Spring game observations

[Utesby1]

For those who were unable to attend or to watch the game, I decided to take some detailed comments and share them here. Some of these comments are more opinions than actual observations.

QB
Rose missed some easy throws. It is true that he has the most powerful arm in the QB group but he is indecisive and not as accurate as I had expected. Given that Wilson is so new, his trajectory is much steeper than Rose. Even if they are “in a dead heat” now (which they are not) Wilson is likely to pass him in the near term. Naturally, the coaches are being circumspect in their comments because we really do not want Rose to leave right now. If he leaves, imagine what a QB room would be like with Cam (never finished a season), Wilson (true freshman who still needs surgery), and a transfer portal guy (unproven).

Wide receivers
Singer was the Alpha with Money close behind. Singer dropped a long pass against the sidelines that would have made his numbers even more impressive. Best catch of the day was a 26 yard completion to Jett. Very little involvement in the offense from Pittman today. Zipperer had a long pass thrown perfectly by Wilson but he inexplicably stopped in the middle of his route so the pass was slightly overthrown. Money, Pittman, and Singer are all so small that it makes it hard for them to be possession receivers. Washington and Lyons caught a couple of passes. I cannot see much likelihood that either of them will help much this year. So as far as WRs that we can count on we have Parks, Singer, Pittmen, and McClain. Zipperer might be the 5th guy but he is not a certainty. I can see why Whitt says we are going to get a receiver or two from the portal.

Tight ends
Kuithe and King look a lot alike. They are both bigger bodies who can get open. King made at least one great catch. Kuithe is always there when we need a first down throw. I expect to see one or maybe both of them on the field at the same time as Ryan, Bentley, or maybe Miki so maybe they can partly alleviate our shortage at wide receiver. Both Kuithe and King could really help themselves and the team by learning to block better. I saw them try a time or two but their efforts look ineffectual.

Offensive line
I did not see two probable starters (Mokofisi and Togai) but the rest looked very solid in pass protection. When Cam or Rose were pressured to run it was because the QB took too long or the receivers were not open. I watched Lomu and Fano specifically and they gave up basically no pressures. Run blocking was another matter. It was abysmal. Very few holes were opened. I saw Moeai try to play tackle and he was abused every snap (at least his pants did not fall down like the other kid)_

Running backs
Stanley had one of the longest runs. The hole was not open so he broke it outside and beat everyone around the end. Vincent had a productive day but I cannot believe that he will be a significant part of our running back rotation. We threw the ball to the running back quite a bit. It will be interesting to see if we do that during the season. We have not done it much in the past but it seems to me that catching the ball out of the backfield would be the best use of Bernard’s skill set. Mitchell was not impressive at all. Even in short yardage situations he did not hit the hole with any power. It was obvious that we do not have a JJ in the room.

Defensive line
Hard to say much since none of the starters played. Fillinger and OToole did not play nor did Junior or Tanavasu. Akana seemed to get a little pressure but he was the only one. Benson looks like he can play but I am not sure he will be ahead of the other tackles.

Linebackers
Anae did some good things but he was the only one who stood out. In a pass heavy game that does not include blitzing the role of linebackers is limited. I did not see Calvert or Fotu and obviously Barton and Reed did not dress.

Cornerbacks
Calhoun looked very good. It appears that he can handle reps right away. The rest of the corners (Vaughn, K Johnson, Smith, and Davis) did not participate. I watched Blocker closely. He did okay but nothing was noteworthy. Nick Howe looked good. I do not know if he is even a scholarship. We need a couple more cornerbacks so either Blocker and one of the incoming freshmen step up or we need to get some guys from the portal.

Safety
We played cover two most of the game so we got to see how Johnson, Richie, Hall, and Gilman handle deep throws. Richie looked especially good in limited reps. Gilman missed at least one assignment which is a little odd for a guy who has been playing for 4 years. Briton Allen played some and struggled a bit. No help from him in the short term. I did not see the freshman FS from Southern California. I cannot remember his name.

Special teams
Two long field goals by Becker were a welcome change from the past few years. There was no other special teams work.

[NarfUte]

The kicker was Joey Cheek yesterday – and our o-line needs to get better at run blocking in the fall for sure

[MDUte]

Awesome post!!! Thanks for sharing all of your insights Utesby1! I wish Utah could make a run at Damien Martinez. We have so many weapons for Cam at WR and TE now, but it seems like we are missing that RB1 to balance out the offense. Martinez would be perfect IMO but I don’t think Utah has the NIL to go after him. He’s likely going to carry a price tag of close to $1M and I’m pretty sure the little bit of remaining NIL is going to be prioritized on another QB, WR(s), and DB(s).