Siaki Ika would be a huge get for us on many levels

[chinngiskhaan]

We do not need another DT, we have plenty of NFL talent there, as usual… but he would be among the best for sure.

There are two major bonuses to getting him aside from the fact that he would be playing for us.

1. He would NOT be playing for someone else. If he goes elsewhere, it’ll probably Oregon, which would be frustrating.

2. It would show other guys transferring from SEC territory (assuming Ika is successful here) that if you are a defensive player, and getting jerked around by your SEC coach, you can come to Utah, and achieve your NFL dreams. Similarly, it would show local kids that they can stay home, and be perfectly happy and successful.

We are THIS CLOSE to having a major recruiting breakthrough on the defensive side of the ball. We are already regularly getting 4* defensive players to commit to the Utes, if we keep this up, pretty soon 2-3 4* defenders a year will become 5 or 6. Imagine what we could do with an entire defensive unit full of 4* recruits. Our defense would be virtually impenetrable. It would be glorious to behold.

I was hoping Batemen coming our way would have been more influential, but he didn’t really have an impact here. If Ika comes home, he’ll likely be more successful, and I think it will send a much bigger message to other local boys.

[Utah]

We actually DO need him. Our top 3 DT’s this year are all Seniors. And I know that this year doesn’t count towards eligibility but if this year goes the way Whitt hopes it will go, we will lose Moala if not two of them. 

He would be a starter for us in 2021 and he would be a star for us. 2021 will be an absolute BLOOD BATH in the P12…ASU will have the best QB maybe in the country and an offense that returns everyone. USC is always loaded. Oregon will be on par with USC talent/experience wise. UCLA will have a QB in his fourth year starting, it will be now or never for UCLA, UW will be in year two with Lake and have an experienced QB…

Ika could come in and help Utah CEMENT their place in the south. Add in another transfer at S who wants to come for a year or two then hop to the NFL (or convince Ritchie to stay home)…we could be special as well. Just like Penei Sewell could have been the difference for us last year, Ika could be that guy for us next. 

[chinngiskhaan]

I was going to thumbs up your post until you claimed Daniels would be the best QB in the country. What makes you think he’s that great?

[Utah]

I’ll reply when I get a chance. BTW, I didn’t downvote you. 

[MinnySunDevil]

Guy never replied and I understand this is way off your original topic now, but I’ll take a shot at it anyway with admitted bias. Jayden Daniels was the composite #2 dual threat QB in the country and the highest composite 4 star as #35 overall national recruit. Bo Nix was a 5 star, the #1 dual and #34 overall… And I’d wager if you swapped them around, the one who went to the SEC would be higher. He was a blue chip, with a caveat. Not physically developed. Still great, but his body hadn’t caught up to the rest of him.

He was a 6’4″ stick figure as a freshman, and they had him play it safe and relatively risk averse, but his talent is immense. He’s got excellent agility and straight line speed to eat up yards, showed good vision, nice touch and a big arm. And again, he was like 40 pounds underweight. He’s going to be stronger, with even more arm, and probably a bit faster. He’s got the physique of a “late bloomer” but was really pretty good anyway. And his freshman year was behind one of the worst offensive lines in P5 football.

ASU’s OL was a complete train wreck. You guys saw the game last year. They had one good returning OL, the Center, and tried to move him to LT. But the guy who they wanted to play C got hurt right before the season, so they tried a freshman at C and he got demolished. Then they moved the LT back to C, and played a 17 year old at LT. Their best offensive lineman was that freshman, but at his natural guard spot. It was as bad a positional disaster as I’ve seen at ASU in a long time, and an indictment of the end of the Todd Graham era recruiting.

But Daniels still had a good year with nearly 3,000 yards passing despite missing time and 17 TD’s to only 2 INT’s. Now it’s a better situation and he’s more physically developed. Still skinny, but maybe another 15 pounds of muscle. And in a year or two, he’ll be even more so. They got two legit P5 starter grad transfers at LT and RG now (Diesch from Texas A&M and former Pac 12 Hon. Mention Hattis from Stanford), to go with the returning C who was supposed to start last year, and a now-sophomore guard who was their only really good OL last year. All of a sudden, they might be be able to block a bit. And none are so good they’re likely NFL flight risks, plus the younger OL they finally brought in have time to physically develop.

So while OL is unlikely to be a major strength going forward, it seems Herm is managing to avoid another full on Graham-fed OL disaster. There’s a reason Eno Benjamin had 600 yards less last year than he did before, and it wasn’t because he got worse. Just worst case scenario blocking, that seems to be fixed with more depth on the way.

On top of that, they are going to be LOADED at the skill positions going forward. Like SC loaded. They had four 4-star WR recruits last year and two 4-star RBs. There are some monsters in there. And then some new unknown JuCo RB came in and was so good, despite the freshmen RB looking great, that he took the starter job anyway- Rachaad White. No one knew who he was, but if you just go google his hudl… He’s a 6’2″, decent sized back that just flies in the open field. So now you’re looking at a decent OL, very good skill position players (even though Darby will go NFL after this year and probably be drafted highly), and a mega-talented, turnover averse QB, who’s going from stick figure to full grown man. He’s got it all. It’s just taking him longer to get there than a Tua or Fields.

tldr- Daniels is an incredibly talented young man who OOZES potential. He’s a mobile QB, yes, but he’s a pass first, 6’4″, big armed prolific passer that just happens to have wheels. Still lots to improve on in terms of body and recognition, but if he develops like a lot of people think he will, he seems in line to be a high 1st round pick.

[Central Coast Ute]

Thanks for the insights. I’ve been wondering about ASU’s O line because they were really bad last year. Now that they have addressed that, I can see why they’re being picked #2 in the south.

I agree Daniel’s is a damn good QB and will only improve in time.

[MinnySunDevil]

ASU’s offensive line was one of the worst I’ve seen from a respectable program in recent memory, and Daniels still managed to guide them to 8 wins despite being 175 pounds at 6’4″.

That’s the reason for the hype. Obviously he could have a sophomore slump, or get hurt, or other weird things can happen, but the hype seems on the surface to be pretty justified. It’s likely he’ll at some point become one of the best QBs in the country with all the tools the NFL is looking for once his body catches up to the rest of his game.

That being said, every game against Utah seems like a coin flip now. We’re going back and forth lately. We won big twice, then your defense gave us an absolute butt kicking last year. Starting to turn into a real rivalry, despite you guys supposedly being “rivaled” to Colorado.

Hopefully you can’t reload that DL. Happy to give info on our team to you. Really, really curious what you guys are looking at. The ASU defense returns a ton, but in a different scheme. You guys lost so many good players, I don’t know what to expect from you.

[Central Coast Ute]

Thanks for posting, I appreciate your insights as I’m sure other Ute fans do.
One position group we will always have a ton of depth and talent on is the DL, at least while Coach Whitt is aroind. We’re not worried about that at all. What worries me most is one LB spot and the secondary. Not that they’re bad or not talented, just young and inexperienced. I agree with you on the rivalry front. ASU seems more like a rival to us than Colorado ever will. And personally, I’ll take it. I don’t want people to keep telling us that BYU is our rival.

[MinnySunDevil]

Kind of expect you guys to have some new group of dudes I’ve never heard of that still play well up front. Like you said, turning into the Utah MO.

And yes! Rivalries are made, not preordained. Y’all don’t like us. We’re pretty sick of your overachieving s**t. That’s how it starts. We’ll never hate you like we hate Arizona, but there’s room for hating someone as much as we hate SC. Equal secondary hate options.

We’re going to have very good starters on defense this year, with maybe the exception of DE, but the depth at LB is a concern. Our DT’s are going to be superb. Davidson is a monster of a nose tackle that, despite being like 6’5″ and 320 lbs, still had 50+ tackles. Lole is probably the best and most accomplished defensive lineman in the conference not named Thibodeaux. 70+ tackles, 6.5 sacks and double digit TFLs as a sophomore from a 5 tech is pretty good, and now they’re moving him to 3 tech with Davidson’s huge ass playing nose to force the C/G double. Forman’s played his entire career and while Matus seems to have upset Tyler Johnson at the other DE, Johnson at least is a proven pass rusher in his non-injured time. So if Matus is better, that’s fine, and if not there’s DE depth. Young ‘un named Cooper making waves at DE too. He’ll be a dude a some point, now or down the line.

LB starters are great, maybe best in the conference. Robinson is in the best shape of his career at a leaned down 240, and he was P12 DROY 2 years ago. Butler is a 2x captain now. Both are 3rd year starter juniors. Soelle is a practice god and everyone expects him to do well. Problem at LB is the depth is mostly freshmen, so if we lose a man… DL also has a few depth issues, but a bit better. Probably a solid 8 deep with several multi-positional players.

Secondary on the other hand is stacked. Same starting CBs, some proven nickel depth and we actually have two established, bona fide starter caliber safeties on the 2nd string because we went from a 3-3-5 to a 4-3-4. Crosswell and Fields are like the guys you’ve had the last few years- Pure NFL. They’re studs. But then we have Cam Phillips, who started last year, as a backup now, plus the grad transfer of DeAndre Pierce who was a 3x starter (including partial injured years) at Boise but wanted to play with his dad. If the front 4 gets a pass rush, ASU will probably repeat as top in Pac 12 at turnovers. Tons of experience back there.

Defensive questions are front 7 depth. Same as offense questions. I don’t know if we have injury answers yet if we lose more than like 1 guy. I think ASU’s starters are going to be as good as anyone in the Pac 12’s if the young receivers and RBs can contribute.

[MinnySunDevil]

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