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With less than two months until fall camps open across the nation, college football preview season is in full swing.
The latest preview magazine to hit the presses is Phil Steele’s long-running publication.
Last year, Steele ranked the Utes tied for No. 1 in the Big 12 coming off of a 5-7 season. He wasn’t too far off base, as Utah finished third in the conference and completed a turnaround with an 11-2 overall record and a 7-2 mark in the Big 12, but he had Big 12 runner-up BYU No. 7 in his preseason conference rankings and Big 12 winner Texas Tech tied for No. 4.
College football is a tough sport to predict.
This year, Steele has the Red Raiders going back-to-back, even without quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who ended a saga full of drama and plenty of billable hours by declaring for the NFL supplementary draft on Monday.
The Red Raiders, who are now expected to be led by quarterback Will Hammond (coming off of an ACL tear last year), are still the favorites to win the conference, per Steele. The Red Raiders posted one of the nation’s best transfer portal classes and are loaded with talent.
Eight Red Raider players appear on Steele’s All-Big 12 preseason first team.
“If it is Hammond at QB this is still the best team in the Big 12,” Steele wrote.
The Beehive State schools trail behind Texas Tech, with BYU checking in at No. 2 and Utah at No. 3.
The Utes are in a fascinating place heading into the season. Utah no longer has longtime coach Kyle Whittingham, who “stepped down” and then ended up at Michigan along with six of the Utes’ assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator Jason Beck.
After years of waiting, Morgan Scalley is now in charge of the program, and while there’s not a ton of starters returning, he still has a talented team.
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Quarterbacks Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin return — Steele rates the Utes’ quarterback room as the best in the Big 12 — alongside running back Wayshawn Pakrer.
The Utes hit the transfer portal for some key wide receivers, including Utah State’s Braden Pegan and San Jose State’s Kyri Shoels, but the big question is how the rebuilt offensive line will perform after losing all five starters to the NFL and graduation.
Five-star freshman Kelvin Obot (guard) and Montana State transfer Cedric Jefferson (tackle) are newcomers, but Alex Harrison, Keith Olson and Zereoue Williams have all been in the program for a while. Utah feels like it has the talent on the line, but can they put it all together?
On the defensive side, the line will feature all new full-time starters, but familiar faces in defensive ends Kash Dillon and Lance Holtzclaw and defensive tackle Karson Kafusi. Like the offensive line, they’ll be the key to the defense this season.
Utah’s linebacker unit should be solid with the return of Johnathan Hall and Trey Reynolds stepping up in a starting position, and safety could be the strength of the team with Rabbit Evans and Jackson Bennee.
Cornerback will be interesting, as the Utes lost starting nickel Smith Snowden to Michigan and starting outside corner Blake Cotton to graduation, but bring back starter Elijah Davis and move Rock Caldwell from safety to nickel.
One of the key camp battles will be for the other outside cornerback spot, which could come down to Akron transfer Elijah Reed and USF transfer James Chenault.
Overall, Steele feels like the Utes’ schedule is manageable — the Utes miss Texas Tech, Kansas State and Arizona State and play BYU and Houston at home. The line of scrimmage, he says, will determine whether or not they are a playoff contender.
Which Utes made Phil Steele’s preseason All Big 12 team?
Mana Carvalho, PR — 1st team
Devon Dampier, QB — 2nd team
Wayshawn Parker, RB — 2nd team
Braden Pegan, WR — 2nd team
Keith Olsen, OG — 3rd team
Johnathan Hall, LB — 3rd team
Jackson Bennee, S — 3rd team
Lance Holtzclaw, DE — 4th team
Elijah Davis, CB — 4th team
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From the archives
Extra points
- Utah basketball’s Big 12 schedule matrix is set for next season. Here’s who they’ll play
- Utah football gets commitment from Texas safety Darrod ‘Bug’ Jacobs
- Big 12 RB rankings: Will anyone catch LJ Martin?