My subjective pre-season grades by position group

[ProudUte]

I mentioned in an earlier post that it is easy to be optimistic during fall camp because everyone seems to look good in practice. That being said, here are my subjective grades for each position group.

QB (A-) The only reason this is not an A is because we have yet to see if Cam is the same player he was two years ago.

WR (A) We are hearing that this may be our best group of WRs in the Whitt era.

TE (A) We have six solid players who will likely see the field at the tight end position.

Oline (I) I give this group an incomplete because there have been a lot of changes in this group, and we have not seen them play together yet.

RB (B) This is a preseason grade. We have had years where we did not know if we had a legit RB1 and it turned out great.

Dline (A) We are very experienced and extremely deep.

LB (A-) We have two all-conference caliber LBs, but we need some of the other guys to step up. It is unlikely that we will experience some injuries at LB during the season.

CB (B) We have some experienced guys but no all-conference kind of players IMO.

Safety (I) I gave this position an incomplete because we will have two new starters replacing all-conferencce guys. Can they deliver? Again, we hear positive things, but these guys need to prove it when the whistle blows.

Special Teams (B+) We have a solid kicker and punter. I am not sure who will be handling returns for us.

[Charlie]

It does not work to simply give all As. However, I think there may not be any let up when QB2 comes in. We may have the best QB2 that we have had in years. The OL may not be an A but I don’t expect them to hold us back. We will be happier with the RBs mid season than we are currently. The LBer group will be A+ when Damuni returns at some point. This group will have everyone’s attention coming down the home stretch. CBs will be fine and will benefit from the DL rush, we have 3 DEs that I am waiting to see rotate. Could we see 3 DEs on passing downs some times? Without any information to go on, I still can’t see our Safeties being anything but very effective. If the slot corner works out well the defense will click. But then, I am an optimist.

[ProudUte]

Are you saying Damuni will play this season? I thought he would not be able to play.

[Charlie]

Last I heard he was an expected mid season return, maybe late season. I have no idea if he could take a year off and come back later. If it is indeed a long season with multiple post season games, he will be a great help for keeping the LBs fresh.

[MDUte]

Yes I’m hearing that Damuni is pushing to be back mid-season which would be huge for our LB room.

However, this is his last year of eligibility and depending on when he might be ready will determine what happens as far as applying for a medical redshirt or not.

I’m not sure the rules on medical redshirts. Anyone know how they work in terms of playing some games in a season without losing the ability to apply for a medical redshirt? Regular redshirts get 4 games to play in without burning the redshirt, just wondering if medical redshirts work the same way??

[HATUman]

I feel like the O-line typically plus up or down to who is lining up under center. A few years ago when Charlie Brewer got the go ahead the O-line looked like garbage, especially against BYU. But as soon as Cam came in against SDSU it’s like a flip switched and they played great after that. I had heard that Brewer was pretty c**ky and didn’t get along great with his line, and I’ve heard similar things from someone I know that works closely with the players about the Pig Farmer (which surprised me with him being a walk on). Why would the line want to protect a guy that is a jerk? Yeah it’s their job, but would you go all out for that guy? Can on the other hand seems to be a fantastic leader and has been able to get the most out of his guys. Let’s hope Wilson can do the same thing.

[Central Coast Ute]

Not surprised to hear that about Brewer. I had heard he was a bad teammate. I won’t go so far as to say the O line just simply didn’t protect him though. The QB has a part to play and can do wonders for the o line.
I am surprised to hear about Barnes. I remember after the USC game Keaton Bills hugged Barnes and said, “I’m proud of you, Bro.” A lot of the O line issues from last year were the QB ‘s fault, especially Barnes. He held onto the ball way too long and scrambled where he should not have scrambled on several occasions.

[OmahaOmaha]

Fun game. From my perspective an “A” is a nationally elite group, and an A- is an elite group in conference. It goes down from there. I kind of think an “I” is a copout so I’m gonna take a stab at each group even with incomplete information. Here goes.

QB A- for the same reason you gave. Let’s see how he comes off two major surgeries. If he stays healthy and his head is right, he has A potential for sure.

WR B+. They have the potential to be an A- group but don’t see how they’d become a nationally elite group.

TE A. Kuithe alone would put us in the A/A- range, but, the depth here is staggering.

OLine B. But I predict they’ll gel into a B+ group. Harding is just a solid OL coach. Perhaps one of the best around.

RB B-. If Mitchell can have a breakout year I can see us in the B+ range with the help of a healthy Cam. Otherwise, I’m not sure we get any better than B-.

DLine A. Year after year after year after year. Our DLine is truly impressive in it’s ability to reload, and this year, there isn’t a lot of reloading to do.

LB A. I just think Lander Barton is special. When it’s all over, if he stays healthy, his name will be uttered in the same breath as Stevenson Sylvester, Devin Lloyd, Chase Hansen. I think he’s that good, and that consequential when he’s on the field.

CB B-. Get the sense we’re a little bit down this year. If we put the nickel in the CB group I think we climb to a B. Snowden is very good

Safety B. Have no heartburn with Johnson & Snowden. If Ritchie plays like he did the last quarter of his freshman year we’ll be fine. If not, we have a couple of good backups in Hall and Gilman. Plus safety pride, Scalley, and all that. Somehow, the safety/CB group will come together during the year, hopefully by the OSU game.

ST B-. Certainly the hype is not up to what we’ve come to expect with national award winning kickers/punters. Plus, we got used to Covey. Those were generational ST groups.

So overall IMO you’re just a tad high, but gave a solid preseason assessment of this team.

[22Ute22]

Well, it depends on what age you are. For us zoomers, when we rank things, we do tier lists in which “S” tier is the elite ranking.

[ProudUte]

Based on the criteria you use, I think your grading is correct.

[Utah]

Why do so many people wonder if Cam will be able to come back from his injury? Has there ever been a QB who has NOT come back from a knee injury like this?

Cam is NOT a running QB. He can run, but he doesn’t need to. He is a pocket passer who can hurt you with his legs. If he can’t run anymore, our offense will be just fine. We don’t need his legs to be an efficient offense.

As for our CB’s, look at who will start:

Kenan Johnson. A multi-year starter in the SEC.
Zemaiah Vaughn – might be the best CB in the Big 12.
Snowden Smith – Four star kid who played for us last year.

Anyone who doubts our CB’s…I feel bad for ya. Our CB’s are really, really good.

[Dallas]

I’m not sure how you define a running QB, but Cam is widely recognized as being most effective when he’s scrambling and keeping drives alive picking up first downs. If that threat isn’t there if he’s lost that twitch, then he and our offense won’t be as effective. It’s very reasonable to question whether he will be as effective after his serious knee injury.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Cam is in the same position as Bo Nix last year. Oregon ran him way less but enough to get some crucial first downs. I see the same for us.

[krindor]

I’m actually pretty happy with our CBs….but Keenan Johnson is not a multi-year starter in the SEC. He has 11 starts (less than one season’s worth) in 43 games for Georgia Tech.

So he’s a guy who had recently become a starter in the ACC

[krindor]

I’m actually pretty happy with our CBs….but Keenan Johnson is not a multi-year starter in the SEC. He has 11 starts (less than one season’s worth) in 43 games for Georgia Tech.

So he’s a guy who had recently become a starter in the ACC

[BleedsRedUte]

Do you mean “likely” or unlikely we will experience injuries to the LB group? Yes, I don’t want to say likely, but the LB job is being in on tackles a high percentage of plays.
Since there is still a question mark for many new players, I can’t give the group an A-, just a solid B, based on what we know right now without seeing a live game.

I want to think Cam can be as effective if he doesn’t have 100% of his pre-injury quick first step, and open running ability, but it is actually what set him apart, and allowed him to make plays that helped the Utes win championships. I really want him to be as quick and fast, but it remains to be seen.

Also, I agree Wilson seems to be a very good choice at No. 2, so probably the best position the Utes have been in at the QB position (pre-season).

I guess I’m just a little gun shy of giving very high grade to groups we actually have to see play some live snaps. But, I am excited to get to that first game! Go Utes!

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I don’t see how you can grade our LB a B. Barton could be the goat of Utah linebackers. Reid is a solid experienced guy that just makes plays. I could see Barton getting 5 + sacks. He is a beast. Losing Damuni hurts the depth but Fotu got some valuable game time last year and is ready to go.

[High Uintas]

I see things very differently on the offensive line. This UNIT has been set since Spring ball and have been working together as a UNIT all Fall Camp. The offensive tackles are probably the best pair Utah has ever had. You aren’t going to have the typical slow start as they figure out the best 5 and learn to play together. I expect them to be good right out of the gate and by conference play they will impose their will. And the cherry on top of it all is a QB who can audible out of trouble and running backs who can help in pass protection.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Phil Steele likes our O-Line. He ranks that unit the 19th best in the nation (4th best in the Big 12).

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