Three critical questions answered following Utah's 2022 spring camp

With Utah’s spring camp now fully in the rearview mirror, the Utes will now transition to their summer workouts before returning for fall camp in preparation for the 2022 season. While the team continues to acclimate to its current roster, spring camp provided a plethora of opportunities to discover what makes this team special, which answered several important questions that needed to be addressed.

Just before spring camp began, we asked three critical questions that would need to be answered in order for the team to understand its identity and adequately prepare for the 2022 campaign.

3. Who is going to assume leadership positions, especially on defense?

It’s pretty obvious that Utah has some significant leadership roles to fill after the departure of players like Devin Lloyd, Nephi Sewell, Vonte Davis and Brandon McKinney. While several of those guys are difficult to replace, several individuals stepped up during spring camp and should be able to pick up right where the others left off.

For the most part, the offense has returned the majority of their leaders which should have them in a great spot for the upcoming season. Additionally, Devaughn Vele has not only taken his game to the next level, but he has also transformed into a leader amongst the receivers. Despite being fairly young himself, Vele helped the wide receivers improve during spring camp and took it upon himself to ignore outside assessments of the room, as they’d been labeled as one of the weaker spots on the team.

"I pride myself in taking it serious. Especially emphasizing my confidence in my play...I know I can be a great receiver but truly believing in that and having the confidence that I can do that everyday has been the biggest difference in the past couple weeks...especially hearing rumors about how we were the weak spot on the team. That definitely fuels me up and fired me up to start making the plays I know I can make, but even the plays that nobody thinks I can make," Vele said.

As for the defense, the young guys have continued to impress and play well above their age. Fulfilling a smaller leadership role last season, Clark Phillips III has embraced more of a leadership role and understands what will be required of him moving forward.

“I feel like we have great leadership,” Phillips stated. “I feel like we have that established in guys like myself, I think about guys like JaTravis Broughton, Cole Bishop, guys that started to establish themselves as leaders throughout last season. It’ll be for us now, times like now during spring ball, fall camp to continue to establish that leadership, that presence and promote that culture that we stand for.”

Just as Phillips mentioned, Cole Bishop really stepped up during spring. Not only is he about to level up in terms of his game, but it was obvious that Bishop has matured and understands that he needs to be more of a vocal leader on the field as well.

In terms of the linebacker room, Karene Reid is projected to be a starter and leads by example with his play. Meanwhile, Andrew Mata’afa is a much more vocal leader and had an excellent spring with an impressive display in the spring game.

"You know I don’t want to leave out a guy like Karene Reid, right, he’s a guy that comes to mind as well. Josh Calvert, Andrew Mata’afa, Hayden Furey, he’s played multiple reps now, so a little bit of some older crew in there that they’re doing a good job. They understand that hey, the voice in the room has left in Devin [Lloyd] and Nephi [Sewell] and somebody’s got to speak up. Andrew’s a very outspoken type of personality, he’s a great young man and so he’s taken that more of a vocal type of role where Karene Reid, you know he’s kind of a little bit quieter, but you get a work horse out of him. So they’re all competing and like I said, they’re doing a great job," linebackers coach Colton Swan said.

2. We know who QB1 is, but who is QB2 going to be?

For the first time in a couple years, Kyle Whittingham knows who QB1 is early on and there won’t be any sort of drama in trying to decide who is going to be taking the snaps under center. However, a significant question revolves around who the backup is going to be, as every team needs a designated QB2 in case of emergency and to continue developing in terms of the future.

To be fair, this question was not answered but that's ok. What spring camp did teach us is that Utah’s quarterback room is improving and they’re two formidable backups who are both very talented in their own specific ways.

As for Bryson Barnes, he’s a very well-rounded quarterback with a high level of game management. To step in during the Rose Bowl and march the team down for a late game tying touchdown speaks volumes to what he can do. During spring, he picked up right where he left off, and while he didn’t necessarily show anything new, he didn’t need to. Barnes is confident, composed and capable which makes him a solid option to continue as the Utes backup quarterback.

Ja’Quinden Jackson on the other hand had one of the most significant and obvious glow-ups during all of spring camp. His passing and management has come a long way from last season which was demonstrated in his performance in the spring game. Not only did he command the offense with a confident demeanor, but his passes were crisp, timely and on target. Purely my own opinion, I’d give Jackson the slight edge in the quarterback race as his upside appears to be quite a bit higher than Barnes just given his athleticism.

Time will tell who fulfills this important role and I wouldn’t expect to know until deep into fall camp. However, having a highly talented and competitive quarterback room is exactly the problem you want to have.

1. Who on earth is going to start in place of linebackers Devin Lloyd and Nephi Sewell?

Spring camp provided some excellent insight into arguably the most important question that needed to be answered. Replacing guys like Lloyd and Sewell is never an easy task but Utah appears to know what direction they are going in.

While nothing is set in stone, Karene Reid and Lander Barton appear to be the projected starters. Reid was noted by Kyle Whittingham as leading the room and Barton was running right alongside him in practices with the ones. Barton also was mentioned multiple times throughout camp as having an impressive spring and taking the field by storm.

With that being said, it would not surprise me to see some different sets and schemes with Andrew Mata’afa, Hayden Furey or Mohamoud Diabate, especially as Barton continues to acclimate to the college game. What is also significant is just how deep the linebacker room is. With players like Justin Medlock and the Calvert brothers, the linebacker position runs deep and there should always be a formidable defender on the field.

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