Jonah Elliss Declares for NFL Draft

[WasatchRanger]

Declaration on Instagram

Absolutely incredible year from Jonah – wish him all the best at the next level.

[Xanthis]

Next year is going to be a roller coaster. Wonder how Whitt and Co plan on filling all of these open schollies.

[Utah5410]

jesus Christ man. Can we get one break this off-season.

[chinngiskhaan]

I’m not worried. Ellis improved a ton to get where he is now. I’m confident other guys can make similar improvements.

These NFL draft declarations and portal transfers were bound to happen when our everyone and their dog came back last year. That is why I prefer for guys to move on when they are ready, make room for new guys to have an impact.

[utefansince79]

Darn. Jonah had become my favorite player on the team. At least he’s not headed to another school. All the best to him in his upcoming pro career.

[tanute3]

Bummer, was really hoping he was going to be back next year. Fortunately we have some dudes on the line to fill his spot

[The Miami Ute]

You feeling me now Tanny? Told you there was no way with his draft position that he’d be coming back.

[ProudUte]

I wish Jonah the best. I would be lying if I said that I wanted him to go. However, what Jonah did here is exactly what I want to happen with our Ute players. He is getting some positive feedback from the NFL. He should go.

The interesting thing is that had everyone been healthy, he may not have been a starter to begin the season. He got his opportunity and made the best of it. We still have some excellent D ends on the team. So this loss IMO is not nearly as bad for our teams as Vaki and Bishop.

Go Utes!!!

[UteBacker]

Is there that kind of room in the NFL? Seems like a ton of players are coming out this year. Ought to be interesting.

[The Miami Ute]

This was the chronicle of a death foretold. I’ve said countless times in this forum that Elliss had by far the highest grades of any Ute eligible for the draft. He’s a borderline 1st RD pick. Of course he was going to declare for the draft. If he hadn’t declared and had a down season or an injury next year it would have cost him hundreds of thousands if not million of dollars in career earnings. Folks, in situations like this, you have to see things the way they are instead of the way you wish them to be.

[Rick]

Best of luck to Johan! He caught a break this season with all of the DE injuries and he made the best of it. Given all of the injuries this team faced this season, I do not blame any player who has next level talent to leave for the league. You never know when you will be the next injured player.

As for the transfers, very few of them actually hurt us when you look at it in terms of what we might be able to replace them with. Some folks have been having puppies about losing JJ and Matthews but not me. I found them both to be very underwhelming this year and I think we can upgrade both positions in the portal.

[2008 National Champ]

I wasn’t underwhelmed by Matthews. I would have liked to have seen a more concerted effort to get him more touches.

The kid started at slot, played both ways on special teams and was a willing blocker. What more were you expecting out of a true freshman?

[Rick]

Relative to hype on Mikey, he was underwhelming. Look at his stats. 261 total yards receiving. 4.4 yards avg punt return. 20 yards avg. kick off return. Zero touchdowns. Zero. How is that not underwhelming considering he was hyped as the best WR recruit we have had in years and the second coming of Covey? I found him to be very pedestrian and I wish him well where ever he ends up.

[DataUte]

Barnes. Johnson.

[The Miami Ute]

Evidently you’re not the only one that thinks that Matthews is just a guy. I’ve been keeping up on him seeing where he’s going to land and, so far, all I’ve heard is crickets. Maybe he jumped before knowing where he was going to land?

[2008 National Champ]