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+