We have now got a pretty good idea of who will be on the 2023 football team. There will be some more portal changes after spring ball.
Offense:
We will lose a couple of linemen, but four of five linemen will have been starters. This bodes well for our offense. Rising will be back, so we will have an experienced QB which is huge. We lose Kincaid but Kuithe is coming back as well as Yassmin. Hopefully, Jacobsen will see some playing time. We lose two experienced receivers in Enis and Dixon. However, neither of them was critical in our passing game, and Parks and Cope are showing promise. The RB room will be interesting. I really like Jackson as RB1. I think he could be very good. I hope Curry comes back and is healthy and I hope Glover gets past his weaknesses and becomes a strong runner. Overall, I think we may have a better offense in 2023 than 2022 because of experience.
Defense:
We lose Herbert, Phillips, Gabe Reid, and Diabate. Phillips is a big loss but we gain a tall, talented, and experienced CB via the portal. We also have two excellent CB recruits coming in. We will have two starters returning at LB in Reid and Barton. We will be adding Damuni to the mix too. At safety, we will be getting Richie back with Bishop, Vaki, and Isbell. We should be solid there. We do not lose any of our D line who played significant minutes outside of Gabe Reid and he was not an every-down player. We have added Fano. Our defense improved over time in 2022. Our defense should be better in 2023.
I believe we will be a better, more experienced team in 2023. However, our schedule will be the most difficult we have ever had IMO. I highly doubt we will be undefeated, but it should be a fun season.
Go Utes!!!