Running errands and listened to Hans Olsen

[ProudUte]

He picked his top players in the state at each position group.  I don’t disagree a lot, but I do have a problem with LB and D-Line.

Dbacks – All 3 were Utes – Johnson, Guidry, and Blackmon

LBs – Only one Ute and that was Bernard at number 3.  Hans says the top LB by far is some dude from USU and he has Andersen at 2. (I do disagree here.)  

D-Line – As you would expect he has Anae and Fotu at 1 and 2.  However, he picked Tonga from BYU at 3.  He did say Pnnisini was his number 4.

RB – Moss, some dude from USU and then Weber.  No one from BYU cracked the top 3.

QB – Love, Huntley and Wilson.  I think this is fair.  Love is a stud.

WR – Covey is 1, some dude from USU at 2 and he is really high on Thompson as number 3.  He really feels that Thompson is going to have a breakout season.

O-line – He has Empey from BYU as a solid 1, then Paulo from Utah and then some other dude from BYU. (I don’t know what to say about this.  I am concerned about our offensive line and I don’t know much about Empey.)

I am one who wheres crimson goggles, so it is hard to be unbiased.  My biggest objection comes at LB.  However, I understand we do not have any starters returning; but we do have some solid players at LB.  My next question would be at D-line.  It’s tough to complain about having 2 of 3 players named.  Nonetheless, I think Penninisi deserves that third slot.  But, that may be a bit nit-picky.  I was a bit surprised about WR, especially Thompson; but I have hardly seen him play.  Hans loves the guy.

It doesn’t matter much if you agree or disagree, because it will all be proved on the field.  It is just fun to speculate.

 

 

[BD]

BYU’s Empey was a freshman all-American and was recently rated one of the top rated centers for this season, although I forget which publication rated him as such. Hoge is their other olineman. He’s solid also. A former Notre Dame 4* commit who transferred to BYU. I don’t know much about either other than what I posted here. But with that, Hans’ rating of them gets no arguments from me, unless someone else can make a compelling argument for Ute olinemen being better. Bam isn’t here yet, but maybe he would be on Hans’ list, but I don’t blame Hans for leaving players off the list that haven’t played, such as Bowen or Bam or the BYU running back SEC transfer that was a 4* recruit.

[whitlessham]

Good take.

I think..scratch that… I know that a lot of red goggled Ute fans think EVERY player on the team is better than any other player of USU or Byu-p.  It’s simply not true.

Ute D-line.  Very good as usual. It might be marginally better than last year but the difference wont be felt. 

Ute O-line.  I know Utah sent a few player to the NFL last year… but let’s be honest the pass projection could best be described as sketchy.  So, it goes from sketchy to adding two or three new players..yea.

WR – Until a systematic change happens with coaching this position will continue to be the Utes weak link and the reason they don’t take the next step

RB- Kwhitt knows how to do this and talent will continue to come to Utah 

QB – Huntley with a little pass protection is very good. Huntley with bad pass protection is a hot mess.

Safety – History says the Utes will be fine

DB’s – This group is very very good. Utah knows how to do DB’s

LB’s – This is the one group the baffles me, Utah SHOULD be elite or at least consistent at this position.  The fact that it’s filled with transfers and Rudy’s is a shame.

Kicking- My take, change the offensive  mentality to scoring TD’s.  Stop relying on FG’s to win 

 

[ProudUte]

I do agree with you 100% that Utah does not have the top player in the state at every position.  I do think, however, that our top three defensive linemen are better than any at BYU or USU.  But, there are solid kids at the other schools.

I think our offensive line is our weakness and the other schools may be better at these positions.  Paulo may be the exception.  \

I am optimistic about our linebackers.  However, we have no returning starters.  So, we will have to see how these guys work together.  Will they be as good as Barton and Hansen?  Maybe, maybe not.  We will have to see.

[whitlessham]

Regarding LB’s.  The fact that Utah needs a transfer (one and done) as a starter at LB tells me that Utah is really missing at this position.

Utah is know for it’s D.  It’s solid at every other position..why does utah struggle with recruiting legit high school LB’s??  Who is the LB coach?

[RiseasUtes]

I actually agree with most of this.  Ute fans like to under value BYu players just like their fans do to ours. 

Tonga is really good(which is why we recruited him to begin with).  I take our players over him, but he would be in the rotation for sure.  Empey was also recruited by and committed to us just like Tonga.  He would be starting at OC for us this season.  I have us better at our starting positions and depth at most positions, but we can stop pretending that they don’t have some really solid players.

[Ma’ake Kava]

Uhhh… we replaced 2 senior starters / all-PAC quality LBs… with a Big-10 starter, and a part time starter (for us), who was one of BYU’s best players before he came to the hill.

I’d call that damned creative roster management.

If Bowen doesn’t come to SLC, then Donovan Thompson would start, with Devin Lloyd getting a baptism by fire as a rSo. As it stands, Lloyd is delayed being a starter for a year, and we get to watch Lund, Fabrizio, & others develop.

One of the biggest adjustments in the PAC was getting more athletic LBs. I loved Martinez & Chaz Walker, but Lloyd & D. Thompson are evidence of the athleticism we need to recruit at this level.

[Utahute72]

The real question is our defensive line against BYUs offensive line, and BYUs defensive line against our offensive line (for that game). I expect our line to be matured by the time we get to USC, so that first game is the real issue. I think that first game will be very interesting, but expect a Utah win. At that point it should be a pretty good run to USC.

[Tony (admin)]

Some Dude must be a hell of a player.

[ProudUte]

He is a cousin to Phil Intheblank.

[rbmw263]

Khyris Tonga is really good though