Break out players

[UtahManPodcast]

Who is your break out players this season for both offense and defense?

[UtMtBiker]

I’ll take Bernard and Anae on defense and Shyne on offense.  

Anae is already respected but I can see him having a Nate Orchard or Hunter Dimick (15+sacks) type of year. Shyne will be a solid #2 behind Moss.  I’d love to see him go for 500 and 5 TDs.  

 

 

[Utah]

I’d take Brumfield over Shyne. 

[HoosierUte]

Top thing I want to see from Bernard is a strip sack in the last game of the regular season.

[Utah]

I’d love to see Bernard strip then drop a sack on a BYU player. Classic. 

[Utah]

This is tough. Breakout as in no one is talking about them as much overall? 

Bryan Thompson. I’ve been saying this since December. 

Marquis Blair. He has the eyes of NFL scouts. When national guys talk about Utah, they talk about Moss, Fotu, Blackmon, Bernard and Blair. 

Thise five names come up over and over and over. Yet, no one locally is talking about Blair. 

Breakout as in increase their value the most over last year? Huntley and Anae. Both had flashes last year. Both will be stars after this year. 

[PlainsUte]

Did Blair get flagged a lot last year?  Seems that way.  Maybe I just remember the targeting call against him vs Arizona.   If so, hope he can clean that up.  Before he was injured he was leading the team in solo tackles, though it kind of sucks that stat is coming from a safety rather than a linebacker.

[Chidojuan]

Only the one against Arizona that I can remember, but I can’t find anything that lists penalties by player in 2017. I think he was initially flagged a lot, but the flag got picked up on almost all of the calls. He’ll clean it up, there were a few last year where he should’ve wrapped up, like that big hit against Bryce Love. He was pretty sound last year, and I imagine he’ll play smarter this year because he’s got a kid now.

[PlainsUte]

How does being cranky from no sleep make one play smarter?

[Chidojuan]

You have to learn to utilize what little energy you have efficiently.

[KiYi-Ute]

He didn’t wrap up much and would lead with the crown of his helmet a lot. Tried to blow up the opposing player rather than using technique. Hopefully he cleans it up a bit going forward.

[UtMtBiker]

He was a one man wrecking crew until the injury.  Our LB’s were leaving him plenty of oppportunities.  

[KoolWhitt]

If break out insinuates that the player must be flying under the radar in terms of media coverage and award watch lists, I’d say either Simpkins, Huntley, or Barton on offense, and either Johnson, Guidry, or Pirtle on D.

If Simpkins continues to show as well as he did in camp, he could be an all PAC-12 receiver.  Barton is a monster that could remind us of Bolles if he has truly figured things out.

Johnson is a shutdown corner but gets very little buzz because he’s young and hot hurt last year.  Guidry and Pirtle are freak athletes that should terrorize the field once things fully click.

[Redblood]

I’ll go with Nick Ford on Offense, and Mika Tafua on D.

[Anonymous]

I’m going to assume that by “breakout” you mean a player who reaches the next level and gets national attention. In that vein, I’m going to say Zack Moss will gain a lot of attention this year and play at an All PAC12 level, and Leki Fotu who I think will be All America. 

[UtemanUtefan]

Def.  Fotu and J.Johnson  – Won’t have the stats or the praise, but one will open up the D line and the other will shut down one side of the field.

 

Off. Covey / this isn’t a stretch at all, but he’ll be the leading receiver by a mile.

[noneyadb]

Offense – Moss, Covey,

Defense – Blair, Jaylon Johnson

[Onlyu]

Jake won’t come close to leading this team in receptions.  We will use the tight end more but not sure how much they’ll actually be targeted.  Simpkins, Covey or Thompson will lead in receptions.  Mariner will be up there also.  All 4 should have more catches than Jake who will end up in the 22-28 range on the season.

Cody very well could lead in tackles if Fotu eats his double, if Anae plays as expected and if he plays enough with the depth we now have at the position.  Hansen or Bernard will give him a run for his money.  

[jrj84105]

This guy gets 2 TDs in cleanup vs BYU to lead TEs in touchdown receptions.

[Utah]

Fotheringham will have more catches than Jackson at the TE spot.