PlainsUte

#48 Deven Johnson, RS Freshman TE, 6-4 240
Deven is a walk-on from Salem Hills HS in Salem, UT.  He was first team All-State and All-Region as a senior recording 54 receptions for 698 yards (12.9 ypc) and 6 TDs.  He also played defensive end for the Skyhawks in addition to playing basketball and baseball.  Deven did not see playing time for the…[Read more]

Jersey #49 is vacant after LB/DE Elijah Shelton transferred to UNLV

#50 Fua Pututau, RS Junior DT, 6-1 297
Fua Pututau (foo-uh poo-too-tao) is a DT from Cottonwood HS, joining the Utes in 2018 after a 2-year mission.  The Utes are stacked with Pututaus, his brother Hauati (Utah 2017-21) just signed a free agent contract the Green Bay Packers, brother Taniela is a RS Freshman TE and cousin Tennessee is a sophomore…[Read more]

#51 Keaton Bills, Sophomore OL, 6-4 318
Keaton has recently been the Utes starter at Left Guard.   He is originally from Corner Canyon HS, where he played both ways and earned many accolades for his defense.  He signed with the Utes in 2016, but left on a two-year mission.   When he returned, the Ute staff assigned him to the OBlock where he has…[Read more]

#52 Mason Tufaga, RS Freshman LB, 6-1, 225
Mason Tufaga is the son of Wes Tufaga (Utah LB 1997-2000).  His grandfather was a fire-and-ice long-knife dancer in Hawaii.  Mason was born in Utah, but grew up in Hawaii going to St. Louis High School, in Honolulu.  Mason was a 4-star recruit at LB, considered the 2nd-best player in Hawaii and 15th best…[Read more]

#53 Johnny Maea, Junior OL, 6-4, 311
Johnny Maea (may-ay-ah) is a local from East High.   He graduated in 2015, after being selected a All-USA Utah team player in 2015.   East High won the 4A State Championship his senior year.  Served a two-year mission in Panama, then joined the Utes in 2018.  He played in 9 games in 2019, 1 games in 2020, and…[Read more]

Double-Bill today…
#54 Hayden Furey, Junior LB, 6-2, 226
Hayden is from Sarasota Springs, UT; he graduated from Westlake HS in 2018, where he played basketball and football.  In his senior year for the Thunder had 49 tackles, 2 for loss, and a pass breakup on defense and 39 catches for 526 yds and 6 TDs on ohfense.   At Utah he played mainly…[Read more]

#55 Andrew Mata’afa, Junior LB, 6-3, 223
Drew Mata’afa (mah-tah-ah-fah) is originally from San Diego, Mt Carmel HS, where he played LB and WR.  He was also on their volleyball team.  Drew has seen increasing time on special teams and as a reserve at DE and LB over the past few years, recording 5 tackles in the 2021.  He has become one of the…[Read more]

#56 is vacant after Rob Bonar, RS Sophomore LB transferred to Lamar University.

#57 JT Greep, Sophomore Long Snapper, 6-0,221
JT Greep is a Glendora, CA product (Simi Valley east of LA).   He had been named the #1 long snapper out of California.  In 2021 he played in the last 9 games for the Utes, including snapping for Redding’s 50-yarder vs Oregon.  Freshman, Logan Castor is the only other long snapper on the roster, so I…[Read more]

#58 Junior Tafuna, Sophomore DT, 6-3, 297
Junior played for Bingham High in Cottonwood Heights where he was named to the Second Team All-State.   Junior did not play in 2020, but burst onto the scene in 2021 when he had 33 tackles in 13 games at DT, 4.5 for loss, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up.   That led to him being named Second Team…[Read more]

#59 Falcon Kaumatule, RS Sophomore OL, 6-8 298
Hawaiian-born Falcon soared in from Las Vegas, Bishop Gorman HS.  He graduated in 2019, played one game in the 2019 football season, his redshirt year.  Did not play in 2020, played 10 games on special teams in 2021.  He has a large frame and long reach at 6-8 and has bulked up to 298 from his…[Read more]

Just thought I’d mention it.  Baker had been painted into a corner by Browns’ management, so glad he got out of that situation.

#60 Currently vacant, most recently held by Shintaro Mann who was a walk-on at center in 2017.  We went on a two-year mission to Tokoyo Japan, then was on the 2020 roster, but has not made the roster since.  Not sure if he’s still around the team.

Two-for Today…
#61 Michael Williams, Junior Punter, 6-1, 196
Michael Williams is a punter and holder for place-kicking who had transfrerred to Utah after a year on the bench at Arizona State.  Saw action as a holder in 2021 and shared punting duties with the Aussie Cam Peasley in the last 6 games.  Cam entered the transfer portal on May 1, so,…[Read more]

Reported via the town-crier, New York and Jersey have decided to leave the Big 13 Colonies to join Canada where the furs are more plentiful.

#62 Michael Mokofisi, RS Freshman OL, 6-4, 316
Michael is a graduate of Woods Cross HS.  There he played both ways and was First Team All-State his senior year and First Team All-Region as a junior.  In 2021 he came off the bench to play Right Guard in four games, so he has some experience compare to many of the other Freshmen and RS Freshmen. …[Read more]

#64 is open because Marist Talavou transfered to San Jose State University.  So I’ll just leave this pic of #64 NFL Hall of Fame Left Guard Jerry Kramer.   Kramer lived in Ogden during his childhood while his dad served at Hill Field.  The family would later move to Sandpoint, Idaho and Kramer played for the Univ of Idaho before being drafted by…[Read more]

Looks official already…https://twitter.com/UCLAAthletics/status/1542654725253763072