Nice article on spring practice

[ProudUte]

Coach Whitt seems happy with most positions groups except wide receiver. He said that we do NOT have the depth we need at WR. He said Rose is leading the pack in the battle for QB2. Whitt seems pleased with Glover’s progress. He sounds very happy with the defense, especially the Dline.
Spring Ball

[EagleMountainUte]

I also wasn’t aware that Johnson had not been practicing. That certainly is a huge factor in the QB2 reports up until this point. 

How long has Johnson been out?

[Onlyu]

Nate hasn’t participated in more than half of camp. He’s going to have to make up a lot of ground on his own heading into camp.

We have a few WR’s that have been banged up and not participating in camp (Mbansor)that add depth but we are aggressively pursuing others currently.

I disagree with the assessment on Vele. He is a WR1 and will play on Sundays in my opinion. He was banged up last year but his ball skills are off the charts. The problem has been that we need more overall production in that room to allow for less walk over coverage.

Trejan is a must for me. Simmons will help in a big way, if not just by being a dependable option but adding another deep threat to stretch the field is paramount to the overall success. Remember we expect to have an excellent run game this year with a loaded RB room and an O-like group expected to be a strength. Add 2 quality WR’s and you’re very tough to defend imo.

[AlohaUte]

So I have a personal affinity for Vele as we were in the same ward in San Diego, and he is a great talent. But I’m concerned that he hasn’t shown the ability to get separation and, therefore, not able to be a top notch receiver. Granted I’m not a football expert, so maybe it was more on rising not able to get him the ball. But that’s my big concern.

[Onlyu]

Think Tim Patrick when thinking about Vele. Very similar skill sets.

[EagleMountainUte]

I am not counting him out. Everyone is talking up Rose but Johnson hasn’t even had a shot. Some of the hand wringing over him leaving or moving to WR is extremely premature. 
QB(2 spot) battle doesn’t official begin until Fall.

Exciting news about the dline though. Hope that depth holds up but I still want a leader to emerge on the defensive side of the ball. 

[Utesby1]

I am delighted to hear that we exspect to have an outstanding rushing attack. Obviously that has been an important aspect of every successful team at Utah. However, if you look at the top 10 teams and especially the playeroff contenders, they all have a balanced offense. Some like USC may skew a bit more toward the pass while others like Michigan slightly favor the run but every one of them has a balanced attack. If we have any hope of being a top 10 team every year, we must do the same. One dimensional teams are too easy to defend. We cannot expect a strong rushing attack to cover up for a weak passing attack.

[EagleMountainUte]

I agree with what you are saying.  But I do disagree with the accepted presumption that USC is a contender. Utah beat their ass twice so until they prove it nuts to them. 

[tanute3]

Proud, you always provide excellent posts that provoke quality discussions. Thanks for doing so!

Regarding the article – pretty clear we NEED a WR (or two or three) from the portal. We can only rely so much on Kuithe & Yassmin. Vele is solid, but I’m hesitant about our ceiling as a team if he is our WR1. Really hoping these visits with portal players goes well and we see some real (needed) development of current guys (Parks, Matthews, Cope, etc.)

[ProudUte]

Yeah, I hope we can get one or both of the portal wide receivers that have visited here.