[Larry B]

Personally I’m not a huge fan of having our best corner, and arguably our best player on defense, play more snaps than he needs to. I guess I understand the argument that if he can score points on offense then he should play, but it also increases fatigue and chances of injury.

[beaslad]

Can you imagine weighing 300+ lbs and being told you need to put on more weight? No wonder every lineman’s knees and hips are messed up. Not to mention the diabetes worry.

[TruckStopTerrors]

The B12 has been known for offense. I think OP’s defensive power perception is only due to the fact we were complete ass on offense last year with everything considered making opposition defenses look good. Our defense actually did a good job but spend too much time on the field because of our offense being inept.

[UteThunder]

If they had left, and both stayed healthy, I would assume they would at least be on practice squads right now. But, if they had left, there’s no way we win the Pac-12 in 2022.

[2008 National Champ]

It’s true that you would expect about a 7-5 2022 if Rising had moved on and Utah had stuck with their existing QB room instead of bringing in a starter – for a really attractive spot considering most of the team was coming back from a Rose Bowl squad. The difference is that you would also expect the 2023 & 2024 iterations to have an experienced, multi-year starter leading the team. And as many on here remind us, competent QB play with all else being equal would have had those teams making runs at the playoffs.

I would have traded a “down” year in 2022, knowing in advance that Utah was breaking in a new QB, for the expectation of big 2023/24’s in a heartbeat. And that would have been long before 2024 became the least fun year of my 37 years watching Utah football.

[2008 National Champ]

follow up: imagine you are a transfer QB in Jan/Feb of 2022 and looking at Utah as a possible destination.

That returning offensive roster may have been as loaded as any in Utah history. QB1 spot open for the taking on an offense that just put up 36.1 per (#14) the previous season? I think you’d be able to get all the top transfers in the country to take your call.

I just don’t believe Rising was the only QB capable of producing that 2022 result. We know there wasn’t anyone currently on the roster. But had Rising announced he was leaving after that Ohio State RB, I think the staff would have been able to find someone who was capable of stepping in and running the team from day 1.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Wow! How does she manage such a busy schedule?

[2008 National Champ]

The issue has always been the lack of competent backups behind Rising which is why his injuries have been so devastating to the program.

Rose & Johnson, as true freshmen in the 2022 class, would not have been the top candidates to replace Rising that year. It would have been between Jackson, a guy who was never allowed to throw a pass at any of the 3 schools he attended, and Barnes, a guy Utah fan believed was the worst QB in Utah history until they got a close look at Isaac Wilson.

[chinngiskhaan]

Yes, but the fact that we kept him on the roster and repeatedly insisted that he was the guy had a massive impact on our ability to recruit quality players at the QB position, ESPECIALLY experienced transfers. If Rising had simply left, we would have been a lock to pick up an experienced transfer QB wanting to come in and win right away. He stayed, so instead of that, we got a broken QB.

Also, don’t forget that the debacle wasn’t simply the fact that our starting QB was injured, it was WHO the starting QB was that was the problem (part of it anyway). The circus around Rising and whether or not he would start was as much a part of the team’s problems as him being injured was. IF it had been someone else, the noise around it wouldn’t have been nearly as distracting to the team.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

You DO realize that injuries aren’t unique to players, don’t you? If Rising were gone, it would still be possible that his replacement would have gotten injured as well. In fact Brandon Rose got injured last year as well, and he was one of the top candidates to replace Rising.

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