Scalley said Utah is thin at DT.

[Ute Dub]

I was like, wut? Did anyone else catch that on 1280 the zoob late afternoon today. He said they have 5 guys but when they rotate like they do, it’s not enough, may play some walk-on DT’s this year.

[Rick]

I wonder if it’s motivation aimed at a few players. It sure seems to me that there are  a few more players that could fight for a sixth, even seventh and eight spot. Besides, while they do rotate up to six guys, Tafuna and Pepa did not come off the field a lot last year – Tafuna from the get go and Pepa following the UCLA loss. I think he’s also wanting players three, four and five to be more motivated. I continue to here that Fotu is the most talented of the group but his effort is up and down. It’s improved but they want him to take a significant step forward this season and win significant time. He needs to be the next man up when Tafuna goes pro and possibly Pepa as well at the end of this season.

[ProudUte]

This goes against what I had previously heard from Whitt.  He said that we had 12 guys who will play on the Dline.

I hope it is what Rick posted above – it is more motivation.

[Ute Dub]

11 DE’s and 1 DT would make you thin at DT, do you know what I am saying?

[mfaulk80]

We have depth at DE (which is what Whitt had commented on). We are thinner than they like at DT, and I’ve heard that from multiple sources. I don’t think it’s necessarily meant as a motivating factor. We usually rotate 5 or 6 guys in at DT. The concern is injury. Pepa was out all of spring with a leg issue, and it may be that he’s not fully back right now. Or it could just be that it’s a physical position where injuries are not uncommon. If we have a couple of DTs out with injury, then we’re going to be relying on walk-ons to fill out the depth for rotation purposes.

[AZUTE]

As long as there aren’t any injuries 5 DTs are plenty. This is just Coach speak and Scalley has learned from the Master. Whit would have you believe Cam and Kuithe are still both in wheelchairs.

[mfaulk80]

Sure, as long as there aren’t injuries.  That’s the point.  If there are injuries and we need to dig into depth, we don’t have any scholarship DTs beyond those 5.  Also, 3 of the 4 walk-ons are freshman.   If you compare our roster to last year, we’re definitely thin at DT.  

[Ute Dub]

If Utah plays 6 DT’s and we have 5 serviceable, that doesn’t sound like plenty, that sould like we’re short. 

[Yergensen]

Fillinger was a 4 * DT in HS. There were rumors of a move back to DT, but think he’s light at his current weight.

[mfaulk80]

He is too light, but I still wouldn’t be surprised if he gets rotated in a bit if our depth gets challenged with injuries.  Vili too. 

[W16Ute]

I wonder if we do something unheard of at Utah and move to a 3-4 base if we don’t have the DTs we want. We have lots of DEs and LBs… I’m not saying I’m an advocate but it could take pressure off this situation (if it’s not just coach speak).

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