Search Results for 'fano'

[Rick]

I don’t think Fano will be ready to go at the beginning of the season but I do agree that we’ll still be strong at defensive end. The starters – O’Toole and Filinger, will be strong if they can stay healthy. Both struggled to stay healthy this season. John-Henry Daley has all kinds of potential and their are three or four other players vying for time including the UTEP kid from the portal. I do think we are a little undersized at DE after the two-deep.

I think safety will be strong – perhaps not as strong as this year but close. I agree with those who are high on Tao Johnson. Given the recent moves at the cornerback position, I’ll be surprised if Tao isn’t part of the safety group.

[Utah]

Yeah, people are buying into the BYU pushed narrative that the sky is falling in SLC. It’s not. Let’s compare positions:

QB: Better in 2024. Rising/Rose/Wilson vs Barnes and Johnson. Way better in 2024.
RB: Wash. Maybe better. Jackson was hurt most of the year. Bernard was hurt. Curry was hurt. We will be better in 2024 just due to the fact that we will have consistency and health.
WR: Wash. The WR position is always the same.
TE: Better. We return everyone, hopefully add Kuithe. The players returning will get better over the summer.
OL: Wash, at worst.
DT: We return everyone.
DE: slightly worse. We lose Elliss which is a big loss. But we always lose top tier DE and we replace them with top tier DE’s. Fano will be back and he is a star in the making. And O’Toole will be even better. O’Toole was a WR two years ago.
LB’s: Better.
CB: This seems like a weird thing to say, because we are losing two starters, but better. Snowden will be a very, very, very good NB. We literally can’t get any worse than Broughton.
S: Worse. You can’t lose Vaki and Bishop and think you will be the same. But we won’t be bad. Hall balled out in the bowl game. He is our next great one. Everyone always talks up Ritchie. I don’t know if I buy the hype, but if you do, he will be good. Tao Johnson will be above average, whether at CB or S. We won’t be as good as we were in 2023, but we will still have a very, very good S unit.

So, right this second, we are better at 5 positions. We are a wash at 3 positions. We are worse at two: DE and S. And not drastically worse.

We need some more depth from the transfer portal. But we are in no way in “the sky is falling” mode. We have the bones of a top 15 PAC-12 team and a top 10, maybe top 5 Big 12 team.

[highlandute7]

I guess we don’t know when Logan Fano will be ready to go, given his injury was in October.

[Charlie]

I think McClain will play as much as other WRs.
Yes, Lomu will work his way into the OL.
Pittman just may have a whole season and surprise.
Center, I am not sure this is figured out but it will be a priority.
King may play as much as any TE.
DE, Fano will be back to playing as much as any DE.
Pepa may surprise and demand equal time.
Johnson will be in front of Hall in a three man safety rotation.
Snowden may start at CB and I expect to see Blocker get into the rotation.

Next, I expect all 4 transfers to get time and may move into rotation, must be big in the spring to do so.
I think there will be other transfers will as well. Hopefully more that come to spring practice.
I think Wilson will go right to work in summer and grab QB2 only because I didn’t see Rose force his way off the scout team.

[Rick]

Pretty impressive two-deep. A couple of thoughts. I’ve heard some talk that Togiai could end up at an opposite tackle spot to Fano. It will be interesting to see how the line shakes out. I think Lomu moves into a starting spot somewhere. On paper, I love the O’line depth.

I hope Logan Fano returns this season but it’s nice to see the kind of depth that can deal with his absence perhaps well into the season. I hope he plays some just from an experience standpoint since we are senior-laden at the starting ends.

As said above, I think Tao moves to safety or even to one of the corner spots from nickel. The coaches want the best players on the field and Smith Snowden is proving he belongs out there. I think Smith starts at nickel. I like our two-deep at the corners.

Linebacker will be interesting, won’t it. I think Damuni is a better backer than Reid which may sound ridiculous to many of you given how well Reid plays. I wonder if Scalley plays more traditional 4-3 this season, especially with the running emphasis of several programs.

The biggest need in my opinion is a receiver who can take the top off. I think Money can do this, but it would be nice to have someone on the field every play who is a deep threat.

Thank you for taking the time to lay this out.

[DataUte]

Lots still in motion, but this isn’t a bad team (as always if injuries aren’t excessive). Still could use WR, DB, QB2. Lines look pretty good. Secondary a little younger and injuries could make it tough.

Someone with better FB knowledge can comment on all the mistakes and who should be where, but a pretty senior-laden team going into the Big 12 isn’t the worst way to join a new conference.

Pos Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3
OFFENSE
WR-X Parks, Money SR | Mbanasor, Sidney RS SO | Williams, Zacharyus FR?
WR-Z Caldarella, Luca SR/TR | Zipperer, Daidren SO | Washington, David FR?
WR-R Pittman, Mycah RS SR/TR | McClain, Munir RS SR/TR
LT Fano, Spencer SO | Lomu, Caleb SO | Kaumatule, Falcon RS SR
LG Kump, Jaren SR | Moea’i, Solatoa SO
OC Faaiu, Kolinu’u RS JR | Maea, Johnny SR
RG Mokofisi, Michael RS JR | Harrison, Alex RS SR
RT Togiai, Tanoa RS JR | Garcia, Isaiah FR
TE-Y Suguturaga, Miki RS SR | Ryan, Carsen JR/TR | Bentley, Dallen JR/TR
TE-U Kuithe, Brant SR? | King, Landen RS JR/TR
QB Rising, Cameron RS SR/TR | Rose, Brandon RS SO | Wilson, Isaac FR
RB Bernard, Micah RS SR | Anthony Woods JR/TR | Glover, Jaylon JR; Randle; Stanley

DEFENSE
LDE Fillinger, Van RS SR | Fano, Logan SO | Nawahine, Gavin RS SR
LDT Tafuna, Junior SR | Pepa, Simote RS JR
RDT Tanuvasa, Keanu RS SO | Fotu, Tevita RS JR/TR
RDE O’Toole, Connor SR | John Henry Daley SO/TR | Lea’ea, Jonah SO
ROVER Reid, Karene SR | Calvert, Josh RS SR/TR
MAC Damuni, Levani RS SR/TR
STUD Barton, Lander JR | Fotu, Sione JR | Calvert, Josh RS SR/TR
LCB Johnson, Kenan SR/TR | Blocker, CJ SO | FR?
SS Hall, Johnathan SO | Allen, Briton RS SR/TR
FS Ritchie, Nate JR | Allen, Briton RS SR/TR
RCB Vaughn, Zemaiah SR | Davis, Elijah RS SO
NB Johnson, Tao RS SO (moves to S?) | Snowden, Smith SO

SPECIAL TEAMS
PT Bouwmeester, Jack JR/TR | Becker, Cole SR/TR
PK Becker, Cole SR/TR | Cheek, Joey RS SO
KO Becker, Cole SR/TR | Carter, Chase SR/TR
LS Greep, JT SR | Castor, Logan RS SO
H Bouwmeester, Jack JR/TR
PR Pittman, Mycah RS SR/TR | Davis, Elijah RS SO
KR Parks, Money SR | Davis, Elijah RS SO

[Trailgoat]

Not in any order of importance.
Utah must effectively throw the ball when they have to beyond a balanced attack. Utah needs an outside WR threat Rising of course, if healthy changes the dynamic.

QB back-up and protecting Rising. UO did a solid job protecting Nix this season. Nix ran the ball 53 (lowest in his career) times this season compared to 89 last season. I know a lot of other variables/factors in play. Rising ran the ball 77 times in 2022. QB management issue pretty much covered on other threads. Some QB red flags: going into Spring without a QB from the TP, Barnes ends up staying, Rose continues to be “not ready”. There’s no clear QB2 coming out of Spring. Hopefully Wilson heals up quick and gets reps. If KW states, there’s no clear QB2 out of Spring, we’ve seen this play out enough to know there is a QB2 back-up problem. The QB2 reps broken up between three guys we know doesn’t work.

Oline: very inconsistent this season, QB played a role. The value of Bills and Laumea not playing in the bowl game was obvious. Not sold on the players on Utah’s Oline other than Fano playing left tackle as a true frosh. Kick-off. and punt teams.

[Utah5410]

Seems like lately all the smoke from Utah Twitter is that JJ will be back…

Which if true means we will have 1. JJ 2. Bernard 3. Anthony woods (Ala T.J. Pledger) for 24… Remind anyone of

Thomas, Bernard and Pledger from 21/ Rose Bowl.

Except JJ is way better than Thomas, Bernard is just better in general and Woods if he is pledger is amazing.

Add in Kuithe, Ryan, King (AKA Dalton Kincaid clone) with a healthy CR. Oh My Goodness.

Would love one more WR. But, Not sure we are getting that.. Too expensive. But (Parks, Pittman *healthy, Mcclain) isn’t bad although with those guys.

Plus, I really feel like the line will be better next year. Fano was a baby and now will beast mode next year. Toigi graded out very high this year and played a ton (There’s our tackles both playing in the bowl game. We have our center and Hm guard (Mokofisi back)… Which just leaves one guard spot with plenty of dudes including, Kump and Moaei a former 4* RM kid who coaches have been raving on.

Whit said there will be more transfers. My money is on losing few OL guys and maybe a few more backup recveivers. I hope no one else major.

Not sure if Ghost or ONLYU have any insight.

[Utah5410]

This is the new world…. Every year, we (Our team), is going to have to be re-recruited… Local Kids or kids who were recruited out of Utah we should have a good handle on.. Non Utah kids who show promise (Watch Out). There is no more loyalty. That is gone. Everyone in the country knows that Utah model now. They know how Utah finds projects and turns them into elite NFL prospects. And Every year these lazy schools are going to come after our guys. Why cause they can. So, how do we compete.

First, the good news. Culture cannot be bought. Utah is a culture, Whit, hardwork the grind. Can you think of the last Utah guy who transferred and was more successful somewhere else ? cause I can’t. Maybe S. Mariner ? The culture is real and Utah will still be great because of Whit and because of the culture. We know how to identify, coach and build up. This will keep us competitive especially in the big 12 where we recruit better than most of the programs or at least on par. There is no program in the Big-12 you look at and fear none. Even if they have more talent. How is their culture.

Whit knows how to navigate the waters and so does Scally. The world may change but the core principles of college football and winning games stay the same.

Now, the real no emotional news….. We are going to lose Key guys every year. The solution. Pay our top dudes every year. Before the big schools come after them. And between playing time and our culture maybe that’s enough to keep them around see (CR). But, we aren’t going to bring back everyone.

So, better get used to it… Shocked by JJ. better get ahead of it if you want to keep guys. See Cam. Whit mentioned had we had enough NIL we could have kept Bishop and Vaki. Maybe. Unfortunately these kids don’t owe us anything after the season.

It cannot and won’t continue like this.. It will get regulated within the next 3-5 years and be like a NFL model. But for now. Buckle up….

The other good news is at least we are established (Utah), dudes like Logan Fano and the G-tech cb or Landon King want to come to Utah to get coached up. That’s what separates us.

95 percent of everyone that leaves (transfer not nil) will find out the grass isn’t always greener. Some were forced out by Whit and co for the others they will find out how much patience, development and culture matters. I mean Whit was taking 2* DE and turning them into NFL studs who beat Alabama.

Utah itself will be fine big picture. But day to day is going to be rough for us as fans. I really feel for the MWC schools, lower schools, WSU, OSU.

But Utah will continue to win. Playoff. we will see. CR does solve a lot.. And We should be able to get a big time RB in the portal. I would think unlike WR, RB is an elite need here.

Go Utes.

[Charlie]

Possibly he contributes as he gets his turn much like Fano has.