What we learned from Utah's spring scrimmage: Vele is a star, Glover is the real deal and Jackson looks confident
With one week before camp concludes with the spring game and fans get their first look at the 2022 roster, Utah Football conducted their final closed scrimmage of spring season. While players were not going full tilt and there's still a lot of time between now and the first kick against Florida in Gainesville, there were several takeaways and standouts from an initial look at the 2022 Utes.
Devaughn Vele is no longer a “secret weapon” but appears to be the number one weapon amongst the wide receivers
After an impressive freshman season, Devaughn Vele’s stock is through the roof right now and his abilities were on full display on Saturday. Not only was he Cameron Rising’s favorite target, but he made some truly magnificent and athletic plays to make Rising look even better.
While he did grab several catches for sizable gains uncovered, he also had several ESPN Top-10 like plays that had jaws on the floor. Early on, Rising threaded a 17 yard pass to the front corner of the end zone. Despite having a defender right on his back, Vele caught it over his back shoulder for six points.
Shortly thereafter, Vele also caught a 44 yard reception, double teamed, while diving down to the one yard line. Utah would score on the ensuing play.
Overall, Vele is no longer the “secret weapon” he was referred to as all last year. He appears to now be the number one weapon in the wide receiver group and should be on course for a huge 2022 season.
Jaylon Glover looked natural and completely in his element
All the hype around freshman running back Jaylon Glover is completely justified and fans should be ecstatic about his future. During the scrimmage, Glover was running with the ones and he looked completely in his element. While he didn’t have any rushes for more than about 10 yards, he demonstrated a calm demeanor and did exactly what was asked of him.
From what Glover has demonstrated so far, he’s an impressive combination of strength, agility and speed. Not only was he able to plow through a few defenders for a couple yards up the middle, but he also had quick feet and side stepped his way through a few gaps on several occasions.
While Tavion Thomas will be the primary back this season, Glover should see a good amount of reps behind him and there won't be much of a drop off when Glover steps into the role after Thomas takes his talents to the league.
Ja’Quinden Jackson looks much more confident in the passing game
After a tough initial season with Utah, quarterback Ja’Quinden Jackson looked like a completely different player in Saturday’s scrimmage. While he still demonstrated what he can do with his legs with several rushing touchdowns near the goal line, Jackson was also showing a lot with his arm.
Even though Jackson wasn’t needed much last year, it was evident in the 2021 spring game that his passing wasn’t quite where it needed to be, and eventually, it was Bryson Barnes who replaced Rising in the Rose Bowl, not Jackson.
However, according to Jackson and several members of the coaching staff, he’s been working on his passing game and that was evident in the scrimmage. Not that he had any long completions, but his throws were a lot smoother and his confidence was evident. On several occasions, he put the ball in places he never would’ve dreamed of before that should’ve resulted in some impressive completions had the receivers not made mistakes.
So while ThiccBoi7 is still the commander of the offense and the undisputed starter, Jackson showed a lot of promise and appears to be making strides.
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