My 2020 starters on offense and defense

[Matthew Thomas Castleton]

Offense
QB Jake Bentley (Senior)
RB Devin Brumfield (Junior)
WR Britain Covey (Junior)
WR Samson Nacua (Senior)
WR Bryan Thompson (Junior)
TE Brant Kuithe (Junior)
LT Bamidele Olaseni (Senior)
LG Braeden Daniels (Sophomore)
C Orlando Umana (Senior)
RG Nick Ford (Junior)
RT Simi Moala (Sophomore)
Defense
DE Mika Tafua (Junior)
DT Hauati Pututau (Senior)
DT Viane Moala (Senior)
DE Maxs Tupai (Senior)
LB Devin Lloyd (Junior)
LB?
CB Bronson Boyd (Junior)
CB Clark Phillips III (Freshman)
FS Vontae Davis (Senior)
SS R.J. Hubert (Junior)
NB Malone Mataele (Sophomore)
Special Teams
K Jadon Redding (Sophomore)
P Ben Lennon (Sophomore)

[Utesbyfive]

I believe Sione Lund is gone.

[MDUte]

Have you heard something about Lund? Reliable source? We are already weak at LB, if he were to leave that’s really concerning.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

He was suspended…

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/3/2/21162421/utah-utes-football-donte-banton-sione-lund-maxs-tupai-kyle-whittingham-suspension

[MDUte]

My list would be the same. But I’d like to see Rising beat out Bentley and be a 3 year starter. Especially since we aren’t projected to win the South this year. Similar to when Huntley beat out Williams, we were much better off Huntley’s Jr & Sr year as a result with him getting all of that experience. On defense my biggest concern is how Lund will perform. As well as our depth or lack thereof at LB.

[CB]

Utesbyfive is correct. Sione Lund won’t be returning to the program. He was suspended at the same time as the whole Terrell Perriman/Donte Banton thing happened.

[MDUte]

That sucks. And we moved on from Mique Juarez. Are we looking to Sewell to play LB this year? Who do we have?

[MDUte]

Isn’t the Mata’afa kid supposed to have a lot of potential at LB?

[UtahMan17]

Hayden Furey is a name to watch closely at LB. And maybe Nephi Sewell. Mata’afa has issues aside from just his much publicized weight. Also excited to see if Fotu or Faloona are ready to go. Super rare for true freshman LBs to play at this level but one of them might just be our best option. 

 

[MDUte]

Wow, biggest question mark for me is at LB then. I realize everyone was worried last year when Bowen quit football at the last minute, but it all worked out great with Bernard and Lloyd. So here’s to hoping it all works out again this year.

[UtahMan17]

Ritchie will start, as much of a lock as Clark Phillips. And even if Semisi Lauaki isn’t starting, he’s probably going to be our best DT, and has a shot at being the best we’ve had here since Star.

[MDUte]

Forgot about Ritchie…I agree he will start as a freshman. That kid is a stud.

[Jay]

My 2 cents that no one asked for
Qb: rising has an edge because covid, has much more time in the system than bentley
Rb: Wilmore, more explosive play maker, brumfield is good for short yardage but can’t break out runs
O line: Bam also is hurt by covid, not getting the time he needs to develop, keaton bills takes his place
D line: sadly tafua will continue to start despite his 5 sacks total in 2 seasons, and tupai will likely split with fillinger
Corner: don’t think boyd is good enough, someone like broughton plays the other side
Linebacker: as already stated lund is no longer with the team, and this becomes the biggest question mark, wish we would get mique juarez but that ship seems to have sailed, and maatafa doesn’t seem to be ready, and as we saw against oregon nephi sewell is not good enough to play, so hopefully someone steps up like lloyd did last year
Safety: hopefully ritchie is ready to start, because davis got toasted back to back against northern illinois

[Matthew Thomas Castleton]

What system? The one that was put in last season by first year offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig? You forget, Cam Rising ALSO transferred to Utah. He has less than ONE YEAR of experience in Ludwig’s system. You’re talking about him as if he’s like been here for two plus years or something learning. He HASN’T. To me, there’s like a 80% chance that Bentley is the starter against BYU on September 3rd.

[Central Coast Ute]

Wrong. Rising has over one year in the system. Winter 2019-present. Bentley has anfew months.

[UtahMan17]

Think you’re spot on with Keaton over Bam, Broughton over Boyd, and Van splitting time with Maxs, and I share your concern about having to put Davis out there too. Though Mika is good! We’re lucky to have him, even if he is no Bradlee as a pass rusher. And I think Brumfield will get the lion’s share of carries this year, and perform solidly. Hopefully Ty Jordan shows up ready to steal reps and provide some big plays, can’t wait to see that 10.5 100m speed in the open field. 

Another name to watch for everyone is Jaren Kump. He may not start this year, but everyone should get on the hype train while there’s still room. He’s long, athletic, smart, came back over 300+ lbs and killing the conditioning drills, and has no intentions of redshirting this year. He has a legit shot at playing time as a true freshman. Between him, Simi Moala, and Falcon we’ve got 3 young tackles with super high ceilings. Could even throw LFF in that group. 

[User Suspended]

Feels like a 7 win season to me..

[Matthew Thomas Castleton]

I don’t think so. They have way too much returning experience on offense to struggle that much. I’m thinking an 8-4 or even 9-3 season.

[Jay]

You’ll get downvoted but you’re not wrong, we’re too young, people have too high expectations for players we’ve never seen

[MDUte]

Another reason why unless Bentley is head and shoulders ahead of Rising, I hope Rising is named the starter. Would be a shame to waste that type of season on an outgoing grad transfer senior. Even if Bentley is a little better, IMO, make him the back up and build up Rising for the future.

[Central Coast Ute]

I agree, I would like to see Rising start this year. However, if history is any indicator, whoever is back up will be getting time due to injury to the starter. I can only remember two years in the last 10 where the starter at the beginning of the season started every game one being Huntley last year and one being Williams a few years back and Williams played the entire season with a knee injury.

[MDUte]

Great point. With that said, I’m feeling fortunate we have both Bentley and Rising in our QB room this year. Worrying about who will win the battle for starter is a great problem to have.

[Jay]

Exactly, same thing we did with huntley, it paid off

[Matthew Thomas Castleton]

No it’s not. The difference is that Jake Bentley is a proven commodity. He has three full years of starting experience at an SEC school. To seriously think that he is going to be beaten out for the starting QB position by a sophomore with ZERO experience is pretty crazy. It’s not like the Troy Williams/Tyler Huntley situation because neither of them had extensive D-1 staring experience going into the 2016 season plus Troy Williams had two years of remaining eligibility (as he was a junior college transfer), not just one like Bentley. The entire reason Bentley transferred to Utah is likely because he would get a chance to be the starter again after redshirting his last season @ South Carolina (due to injury). Hell, Jake Bentley was a four star recruit too coming out of high school. Have you even watched any of his highlights? He threw for over 500 yards against CLEMSON in 2018 (they won the National Championship Game that year). ON THE ROAD. Cam Rising has absolutely ZERO starting experience. He hasn’t proven ANYTHING at the D-1 level, other than being hyped up. There’s no way that Jake Bentley isn’t going to begin the season as the starter. If he is ineffective however, THEN you go with Rising. Also remember that Tyler Huntley didn’t beat out Troy Williams for the starting job until BOTH had spent an entire season in the program. Troy Williams started the ENTIRE 2016 season. IMO, he should have been the starter in 2017 too and not Huntley.

[Matthew Thomas Castleton]

Here is Bentley’s 2018 highlight video:

Jake Bentley 2018 Highlights

[MDUte]

Good points on Bentley, just not sure how well he translates to a Utah offense that is focused on smash mouth football. The Clemson game he went 32-50 to put up the 500 yards. Great game but there’s no way he’s ever going to get 50 passing attempts in a game while Whit is the HC. And he doesn’t pose a dual threat as a rusher. So if he’s only given 20-25 passing attempts per game, how efficient is he going be if he isn’t allowed to sling it the whole game?

[Onlyu]

I think with all of the depth you have on the offensive side on the ball this year you will see a lot more up tempo. Depth at WR, TE, RB, QB and even O-line so my guess is we’ll throw it a little more than a typical Whitt team might. Not saying 50 times a game but a true 50/50 split is my expectation this year with some hurry up built in.

We have proven pass catchers and a proven arm in Bentley (with NFL talent) who will have to win a very tough QB battle in camp. We might be as talented and deep along the O-line as we have in a while (maybe ever) so if Jake has returns from the Lis Franc injury (which he was not fully healed from
In the Spring) he’s going to be very tough to beat IMO.

He has a real chance to be drafted…that’s how talented the kid is and he might not win the starting job! His dad was an offensive analyst at Auburn and a current TE coach at S. Car so Jake has been around some high level football and won’t have difficulty picking up the offense which he already has exposure to.

For the first time in a long time the offense may have to outscore some teams until the D figures everything out and to do that you might have to chuck it around a little.

At the end of the day Rising is clearly the future but it’s going to be really tough not to roll out a guy with 15-20 SEC wins in game 1 vs. seeing what you have when the lights turn on. Whoever wins that battle in camp is gonna be pretty capable.

[MDUte]

Awesome insight. Nobody on here knows better than you being so close to the program…thanks! Can’t wait for the season to get going!

[Yergensen]

Bentley’s stats aren’t great.  Declining completion rate year over year, averages an interception per game.

Experts assess him as a talent, he has a wealth of experience, and he could be better with different coaching and system.  It’s good to have him on our team.

However, I don’t think you can claim it’s “pretty crazy” to think he won’t be the starter when South Carolina moved on from him, Rising had the better abbreviated spring camp, and OnlyU indicates it’s an open competition.

[Onlyu]

Open competition for sure. I actually was leaning to Rising in the Spring…I still might be (he’s really good) BUT I fully expect Jake and Drew to have a say in the matter before it’s all said and done. Could be one of the best QB competitions we’ve ever had from a pure talent standpoint. Excited to see who comes out on top.

[Jay]

Mika tafua has 5 sacks total as a starter for two full seasons, he’s not good at pass rushing

[UtahMan17]

Mika is a very good player. He may not be a productive pass rusher, but he was all-conference last year as a sophomore and likely will be this year too. We are very fortunate to have him returning. Odd player for you to single out in a negative way.

[Yergensen]

IMO jury is very much out on Mika.  This line has to stop the run first and then generate pressure so as not to expose our DB’s.  I think Mika is an effective run stopper that can’t pressure a QB…he just doesn’t get off or around a block.

This season will be telling as to whether he has benefitted for two years playing on a line with 3 NFL draftees, one of whom was the program’s all-time sack leader or a player in his own right.  If it’s the former or he is truly just a one-dimensional DE, I hope he doesn’t block the other talent (Filinger, Carlton, Sugurataga, Wegis).