Paying Only-U Kanobi and 👻

[Anfernee]

Happy spring, gentleman! With our not so favorite event: the spring portal opening next Thursday, any thoughts on where we might look to add and if we might lose anyone of significance? I know after last winter portal ANYTHING is possible but I’d be surprised if any major contributors leave. This team has already has so much juice and positive energy. Definitely has a chance for a special year and guys realize that. Maybe I’m being naive but I feel good about where we are with keeping dudes. Go Utes!

[Tednab]

I’m curious to hear everyone’s opinion on how we stack up against TDS position by position at this point in the season.. they’ve had a lot of quality transfers. Has their talent level past ours ? are we neck and neck ? Or playing catch up at this point ? Thoughts ?

[UteButters]

Utahs roster is better

[krindor]

As someone who follows both teams, here’s my thoughts – starting with the offense

QB: Slight Utah Lean…but with extremely High Variance
BYU had a great season last year, but a lot of it was despite Retzlaff instead of because of him. He definitely had moments where he rose to the occasion, but he also led the conference in interceptions and hurt the team a lot when he made big mistakes.

Dampier is clearly more electric and may be better than Retzlaff….if he’s everything he’s cracked up to be. CBS Sports ranks Dampier as a top 10 returning QB from last year. The caveat is the jump in competition, and it’s hard to put him above a proven commodity yet. The upside is certainly higher, but so is the downside until we see something. I’ll give the slight lean to Utah here, but no outcome would be too surprising and I really wouldn’t argue with almost any take here.

RB: BYU Advantage
Utah brings in Wayshawn Parker who was one of the best RB in the portal and had 735 yards with 5.4 ypc. He’s the clear #1 and guys behind him have either a proven track record or a high ceiling…but generally not both

BYU counters with LJ Martin who had 718 yards on 5.2 ypc…which puts him pretty close to Parker. Arguments between the two can be made either way – Martin did it against better competition, but Parker did it as a true freshman, whereas Martin was a sophomore (and had a correspondingly better line). Martin also has had quite a history of nagging injury. If it were just a Parker-Martin comparison, I’d give it a slight advantage to Martin for those reasons, but BYU also has more established quality backups in Moa and Haunga so they take this category with a bit more room to spare

WR: Major advantage BYU
This isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a surprise. BYU is fairly loaded at WR with lots of high-end and demonstrated performers. Chase Roberts is the headliner (and somehow still doesn’t get enough credit from the BYU fan base), but with Marion, Phillips, and Kingston, BYU also has multiple other guys who’ve shown they can play at this level. Add in a couple high end youngsters who BYU is really excited about (Hagen, McKenzie) and BYU’s biggest issue at WR is having enough targets to go around.

Utah has largely opted for quantity at the WR position, bringing in a LOT of options and trusting (hoping?) that a few of them will step up. There’s absolutely some exciting possibilities there and I know we all love Zacharyus Williams….but for now, the Utah WR room remains mostly projection.

TE: Push
On the one hand, this is clearly a BYU advantage since Carsen Ryan was the leading TE for Utah last year and is now on BYU. But Carsen Ryan has also never had as many receptions as even the 14 that Landen King got in 2023 (Ryan’s career high is 13). There’s a lot of justifiable excitement in BYU camp about Ryan and an expectation that he’ll take the next step…but if we’re looking at spring hype, then Utah also gets credit for the excitement around redshirt freshman Hunter Andrews or Dallin Bentley (who is also getting rave reviews in spring, despite only 3 receptions in 2 years so far). Carsen Ryan gets the slight edge over any one of Bentley, King, or Andrews…but Utah’s superior depth at the position is enough to push it to an effective tie. We’ll see where the spring hype is justified, but until Ryan and/or Bentley and/or Andrews live up to (or fail to live up to) the hopes, I’ll call this a push.

OL: Utah major advantage
Let’s start at the bookends. Utah has two tackles who are likely to be drafted (both possibly very early) with Fano and Lomu. BYU is replacing both starters. On the interior, Utah brings every player back and has several high end backups. BYU has more turn over.

That’s not to say that BYU’s cupboard is bare. Jatta played well in limited time as a RS last year, Gentry had time starting at Michigan pre-injury, Lapuaho looked very good last year, Mitchell was a solid injury replacement for Pay, and so on. But there’s some losses and some new pieces. That said, Utah getting the advantage here is less about BYU and more about what Utah has across the OL.

[Anfernee]

Wayshawn 🔥 and especially behind that line.

[DataUte]

Agree, you almost have to put OL and RB together for ‘run game’ rather than separate even though OL also has pass protection. It’s going to be interesting with Dampier as he will also rely on OL blocking when he scrambles or options to run. I would expect that we will have to weather a few more INT than before (and Whitt will have to swallow his pride) to get a few more shots on offense, but we’ll see how that goes. Whitt wants TOP and low/no TO over electric offenses, so we’ll see how much leash he gives Beck.

[krindor]

DE: Slight edge to Utah
Utah has historically had a very strong DE rotation, but has more questions than normal this year. Fano looks to be a stud, but the spot opposite him and the depth is uncertain. I’d like to see Kash Dillon lock it up, but it’s a battle between him, Fitzgerald, Holtzclaw and Jones.

Meanwhile BYU has Logan Lutui as the only returning quasi-starter (and even that is arguable since Batty and Bagnah were the two main guys), but a whole mess of high-upside potential that hasn’t done anything yet. Tausili Akana (weight struggles that are reportedly being solved), Ephraim Asiata (ongoing weight struggles), Hunter Clegg (inexperience and mission rust), Viliami Po’uha, Kini Fonohema give BYU upside at EDGE that hasn’t existed in a long time. And I haven’t even mentioned Schoonover. He and Lutui have the most experience, but the advanced metrics for those two have been pretty weak so far. Fano vs those guys is enough to be a moderate edge for Utah, but the sheer number of upside youngsters for BYU brings it down to a slight edge for Utah and, if enough of them pop or excel enough, could even flip it to a BYU advantage.

DT: Push
This is another interesting spot, with BYU building around a Utah transfer. And make no mistake, Keanu Tanuvasa can be REALLY good. After all, he started last year for Utah over everyone that is coming back (though he was generally DT2 behind Tafuna). But Tanuvasa was also injured a lot and Dallas Vakalahi replaced him without any drop-off. If you argue Vakalahi = Tanuvasa (defensible, if a bit exaggerated i n my mind), then Vimahi and others at Utah are enough to give Utah the edge. But if Tanuvasa is healthy and the best DT on either team, then it’s closer to a tie or BYU advantage. Overall, I’ll split the difference and call it a push.

LB: Slight advantage to BYU
This is going to be one of my more controversial takes, because Utah has a very good LB group.

Lander Barton finally seems recovered and was playing like an early round draft pick to end last season. Jonathon Hall came over from safety and immediately impressed and Damuni is back for one more year. It’s a REALLY good group

And yet, BYU’s may be just as good or even better with Jack Kelly, Isaiah Glasker, and Harrison Taggart. The biggest difference is that if injuries hit, BYU has just a bit more high end depth with Siale Esera and Ace Kaufusi already having shown what they can do. Utah relies a bit more on true freshman like Cyrus Polu and Christian Thatcher (both highly touted, but still true freshman). It’s a nitpick since both programs have absolutely fantastic LBs, but this one goes slightly to BYU.

Cornerbacks: Slight advantage to Utah
BYU lost both their starting CBs from last year in Jakob Robinson and Marque Collins. Evan Johnson played on the boundary a LOT when Robinson went into the slot and did well, so it’s not a complete rebuild, but I’m more nervous than most about Bamba being picked on. BYU is also counting on Kabeya picking up the slot role. BYU has a great corners coach and deserves the benefit of the doubt, but there’s definitely some questions marks this year. There’s a reason the fanbase so openly courted Snowden to enter the portal.

Interestingly, the same (great coach, benefit of the doubt, some questions) is true for Utah. Snowden is (as mentioned) a stud and Scooby Davis played a lot (and fairly well) last year, but Utah is relying on someone else to step up at the 3rd spot. If Utah had kept Calhoun, they’d be incredibly set – but now need to hope one of Saunders, Cotton or another CB step up. That said, there’s slightly fewer questions and more proven production for Utah so they get the edge for now. My guess is that both schools do well at this position though, just because of the history of the associated coaches.

S: Advantage to Utah
BYU has a lot of good young talent at Safety, none of which really shined above the rest last year. Damuni and Satuala have the most pedigree, and Jay Hill loves Prassas, but most of the starts and snaps last year went to two former walk-ons in Tanner Wall and Crew Wakley. Wakley is gone now and the others have more upside, but until we see it, potential is just code for “haven’t done anything yet”.

Meanwhile Utah has some truly excellent safeties with both Tao Johnson and Rabbit Evans returning, Nate Ritchie (who started as a freshman) still around as a backup, Nate Tilmon impressing as a true freshman and Jackson Benee somehow the big story of spring camp. BYU certainlhy isn’t bad at this spot, but it’s a real strength for Utah.

K/P/returners: Advantage to BYU
Utah and Utah fans are justifiably excited about Dillon Curtis and his massive leg…but it sounds like there’s a bit of work to do regarding accuracy. And BYU’s Will Ferrin is simply a top kicker, finishing first team all-Big 12 last year. So that’s a small BYU advantage for now.

At punter, both schools seem fine, not incredible, but BYU also has some exceptional return talent. Pair that with the consistency of their kicker and they seem to have the moderate advantage on ST for now at least.

[chinngiskhaan]

Wherever Jay Hill is coaching the ST advantage should go to his team. I know he isn’t the ST coach at BYU, but he’s just so dang good in that regard I can’t overlook the fact that he’s at BYU. For that reason alone I’d give the ST advantage to TSPP

[Utah5410]

Disagree so HARD on DT. Vimahi was hurt last year also and is a 3 year starter. Tanavasa is fine when healthy well that’s the point and he won’t have another stud DT next to him like he has since he has been at UT. We still need another guy but we are way better at DT

TDS defense is going to struggle this year. There backers are good but they will get pushed acorn and there secondary will be exposed. JH is a great Defensive coach so they will be respectable and play well at home. But will get eaten up

[Utah5410]

Disagree so HARD on DT. Vimahi was hurt last year also and is a 3 year starter. Tanavasa is fine when healthy well that’s the point and he won’t have another stud DT next to him like he has since he has been at UT. We still need another guy but we are way better at DT

TDS defense is going to struggle this year. There backers are good but they will get pushed acorn and there secondary will be exposed. JH is a great Defensive coach so they will be respectable and play well at home. But will get eaten up

[Utah5410]

This is Fair…. Now Do Defense.

Also. I think Dampier is major advantage. not impressed BYJew at all..

Wasn’t impressed with Rez whatever at all. It is true Dampier is hype. But being in the same offense with that offense line is far superior.

[krindor]

It would absolutely not be a surprise if Dampier is a major advantage. At all. Like I said, he has electric upside and has some sources ranking him as one of the top returning QBs in all of college football. But I think it’s also fair to be wary about drinking the Kool-Aid too hard, too early. He was playing at a lower level and still has to improve the passing part of his game – he had as many interceptions as passing TDs last year

There’s just SO much variability there, and while I can’t fault anyone for buying in completely, I’m trying to remain as unbiased as possible. I ended up giving it a slight edge to Utah, but realistically anything between a big edge to Utah or a slight/moderate edge to BYU could be in play. Whatever the case, Dampier will at least bring strong value as a runner

[homer]

The hype on Dampier reminds me of 1984 QB Mark Stevens.

Stevens was athletic, but a mediocre passer. He had a little over 50% completions. When he was recruited, he was considered a solid RPO type of qb. The offense was much different, but Mark never was a passing threat.

Unless Dampier ups his pass game, I see a similar type of player, athletic, not an effective passer.

[Rick]

Homer,
I’m one of the guys on this board old enough to remember Stevens well. There is absolutely no comparison between the two except Dampier runs as well as him. Now that I’ve seen Dampier in person a few times, including the scrimmage last Saturday, I can tell you he passes well. Stevens simply couldn’t throw the ball – running back playing quarterback.

Now I’m not crowning Dampier or the Utes after the last few seasons, but he is far and away QB1.

I think the issue Utah has still is who is #2. We were bitten last season and I’d hate to see it happen again this season. While I think the backups are making progress, I worry about the drop off.

By the way, Krindorr’s thoughts on offense and defense seem pretty close to me. I quibble with him on tightends (where I think we’re ahead – he forgets Bentley who was actually ahead of Ryan on the depth chart) and linebackers (we’re maybe ahead with Damuni back, the development of Hall and health of Lander). I do think Jack Kelly is terrific. I like our depth at both positions over BYU’s as well.

[krindor]

I didn’t forget Bentley and he’s part of why I said Utah has better depth and more options. But he has three catches in two years, so I can’t put too much stock in him yet.

I want to and I really do believe he’ll make a big step…but if I’m assessing based on what’s been shown, I can’t put too much weight on him yet. For right now, King is the most established TE

[Rick]

That’s fair Krindorr but my conversations at season’s end led me to believe Bentley had a little more value. I can think of three touchdowns Bentley would have had if Wilson throws a good ball. I don’t mean to dismiss Ryan’s talent at all. They did not want to lose him.

Yergensen’s comment below is simply ridiculous based on what coaches have said. Comparisons between Ryan and Bentley are fair – similar size and traditional tight ends. I think they are quite even. Bringing King into the conversation and putting Ryan above him is a little silly. They are too different.

I do agree that Andrews makes the tight end room interesting but I would put both he and King in hybrid roles – Andrews being a tight end/running back and King being a tight end/wide receiver.

[Yergensen]

Ryan > Bentley and King. With same poor QB play last season Ryan outproduced both combined and Ryan looked/projects better.

I’m not sure why we’re high on either TE that stayed as they’ve shown little in their time with us.

[Anfernee]

Hunter Andrews > Carsen Ryan
He’s going to be a star. Has been making big plays in spring already.

[Yergensen]

Practice…

I’m not convinced JB scheme uses TE and even if it does that TE is best suited for Andrews to max touches.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Andrews is RB1 or RB2 when the season ends.

[ProudUte]

Krindor, I really only disagree at LB, but not much. I would call it equal. Also, Utha lost a lot of studs on the Dline. I would probably call that overall equal. I hate to say this, but I think his may Utah’s weakest defense in a decade or more. However, surprises always seem to pop up, like Bishop, Lloyd, Anae, Chase Hansen, etc. I hope a few guys step it up this season.

[krindor]

LB and D-Line have arguments, but I did end up calling each position group with a slight edge. Keep in mind that Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker (both BYU LBs) were HM All-Conference performers. LB is absolutely a position of strength for Utah….but it’s also really really good at BYU. And (reasonably enough) a lot of folks here don’t know BYU depth charts so well, so they assume LB must be an advantage for Utah > BYU, because it’s a strong position…. but those same posters often say they don’t even know who BYU’s other LBs are, when Glasker was really great last year.

Same story (albeit in reverse) on Defensive Line. It’s weak by historical standards for Utah, which makes it hard to see where it’s an advantage for Utah over BYU. But BYU also lost a LOT there and until/if their young players take the next step, I have to give a slight edge for Utah. I will say though, that the Defensive Line is where BYU probably has the most potential to quickly improve.

[MDUte]

I posted some of my thoughts on the NIL thread but I like how Krindorr shared his thoughts by position group. I’ll try and do the same.

First of all, Utah has a big advantage in talent over TSPP. And it’s across the board. This is due to our NIL advantage when it comes to Football. We are head and shoulders above them when it comes to Football NIL and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise because it simply isn’t true.

QB: HUGE edge to Utah
Dampier’s performance this Spring has everyone completely giddy up on the hill. He’s the real deal and it’s gonna be one helluva an exciting offense to watch next year because of Dampier…CAN’T WAIT!! He’s almost impossible to sack he’s so elusive and electric. And his arm is terrific and has been showcasing his ability to make all of the throws all Spring long. If there’s one area he needs to continue to improve on is his accuracy as he will miss an occasional throw here and there that he should make. But make no mistake about it, Dampier is LEGIT!

We all know what Retzlaff brings to the table. He’s performed well but nothing out of this world by any stretch of the imagination. He’s been below 60% accuracy and slightly above for the time he’s been in Provo which is serviceable but nothing to write home about. And he’s been known to miss reads that have led to critical INTs at key times in games. After seeing him for the past 2 years, I wouldn’t expect him to all of the sudden make a ginormous leap forward this coming year. At the end of the day, Retzlaff is not going to beat you with either his arm or his legs.

OL: MASSIVE edge to Utah
This might be the best OL in Utah’s history. Our 2 starting tackles (Fano/Lomu) are likely 1st round draft picks. And our middle 3 have had a tremendous Spring and the “gelling” has already started to happen WAY ahead of schedule than typical years where Utah’s OL starts slow. This year’s OL is the best position group on the team. And Dampier is going to have all the time in the world behind our OL which he never had at NM. The OL is stronger in Pass Pro right now than Run Blocking but that’s nothing to be worried about. Harding will get those kinks worked out in Fall, like always, and we can fully expect our run game to be solid like we’re used to.

TSPP has talent across the OL with guys like Gentry and others who saw time last year. But they have big shoes to fill with the loss of Pay. They’ll have a long ways to go to get their OL fully in sync but not even close to the level of Utah’s OL this year.

RB: Edge to Utah
Both Wayshaun Parker and LJ Martin are talented RBs. But if I had to place a bet on who is going to average more yards and rush for more yards, I’m going with Parker because of the big advantage he will have running behind Utah’s OL this year. Additionally, Martin has struggled with injuries and I’m not so sure he makes it through the season next year. Behind Parker, Na’Quari Rogers appears to be a solid #2 that gives Utah a 1-2 punch with Parker and Rogers. And then add in our speedster, Daniel Bray, who’s going to bring some electricity to the backfield…and I’m feeling very bullish about our RBs. Still hoping Utah brings in 1 more bruiser from the Portal after Spring who can run between the tackles to pick up that 1st down on short yardage plays.

WR: Advantage BYU
Utah’s WRs are starting to come along. But for the life of me, I don’t understand why BYU can continue to roll out 3* talent at WR every year and get solid production and yet Utah has to always struggle in this regard. I’m hopeful that Beck is the answer to fixing our WR production this year. But until I see it, you have to give the advantage to BYU with Roberts, Marion, and Phillips. For Utah, I’m expecting big things from Z. Williams, Creed Whittemore, Otto Tia, and Ryan Davis. Lots of talent and potential with those 4 to be every bit as good as what BYU has at WR. But they have to prove it on the field. One note worth mentioning is Utah does have an X-factor with Nate Johnson as our gadget-guy this year. Sounds like he’s been showing promise at Receiver with the ability to mix in some jet sweeps, reverses, and quick slants or outs to make plays in space.

TE: Advantage Utah
Sorry, but BYU has not shown their ability to utilize the TE in years. The reports out of Provo have all been very favorable about Carsen Ryan being a major weapon for BYU. But I’ll believe it when I see it. For Utah, Bentley has had himself a massive Spring with every bit as much buzz as Carsen Ryan. And Landen King is filling the Brant Kuithe role, incredibly well in Beck’s new offense. And Hunter Andrews might be the most exciting new weapon to emerge in the offense for next year. He has electric break-away speed and has been making big plays all Spring. And aside from receiving, Andrews has shown to be a very capable blocker as well.

DL: Advantage Utah
Had concerns about DT before Spring but no longer. Vimahi, Vakalahi, and Lea’ea are all stout and on the level of what Utah has every year at DT. The question was with depth behind our Big 3. And both incoming Freshman, Karson Kaufusi and Sione Motuapuaka as well as Sophomore Mike Tauteoli have all shown the ability to be in the rotation next year. Likely only 1 or maybe 2 of them will make the rotation but the fact that we have a legitimate 6 deep at DT is HUGE news coming out of Spring. BYU added Tanuvasa obviously and that was huge for their DL but they don’t have near the depth Utah has.

DE: Advantage Utah
Logan Fano will headline Utah’s DEs this year as the unofficial Mayor Sack Lake City. But watch out for Lance Holtzclaw, Kash Dillon, John Henry Daley, and Paul Fitzgerald. All 4 have had a great Spring. BYU has brought in help at DE with the additions of Spencer Clegg and Tausili Akana. Clegg still has to get rid of the mission rust and many expect him to take until mid-season to be fully adjusted. Akana was a big get in the off-season but never saw the field in 2 years at Texas. Reports were that he has struggled to put on weight. So although BYU has talent at DE, the reports I’ve seen suggest a big question mark at the moment.

LBs: Advantage Utah
Barton, Hall, and Damuni are all 100% healthy finally (knock on wood) and looking nasty as ever. Barton was struggling most of last year with nagging injuries which hampered his play. And Damuni was out all year rehabbing. So Jonathan Hall got invaluable playing time which is going to pay big dividends this year. BYU has Jack Kelley returning who emerged out of nowhere last year as a legit star. Kelley is their one proven dude at LB and I’m not sure who will be their next 2 after Kelley. But I’ll put our 3 headed monster up against any trio in the B12 any day.

DBs: Advantage Utah
Headlined by Smith Snowden who is poised to take another big step forward and have a CP3-esque season this year. Scooby Davis has emerged as a legit Corner on the outside. Jackson Bennee is a name to watch out for this year and has had himself a tremendous Spring. Incoming transfers, Donovan Saunders and Rock Caldwell, should also help bolster our DB room but are still getting up-to-speed in Scalley’s defense. The hope is that Utah will add one more quality DB from the portal post-spring. I don’t know anything about BYU’s cornerback room but this is going to be another one of Scalley’s outstanding, nasty defense this year. And knowing that, I would find it very hard to believe that BYU has an advantage anywhere on the defensive side of the ball.

Safety: Advantage Utah
Safety Pride has reloaded once again and is probably the strength of the defense. Rabbit Evans and Tao Johnson are going to be amazing. And the depth behind them with Nate Ritchie, Nate Tilmon, and Jackson Bennee is superb. From what I’ve heard, Scalley’s been pulling guys from safety to backup other positions because they’re trying to get the best guys on the field and we just have so much incredible talent in the Safety room. BYU has Raider Damuni returning at Safety who is solid. And I would expect Satuala to have a breakout season in his 2nd year, assuming the hype is all true. But I’m not so sure they don’t have a considerable drop-off in talent after these 2.

Special Teams: Advantage Utah
We finally have a kicker this year…enter Legatron, Dillon Curtis! This kid has the range to split the uprights from 70 yards out! He’s the best kicker we’ve had since Matt Gay and Utah is absolutely set at kicker for the next four years! At punter, Orion Phillips, has been averaging a solid 43.5 yards/punt. Nothing to write home about, but all reports are that Phillips appears to be solid. One nice thing Utah fans can look forward to is Curtis handling kickoffs and kicking the ball out of the endzone this year to not run the risk of giving up anymore kickoff returns. I give Utah the edge in STs over BYU because of Dillon Curtis. He’s a special recruit at place kicker and we’re super lucky to have him.

All in all, Utah’s talent avg is 2.5 points higher than BYU’s across the field. This is due to Utah’s NIL advantage. BYU massively overachieved last year with lower-level talent. And everyone knows Utah would’ve been right there contending for the B12, as expected, had Cam not gone down in the freak injury against Baylor with the gatorade truck. Utah didn’t run a plug-n-play offense under Ludwig like we are going to under Beck. This meant our season truly was derailed when we no longer had a backup (like Barnes who had been in Ludwig’s offense for 3 years) who could run Ludwig’s prostyle offense. But the most exciting thing to look forward to next year, without question, is Dampier running Beck’s offense. It’s going to be an exciting brand of offense that Utah fans are going to love…can’t wait!

Time to win us another conference championship and go to our first CFP! Go Utes!!

[krindor]

I’ll take a look at the places I disagreed with you (even if slightly) and try to give a bit more info on my thought process

QB: Krindor gives slight edge to Utah, MDUte gives HUGE edge to Utah
I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being a HUGE edge for Utah, definitely think it’s in play. This one has a lot of variability, and I’m trying not to read too much into spring reports which are always positive. The concern for me is that Dampier threw interceptions on 3.1% of his throws last year. And we all saw Wilson last year try to fit throws into holes that closed up more quickly with the increase in competition, so there’s a risk there. Even in the worst case, Dampier will be a huge positive with his electric rushing ability, so I could see anywhere from a medium BYU advantage to a huge Utah advantage. Which is why I took the midpoint and gave Utah a slight advantage.

RB: Krindor gives edge to BYU, MDUte gives edge to Utah
Honestly, don’t think we’re that far off here. My logic was that Parker and Martin are pretty similar, but Martin is more established at this level and that BYU has more productive/established depth. Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Parker outperform Martin, largely due to the OL (as you mentioned), but I didn’t want to double count the OL advantage at that position group and again at RB.

TE: Krindor calls it a tie, MDUte gives advantage to Utah
Fact is that Carsen Ryan was the #1 TE for Utah last year, over Bentley, King, and Andrews. And for all the offseason hype about Bentley and Andrews, similar noise is coming out of BYU camp about Ryan. Reality is that Ryan’s “proven” production isn’t much, but our coaches felt that Ryan > Bentley, Ryan > King, Ryan > Andrews for last year. That doesn’t mean it’s the same order this year, and it doesn’t mean (Ryan + other BYU TE) > (Bentley + King + Andrews)… but for now I can’t put this to Utah when Ryan outperfomed all those guys in the same offense last year. I do agree that BYU doesn’t use the TE well in recent history, but that’s more a coaching issue than talent. Plus, I’m not sure how well we will use the TE in our new offense.

LB: Krindor calls it a slight advantage BYU, MDUte gives advantage Utah
Don’t disagree with anything you said about Utah’s LB. Looking healthy and nasty. But the idea that ” Kelley is their one proven dude at LB and I’m not sure who will be their next 2 after Kelley” ignores that both Kelly AND Isaiah Glasker were HM All-Big 12. And Harrison Taggart had some of the best PFF grades for BYU. As much as I love the Utah LB corps, it’s tough to argue with that when Utah didn’t get the same accolades. Like I said, this isn’t any sort of knock on Utah, so much as recognizing BYU’s strength here.

ST: Krindor gives advantage to BYU, MDUte gives advantage Utah
I’m really excited for Curtis and the ability to hit from absurd distance and put the kickoff out of the end zone. Utah shouldbe much better than last year. That said, there’s some noise that Curtis is still dialing in accuracy with the increased pace at the college level. And BYU’s Ferrin was the 1st Team All-Conference kicker last year. So it’s tough to immediately put Curtis over him. And then BYU also has some stellar kick returners.

Overall, I don’t think we’re too far off, I’m just less likely to give too much credence to spring reports, and probably more aware of what BYU has at certain spots

In any case, even with my analysis, it’s not clear that BYU is somehow better (except at WR), and Utah has advantage along both lines (unless BYU’s young EDGE players show out), so I’d argue anyone feeling BYU should be well ahead of Utah next year is giving too much credence to records from last season.

[MDUte]

Admittedly, Krindor demonstrates an ability to be less biased than I am. I told myself I wasn’t going to drink any of the off-season koolaid this year….BUT when I started hearing all of the reports on Dampier, I said fill up my Stanley! It tastes soooo good when it hits the lips!!

The insiders who have shared what they saw in Spring practice admit that there is still a long way to go for the team to really clean things up prior to the start of the season. But there’s just so much to be excited about. If our coaches and players can just get it all figured out in Fall Camp, we’ve got every reason to believe this year will be what we are all hoping it will be.

But again, props to Krindor for being able to remove both Red and Blue goggles…it takes a big man to do that. I am not a big man haha!

[D T]

*Dampier

[MDUte]

Noted and fixed…thanks.

[W16Ute]

Somehow Anfernee lost control of his own thread. Interesting.

[Tednab]

Nah, it’s football and this is a solid conversation of substance

[W16Ute]

Totally agree! It’s a great discussion.

Just moved topics away from the original post.

[Anfernee]

😂
It’s April and I miss football. So I’m here for it all!

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Great posts krindor MDute and Rick. I enjoyed your evaluations of the teams. I drank the koolaide last year and can’t get the red dye ( from choking on it) out of my Utah gear. So I’m a little reserved on wearing my red goggles. BYU has upped their game and we have lost some recruiting advantages.

One X factor that wasn’t mentioned above. Last year we came in with a target on our back with the national hype and joining a new conference that felt some disrespect. No one took BYU seriously. They used that to their advantage until late in the year. This year they have the target along with ASU. Like BYU did last year we can use it as motivation this year. Whitt and Scalley are ultra competitive and driven to show we can contend for a conference championship. Question: Do we have the leadership to get it done?

[Author]

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