the optics of at least making the attempt at signing a talented local kid are better than watching them go elsewhere without even being seriously considered.

Name one thing Devonte Christopher, Brian Blechen and Chase Hansen all have in common? They were all highly regarded HS QB’s who played other positions at Utah. Bringing in talent and putting them in the best position to succeed is supposed to be Whit’s forte.

[UtahMan17]

This is going to be a VERY small in-state class for Utah…they’re going all out for Lander, they’re happy to have Moa, and they’ve also recently started recruiting Vakalahi – hopefully they aren’t too late on him because he is a stud. Maile is a guard, and they only want tackles. Ryan is a 6’3 blocking TE and they only want really athletic or really long TEs. Everyone else in state currently is not evaluated as a take – even though some were previously offered. Right or wrong, that is their belief apparently.

Time will tell if this is the correct move or not…but this is presently shaping up to be another very light in state class…unfortunately. 

[MDUte]

Great insights, thanks! Can you share more about Vakalahi? His 247 rating is super low. Just wondering if he’s expected to blow up with more exposure? Also, it looks like we’ve offered Alatini…anything you can share about him?

[Author]

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