Utah Position Review - Offensive Line

Just 43 short days until kickoff. As you can tell by my desktop and login background images, I'm more than ready.

Next up is the offensive line. I think that Utah's starters are among some of the best in the conference. Beyond the starters, it's pretty thin. But the five guys who will be there until there is an injury are great, including one player on the Outland Trophy watch list.

Going from left to right, here are the starters: John Cullen (6'5", 298 lbs, senior); Sam Brenner (6'3", 300 lbs, junior); Tevita Stevens (6'1", 297 lbs, junior); Percey Taumoelau (6'4", 314 lbs, sophomore); Tony Bergstrom (6'6", 315 pounds, senior). Cullen, Stevens, and Bergstrom all started every game last season. Brenner played in 12 games and Taumoelau played in 10. So each starter has a lot of experience. Bergstrom started the last two seasons and is the leader of the offensive line. He is also on the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy (best guard/tackle).

Now, the backups. I don't know anything about any of these guys other than the fact that Isaac Asiata is the cousin of former Ute RB Matt Asiata. There are three sophomores (Kapua Sai, Jeremiah Tofaeono, Vyncent Jones) and two freshmen (Isaac Asiata, Daniel Nielson - both true freshmen). Sai and Jones played in 2 and 4 games, respectively, and all in mop-up duty. Tofaeono played in all 13 games, but did not start. If an offensive lineman goes down with a serious injury this year, Utah could be in trouble. But they also might be fine. Like I said, I don't know anything about the backups here.

As long as they stay healthy, Utah's offensive line is going to be great this season. They would probably get an A from me, but the backups bring them down a grade. So there's the offense, two B+'s and one A-. I really feel good about the offense with Norm Chow coming in. Now the defense, that's a different story. I'll get to each of those groups next.

Grade: A-

Utah Position Review - Receivers

I'm really excited to see Utah's offense this year. Norm Chow is bringing in a different offense and Utah will no longer be running the spread. I feel good about every offensive position, as long as they stay healthy at quarterback and on the line. At receiver and running back, it seems that Utah could take an injury or two and still be able to function okay.

At the end of the spring, the starting receivers were listed as DeVonte Christoper and Dres Anderson with Anthony Denham and Reggie Dunn being the first backups. Christopher is a great receiver and is on the Chuck Bednarik award watch list. He has good speed and broke a number of quick slants for big gains and touchdowns last year. Dres Anderson is a redshirt freshman and should be a good short target. Anthony Denham is tall (6'6") and was a 4-star JC transfer with offers from LSU, Ole Miss, Oregon, Arkansas, Georgia, Nebraska, and Washington. Reggie Dunn is a junior that played last year and is a fast receiver that can be a deep threat getting behind the defense. At the spring game, Dunn was wide open down the sideline a number of times but the backup QBs couldn't hit the pass.

Beyond the top four, Utah also has a number of capable threats at WR. Dexter Ransom will be a senior and never really blossomed the way I thought he would, but hopefully he will in the new offense. Luke Matthews is a junior and was solid last year. I expect more of the same from him this year. Griff McNabb is short (5'8") but I was impressed with him at the spring game and he could be a good receiver to use in the open field. There are 7 freshman receivers on the roster this year (I think Quinton Pedroza will end up at DB, making it 6). Four of those seven are true freshman (including Pedroza), so the Utah receiving corps seems pretty stacked. There are 6 guys that I feel are capable enough to be starters this years, and that's always a good feeling.

At tight end, Kendrick Moeai is the starter. He really came on the scene in the Poinsettia Bowl against Cal two seasons ago when he caught two touchdown passes. Utah used him more as a receiver last year than they have with any of their other recent tight ends, but he still only caught 11 passes and 1 touchdown. And his touchdown catch was on a hail mary at the end of the first half, so it wasn't a play drawn up to go to the tight end. He was still a solid tight end who blocks well and catches the passes thrown to him. Dallin Rogers was the backup TE last year and also caught 11 passes and 2 touchdowns. However, he lost the second string status to sophomore Westlee Tonga, who didn't play much at all last year. Tight end will be a much more important position now that Utah is moving from the spread offense to a pro-style offense, but I think that Moeai will be good enough. Rogers was good last year and Tonga has moved ahead of him this year, so that should mean good things for Utah at TE.

I think that at WR, Utah will be great this year. It will be exciting to see if Denham makes a huge impact, and I really think he can. At TE, Utah doesn't seem to have any great playmakers, but they do have a solid group there that I really think will be good enough. Next up, offensive line; then I switch to the defense.

Grade: B+

Utah Position Review - Backfield

As of July 1, Utah is officially a member of the Pac-12. With the season fast approaching (48 more days...), I'm going to review each position for Utah. Then, if I feel like it, I might do the same for the country as a whole. For Utah, I'll do the backfield, receivers, offensive line, defense line, linebackers, secondary, and special teams. Today is the backfield.

In the backfield, there is a whole lot of uncertainty. At least for me there is. I know that we've seen a lot of Jordan Wynn (11-4 as a starter), but in 2009 he was a freshman and only played the last part of the season and last year he was injured almost the entire year. Last year, he had a healthy quarter and a half against Pitt and a healthy drive against Iowa State. That's it. I'm really excited and anxious to see how he is after his offseason shoulder surgery. He has looked really good at times and really bad at times. One of my biggest complaints last year was that he seemed very hesitant to throw to open receivers, almost like he had no confidence in his arm. That would make sense, considering the shoulder injury against Iowa State. I could be wrong, but I think that he has a lot of potential and we'll see it this season. If Wynn gets hurt, we could be in for a long season. The backup is Tyler Shreve and Jon Hays is coming this fall, but I don't believe either one will be able to take over in the middle of Utah's first season in the Pac-12.

At running back, there are three guys who have never played football for Utah before. Only one of those three has even played a down of college football, and that's John White who comes from Los Angeles Harbor College. However, Harvey Langi and Thretton Palamo are both very promising. Langi is a true freshman and was one of the best running backs in the state last year. Palamo is a converted rugby player who seems to be picking up college football really well. I have no idea who is going to be the #1 guy here but I wouldn't be surprised if there is 1A, 1B, and 1C. I'm very excited to see all three of them competing for carries in the fall. The running backs could wear down defensive lines quickly. Langi is 6'1" and 225 pounds and Palamo is 6'2" and 240 pounds. Both of these guys have a lot of speed as well. White is a bit smaller at 5'9" and 190 pounds. Having the ability to alternate these three backs and keep them all fresh is going to be a nightmare for defenses this year.

Even with all the uncertainty, I feel very confident about Utah's backfield and think this is a very solid group. As long as Wynn stays healthy, I don't expect there to be any problems here.

Grade: B+