Velltray Jefferson

[UtahMan17]

Word is Velltray Jefferson is already out. Apparently he was homesick and is looking to head to Fresno State. 

All Utah stuff is gone from his twitter, even older posts. Man, he was one of my favorite players in this years class, so much potential. Oh well, at least we have a million other LBs and DEs in the program. We’ll be all right. 

[Xanthis]

Considering he signed a month ago I don’t think it would have anything to do with being homesick. Onlyu mentioned the coaches are trying to be a little creative with the roster and he might not have wanted to be pushed forward or any of the other things coaches can do with scholarships. 

[mfaulk80]

A few weeks after signing, he had posted on Twitter about being cool with moving to offense.  He projected as a DE, LB, or TE.  We have some good young talent at all of those positions, and maybe he just realized that he may have a harder time getting early playing time.  Or maybe he just decided that defense was a better path for him, and he balked on the idea of Utah trying to change him to TE after signing?  It’s hard to know.

The upside is that it opens up and initial AND we have depth at the positions that he was projected to play.  It’s still a bummer because he’s an athlete, but hopefully Utah can do something with that initial that more directly takes care of an area of need. 

[Dresden_Stormblessed]

Could this be a move to snag To’o To’o??

[MDUte]

Love where your head’s at Dresden! Please football Gods let this be the case….

[UtTroutHunter]

I’ve heard To’o To’o was one of the players at Tennessee who was getting paid, and he’s having a hard time finding a landing spot because teams aren’t positive he will be eligable to play if there is any kind of investigation. 

[MDUte]

Interesting, where did you hear this? Can you share your source?

[Ghost of the HEB]

I don’t see To’o to’o to Utah happening. To my knowledge, he hasn’t reached out to any Utah coaches. And he doesn’t follow a single member of the Utah program on Twitter. He did recently follow coaches from Oregon, Florida, Ohio State and Alabama. . I feel like he ends up at a place like that.

[UtahMan17]

He did sign a month ago but had never even been to campus until moving here last week…from what I’ve heard it really was just a case of the kid wanting to leave for personal reasons, and not the staff messing with his scholarship or maneuvering for another player or anything like that. Honestly with so many kids across the country commiting and signing to their respective schools without ever stepping foot on campus I bet he’s not alone in this decision. 

[Xanthis]

I didn’t even think of the kids not taking normal vists. Makes sense. 

[X723]

Might be he will not work that hard as needed………

[Crazyforu]

Might be he will not work that hard as needed………

I think this is a VERY unfair assumption to make (unless you are basing that off knowledge you have). These guys are just kids, there is a lot rolling through their head at this age. Could be a bunch of things, I hope he makes the best decision for himself either way. 

[Trailgoat]

How about a high level WR? We’ve heard how great the current WR group is suppose to be over the past couple years.  The QB and Oline pass blocking situation has been a factor. Bottom line though, the WRs are getting locked down against top level athletic teams in the P12.

Ennis and Thompson had a total of 10 catches/161 yards (5 each game) combined in both the UW and USC games. Utah cannot depend on the running game with no respectable mid/deep threat WR against USC, ASU, UW, and UO. UW and USC completly shut down Utah’s offense in the 2nd half with adjustments Utah failed to accomplish. Maybe Cope is that guy? Hopefully improvements at QB and the Oline will make a difference.

[Yergensen]

The only WR I have seen have trouble getting separation is Enis. The WR were solid to good against even top P12 competition with Huntley at QB. Quarterbacking and OL were the issue in 2020, not WR.

[Jake]

Between Covey, Thompson, and Kuithe, you can’t say that we don’t have good threats. Enis is a great blocker, but seems to struggle to find separation, and is more of a physical possession receiver that we don’t seem to utilize. In my opinion I think Thompson is great and has NFL potential, but is sadly on a team that doesn’t send WR’s to the NFL. He had to become the deep threat after Dixon left, and I would like to see him utilized more in the 10-15 yard range. I would not judge the WR’s on games where Bentley was the QB. Although we could definitely use depth at the position, because we’re unproven after those guys. I like Nacua, and would love to see Money Parks and Makai Cope used next year, but we need another guy in the mix.

[McBride of Frankenstein]

I was excited about him.  Crap.  I’ll second the underlined message: I have immense respect for the staff and their decisionmaking.  This doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen (like a talented player opting out), but I believe we do all we can do.