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JT Wistrcill on Utes Fall Camp, Braden Pagan WR 1 (?), Usage of Nate Johnson (?) + More · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: This is the Sean O'Connell Show.
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  Speaker 2: You were home of the best inside of your utes.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Let's get back to WOC from the Murdon Chevrolet Studio
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  Speaker 1: of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two one a f.
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  Speaker 2: Am, Welcome back to the Shot O'Connell Show.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Welcome in JT. Wister Slow. You can hear him on
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Lockdown Utes Publisher over at the utes two four seven
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  Speaker 1: at utes two four seven, also on Twitter or at JT.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Wister still is wist r C I L L JT.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the show. How are you doing well?
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Good to be on Sean.
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  Speaker 3: I appreciate you sawing the name too that I have
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  Speaker 3: won that a lot of people get wrong.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think I probably got it wrong a couple
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  Speaker 1: times before I got it right. But here we are,
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  Speaker 1: all right. We marched closer to Utah football season. What
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  Speaker 1: questions do you still have about this roster, about this
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  Speaker 1: team just over two weeks from kickoff?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's still mostly the same questions. Honestly,
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  Speaker 3: I think it's still the offensive line. I think it's
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  Speaker 3: still the defensive line. And I even think as good
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  Speaker 3: as we're feeling about the pass game, I think there's
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  Speaker 3: still some questions there as well too. Let's go to
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  Speaker 3: the offensive line. I mean, Morgan's Galley revealed yesterday they
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  Speaker 3: don't have a Sonning five still yet. And it's okay
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  Speaker 3: to have competitions drag on, but it's gonna be a
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  Speaker 3: little bit of a concern. And the longer it takes
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  Speaker 3: to figure out that five man unit, the left reps,
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  Speaker 3: that true five man unit gets together. They have a
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  Speaker 3: great warm up game against Idaho. That's a real test
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  Speaker 3: against Arkansas. I don't think the Razorbacks are going to
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  Speaker 3: be great this year, but I do think they got
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  Speaker 3: some dudes up front and that's gonna be a physical
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  Speaker 3: battle and you want to have as many reps under
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  Speaker 3: your belt as possible for that one. So that's an
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  Speaker 3: area I'm looking at for the offensive line, defensive line,
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  Speaker 3: especially defensive tackle. I think they just need to continue
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  Speaker 3: to really figure out who those guys are going to be.
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  Speaker 3: Run defense have to be better than it ended the
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  Speaker 3: regular season last year. Still sounds like there's some good
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  Speaker 3: battles there. And last week we had heard that the
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  Speaker 3: two minute offense wasn't up to standard quite yet, we
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  Speaker 3: have a little better This week we heard but we
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  Speaker 3: also heard that the red zone offense wasn't great there too,
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  Speaker 3: So there's a couple areas on offense where I still
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  Speaker 3: feel like this Utah team is still coming along, and
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  Speaker 3: I think a lot of that probably is Devin dan
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  Speaker 3: Pire working with those new receivers as well as those
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  Speaker 3: new offensive linemen getting things situating the run game. So
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  Speaker 3: definitely still some work to be done. But let's the
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  Speaker 3: advantage of fall camp. I think everyone has problems they
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  Speaker 3: need to sort out right now.
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  Speaker 1: All right, if you listen to the show the last
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  Speaker 1: few years, you know, I like to set some over unders,
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  Speaker 1: let people kind of shape expectations based on trends in
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  Speaker 1: the conference, trends with the team, previous numbers, etc. A
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  Speaker 1: couple today that I said, the question at least was
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  Speaker 1: your leading receiver, whoever you think that is jt Utah's
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  Speaker 1: leading receiver this season? Do they go over under last
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  Speaker 1: year's leading receiver to total? So it's seven twenty five
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  Speaker 1: and a half. Ryan Davis had seven hundred and twenty
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  Speaker 1: five yards on what fifty three catches for Utah last year.
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  Speaker 1: Does this year's leading receiver have more or less over
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  Speaker 1: or under that number of yards? Given of course, that
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  Speaker 1: it appears to be a deeper wide receiver room, you're
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  Speaker 1: probably gonna distribute the ball a little bit more. While
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  Speaker 1: saying that, you also have to respect the fact that
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  Speaker 1: some of these incoming guys, these transfers, have been productive
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  Speaker 1: at their previous stops, the upside might be higher. Although
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  Speaker 1: we all loved Ryan Davis, he wasn't the biggest, he
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  Speaker 1: wasn't the fastest. He was a crafty wide receiver. Right.
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  Speaker 1: So when I ask you that question, given all the
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  Speaker 1: context that I know you have over or under seven
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  Speaker 1: to twenty five point five for your leading receiver, I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to go over it's.
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  Speaker 3: Like you're working in Vegas. So I will say it's
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  Speaker 3: a very good line. You go back and forth because
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  Speaker 3: as you mentioned, there are a lot of mouths to
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  Speaker 3: feed in that wide receiver and also a lot of
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  Speaker 3: guys need to hand the ball off too as well.
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  Speaker 3: Berd Ficklan, Daniel Brady is the world. Parker dam Pierre's
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  Speaker 3: going to run it at times. So it's definitely a
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  Speaker 3: tight needle. I feel like of where this will end up.
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  Speaker 3: But I do feel like Braidon Pagan's in for a
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  Speaker 3: big year and it's not just the Instagram clip we
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  Speaker 3: saw over the weekend at the team scrimmage on Saturday,
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  Speaker 3: where he's hurtling a guy out there. And this is
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  Speaker 3: the first team All Conference guy. For a reason, I
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  Speaker 3: said numerous times on my show this offseason, Utah did
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  Speaker 3: not add a proven power for starter. The closest thing
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  Speaker 3: to that, though, was Braydon Pagan with the year he
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  Speaker 3: had at Utah State, hes got several powerful opportunities and
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  Speaker 3: shows to stay with Kevin mcgimnon, and I'm really excited
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  Speaker 3: to see what he can do. I think when you
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  Speaker 3: look at his catch radius, I think he's a good
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  Speaker 3: route runner. I don't think he's a great route runner,
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  Speaker 3: but catch radius being a huge thing for him, and
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  Speaker 3: I do think him and damp Pierre have done a
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  Speaker 3: good job of building that connection as much as they
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  Speaker 3: could for them not even being together for a full year.
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  Speaker 3: I feel like he is going to go over seven hundred.
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  Speaker 3: I will say I think create Wittemore of a shot too.
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  Speaker 3: That's a guy less than one hundred last year, so
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  Speaker 3: some people might be curious about that. But I think
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  Speaker 3: Dampier and Creed are going to connect a lot this year.
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  Speaker 3: But I do think Pagan is going to exceed that
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  Speaker 3: seven to twenty five, but I'll be curious to see
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  Speaker 3: if he is a true eight hundred yard receiver, even
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  Speaker 3: if he just gets at seven hundred and fifty, depending
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  Speaker 3: on how many other pass catchers can really step up
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  Speaker 3: and get involved in this offense.
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  Speaker 1: I'm kind of I'm with you, first of all, and
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  Speaker 1: even though there might be you know, a wealth of weapons,
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  Speaker 1: I'm still of the opinion that when you have depth,
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  Speaker 1: when you have a bunch of guys, that your team
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  Speaker 1: is better off when there's an alpha in the room.
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  Speaker 1: Right when you know and everyone else knows that on
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  Speaker 1: third down, that's the guy that you're sending on the
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  Speaker 1: route just beyond the sticks and he's gonna come down
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  Speaker 1: with a contested catch that when you're in the red zone,
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  Speaker 1: he's the guy that you're throwing the fade to. I
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  Speaker 1: like that for the players themselves. I like that for
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  Speaker 1: the quarterback. I also like what that does to an
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  Speaker 1: opposing defense because then they're just like, all right, that's
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  Speaker 1: their best guy, that's where the ball is going. But wait,
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  Speaker 1: is it not? Because they know we're thinking that way.
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  Speaker 1: It just creates all these different scenarios that even when
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  Speaker 1: you have a bunch of different weapons, I want to
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  Speaker 1: know who the nuclear weapon is.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, And I think it'd be great if Pagan
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  Speaker 3: could truly step up and be that guy for this
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  Speaker 3: offense too, because as you mentioned, if Pagan becomes that guy,
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  Speaker 3: it makes everyone else better. Kyrie Scholz is able to
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  Speaker 3: do more Creed with them, more, Larry Simmons, Tobias Merriweather,
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  Speaker 3: And if Pagan could really step up and be that
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  Speaker 3: true out, I think that would be a huge thing
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  Speaker 3: for this Utah offense. For this wide receiver corps too.
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  Speaker 3: Devin dan Pier as good as this wide receiver and
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  Speaker 3: this path catcher group is. You mentioned Ryan Davis, but overall,
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  Speaker 3: Utah did lose their top three pass catchers from a
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  Speaker 3: yard standpoint, JJ Buchanan, who we all thought would have
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  Speaker 3: a big year, and Dallen Bentley was a revelation at
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  Speaker 3: the tight ends spot for Utah last year. So you
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  Speaker 3: need guys to step up there on the outside. And
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  Speaker 3: I do love how deep this room is, so there
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  Speaker 3: are multiple guys in the past. Right A couple of
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  Speaker 3: years ago, Hey, Damien Alfris should be really good. Didn't
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  Speaker 3: pan out even last year. Tobias Merriweather. Now he's a
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  Speaker 3: fun X factor this year versus it felt like you
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  Speaker 3: Taw really needed him to be great right away. I
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  Speaker 3: love how many different guys there are in this this room.
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  Speaker 3: Even a Ricky Johnson's the world coming up fro Mississippi State.
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  Speaker 3: I think he's guy that could be explosive too. I
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  Speaker 3: expect Pagan to emerge and be that alpha. But with
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  Speaker 3: nice Is, Utah had several guys that I think could
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  Speaker 3: and I don't think that's always been the case for
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  Speaker 3: this Utah wide receiver room.
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  Speaker 1: Jee, what about Nate Johnson? What do you think his
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  Speaker 1: usage looks like this year? Because he spent so much
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  Speaker 1: time in college football kind of deciding whether or not
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  Speaker 1: he was an athlete or he was a quarterback, And
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  Speaker 1: I think the answer finally came and it was like,
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  Speaker 1: you know what, you're an athlete. Let us use you
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  Speaker 1: like an athlete. Let us use you like you know,
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  Speaker 1: run you some fly sweeps, let us use you as
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  Speaker 1: a wide receiver. It's great to see someone try to
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  Speaker 1: master the craft of quarterbacking, but it is so so
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  Speaker 1: specific and when you're doing even a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: that and taking away from the time on the jugs
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  Speaker 1: machine when you're taking away from the route running for
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  Speaker 1: somebody like him, I mean, really set him back from
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  Speaker 1: what he could be as a wide receiver, especially with
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  Speaker 1: that top end speed. I maybe have higher hopes for
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  Speaker 1: him than most people do. I'm curious your thoughts.
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  Speaker 3: Ever since he was a true freshman, I've been fascinated
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  Speaker 3: by Nate Johnson when he was just getting a couple
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  Speaker 3: of handoffs or coming in for a couple of plays
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  Speaker 3: to run the ball at quarterback. I've been fascinated by him.
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  Speaker 3: He goes to Vanderbilt, if all reports were to be
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  Speaker 3: believed too, that was a legit competition between him and
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  Speaker 3: Diego Bobby's. So it is crazy now that you know,
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  Speaker 3: from battling a future Heisman guy to now a fifth
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  Speaker 3: string maybe the fifth wide receiver, sixth on the depth
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  Speaker 3: chart wherever he may reside. But I just think with
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  Speaker 3: his speed, I think he's got to be out there
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  Speaker 3: for some place too. That's where Utah I'm trying to
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  Speaker 3: keep guys fresh, rotate them on. And you mentioned the
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  Speaker 3: fly sweeps. We know Utah loves to put a lot
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  Speaker 3: of these guys in motion and put defenses in a bind.
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  Speaker 3: I think Daniel Bray he's going to once again be
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  Speaker 3: used in a lot of motion this year, and he's
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  Speaker 3: tried to get stronger to run between the tackles, and
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  Speaker 3: he's bigger, but I still don't know if he's quite
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  Speaker 3: there yet to handle the workload of away Shawn Parker
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  Speaker 3: between the tackles. But I think Nate Johnson's another guy
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  Speaker 3: you're going to use a lot lining up on the
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  Speaker 3: outside and let him put defenses in the buying because
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  Speaker 3: you need to account for his speed. He did not
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  Speaker 3: get a ton of touches last year, as you mentioned,
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  Speaker 3: but still on just twenty four carries two hundred and
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  Speaker 3: twenty five yards. That's an average over nine yards of carry.
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  Speaker 3: He's got to be involved in some different ways. To me.
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  Speaker 3: We've heard he's grown as a route runner from Chad
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  Speaker 3: bump Is too. I see think Utah will find packages
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  Speaker 3: and find ways to get him on the field because
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  Speaker 3: you still can't each speed, and he's one of the
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  Speaker 3: fastest guys on this roster, so I still expect him
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  Speaker 3: to get a handful of snaps. The game is that
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  Speaker 3: close to to ten to fifteen, I think, so maybe
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  Speaker 3: it's twenty plus, which would be a huge credit to
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  Speaker 3: his growth with the wide receiver spot, but just with
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  Speaker 3: his speed. I still think he's one of the fastest
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  Speaker 3: guys on the offense. They need him out there. I'm
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  Speaker 3: just glad that it's going to be him lining up
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  Speaker 3: at wide receiver more than a Jackson Benny like Uta
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Hyder resort too early in the season at Todds last year. J. T.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Wester still is our guest here talking Utah football on
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the Sean O'Connell show. You can find him at You's
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: twenty four to seven. He's the host of Lockdown You
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: UT's Authority, all right. The other over on that I
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: had set for today was of the total the total
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: passing offense, or I should say, the average yards per
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  Speaker 1: game for the not just an individual receiver, and I
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  Speaker 1: don't care which quarterback is thrown. Quite frankly, I said
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  Speaker 1: it at two thirty five and a half. And the
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  Speaker 1: reason I said it there was because that will put
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  Speaker 1: them in the top five for Big twelve offenses, at
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  Speaker 1: least relative to last year. Now, we can't expect the
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  Speaker 1: numbers to be the exact same as this year this
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  Speaker 1: year as they were last year, but that is that's
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  Speaker 1: where I said it, and I'm I'm curious your thoughts
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  Speaker 1: on this because I do believe it's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a slightly sorry, two thirty one and a half, a
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  Speaker 1: slightly pass heavier attack than we're accustomed to with the
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  Speaker 1: University of Utah. I think that mcgiven has that history.
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  Speaker 1: I think that he has the personnel, as we've already
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  Speaker 1: been talking about with the receivers in the depth of
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  Speaker 1: the receiver room, and a healthy Devin dam Pierre is
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: going to be a lot more comfortable passing the ball.
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  Speaker 1: I think Burt Ficklin, whatever role he ends up playing,
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  Speaker 1: it's a big part. I mean, he's got a big,
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  Speaker 1: big harm I could see all this. Two thirty one
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  Speaker 1: and a half makes you a top five passing offense
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  Speaker 1: average yards per game in the Big Twelve Conference. I
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  Speaker 1: kind of think that's where they need to be if
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  Speaker 1: they're supposed to have the season I think they can have.
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  Speaker 1: At Utah State, mcgivern's offense was just under two hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty yards per game. Where do you think that
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: one falls over under two thirty one point five for
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  Speaker 1: Utah's passing game average yards per game?
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to go over it's another really good line,
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  Speaker 3: I think because just what this pass offense did produce
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  Speaker 3: last year. But I am going to go over because
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  Speaker 3: of my confidence in Devin damp Here, a guy who
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  Speaker 3: played last year with multitude of injuries, the biggest one
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: being the sports herneia we know. I think he was
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: banged up last year and still produced at a very
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  Speaker 3: high level. I also think, says I think everyone else does.
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  Speaker 3: The run game is going to six step back. It
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: will be a good run game that Utah has. This
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  Speaker 3: was the best power for run game last year on
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: the yards per game basis. That's what you taught had
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: with the most dominant offensive line we've seen up on
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  Speaker 3: the hill and quite some time. For my money, the
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: run game will take a step back, so more will
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  Speaker 3: be on Devin damp Here, But I think he's ready
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  Speaker 3: for it. I think if you talk and keep him healthier,
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  Speaker 3: which is a huge thing and why I want them
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  Speaker 3: to be very careful with him in the quarterback run game.
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  Speaker 3: If you can keep him healthy, he can scramble more
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: and keep plays alive longer as well too, and that
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  Speaker 3: buys more time for guys to get open when plays breakdown,
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  Speaker 3: to makes some magic happen and that's something even when
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: he was hurt. Dampier did last year made magic happen.
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  Speaker 3: Whether it was against Kansas State of the long pass
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  Speaker 3: on it was like third and thirty. We know the
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: Wyoming game. He drops the ball and picks it back up,
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  Speaker 3: rifles in the end zone for a touchdown. He had
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: another huge pass and against the Braskat I bu cannon
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: in the end zone from third and forever. He has
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  Speaker 3: these moments that just make me think that he's going
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  Speaker 3: to put it all together this year. I think if
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  Speaker 3: you talk and keep him healthy, I think he's ready
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: to carry a larger load in the pass game. I
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: think he's got a good shot to be right around
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: that two hundred and fifty yards per game mark. Utah
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: is still going to be run first team for my money.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: I know mcgiven has been more pass happy, and Utah's
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: wide receiver has been raving about how they will throw
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: the ball more. I don't doubt that. But Morgan Scalley
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: is still the head coach of the football team he
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: learned from Kyle Whitningham. I think they are still going
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: to be ground and pound first and foremost, but I
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: do expect that ratio to be more fifty five percent
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  Speaker 3: run and then forty five percent pass. So I do
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: think Dan Pierre's got a really good shot to exceed
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  Speaker 3: that total when you look at him fully healthy, buying
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: in this offseason, putting in the work with his wide
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: receivers to grow that chemistry, and just the growth as well.
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  Speaker 3: You know, senior year, this should be the culmination of
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: his college career. Best series had yet I expect that
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  Speaker 3: to be the case. I think he's going to be
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  Speaker 3: one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Twelve this year,
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  Speaker 3: and I think he will exceed that over under.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: You set tight ends obviously factor into the total passing yardage.
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  Speaker 1: Right if we're going to thirty one, it seems like
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  Speaker 1: it seems like such a paltry sum JT where I'm like, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty eighth yards a game. That feels
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: like you're not a very proficient passing team. But again,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: like I said, it was top five for the conference
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  Speaker 1: last year. The previous year to make that's not even
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: top ten. So for whatever reason, twenty twenty five was
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: a down passing year in the Big Twelve conference. Baylor
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: had at three hundred and ten yards a game, TCU
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  Speaker 1: at two hundred ninety, Texas Tech at two hundred and eighty,
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  Speaker 1: Arizona two fifty five, and then Cincinnati last year was
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: two thirty one point two. So two thirty one point
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  Speaker 1: five over that, like you're predicting, and so am I
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  Speaker 1: puts Utah in last year's top five. The tight ends
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: have to have something to say about that, and it
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: has been recently for the University of Utah a serious
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: position of strength, even last year where people are just like,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: oh man, there's no Kincaid, there's no Keithy. What's Dallan
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Bentley had an incredible year. Dallan Bentley is fighting for
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: a spot on an NFL roster right now. They've always
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: had talent in the room. How are these tight ends
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: going to factor in with Kevin McGibbon.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, as of right now, I definitely think
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: the tight end room won't be what it was last year.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: But at this time last year, I also so did
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: not think Dallan Bentley, who I think had a round
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: seventy career receiving yards, was going to turn into one
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: of the best big twelfth tight ends. He was probably
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: the biggest surprise last year for Utah. So's the chance
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: that happens again. And I think Hunter Andrews is the
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: best tight end in this room. And he's a phenomenal athlete.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: We've even heard more at Theilex they didn't want to
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: line him up in the backfield and let him run
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: the ball. When he came to Utah, he was high
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: school linebacker and running back. They first were going to
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: have the linebacker, then moved him to running back, and
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: now he's been at tight end for the last two years.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: He's the team's best tight end I think, and the
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: flashes he showed prior to injury that he suffered in
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: the Utah's third or fourth game last season, I thought
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: was going to be the second best head end on
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: this team and still be a frequent option this offense
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: would look to. Now he's back, he's fully healthy, we've
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: heard I do think he's going to be the guy,
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: but I think he's going to be around I'd be
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: surprised if he exceeded five hundred yards. I think he's
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: still growing and learning that tight end position too, and
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: the wide receivers taking the next step. I don't see
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: him having the down Bentley year as well, too. And
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: Andrews still got some size at six to three, but
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: not his big as down Bentley was down. Bent Bentley
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: was such a nice luxury for damp Pire to have
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: with the ability of him just to have a large
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: catch radius and make some plays down the field too,
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: more than you normally see for a tight end. So
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: I think Andrews will be good. I just don't think
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: it's the same level I do. Like Noah Benny guy
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: was with Utah then transferred to Weaver State. Now he's
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: back with the team. I got a chance to talk
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: with him yesterday. I think he will be second on
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: this team and receiving yardage from a tight end standpoint.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: But look, there's a reason he did go to Weaver
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: State in the first place. He's not the greatest route
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: runner of the world. I'd say. I think he's still
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: learning and growing and getting there, and we'll see how
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: he puts it together. This year did well at the
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: FCS level. Is he ready for power for a ball?
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Time will tell. And then there's everyone's favorite, Semi Tai Longo.
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: That's the guy who obviously went viral for his one
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: catch ed last year. I think he's going to make
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: a few more of those, but once again not probably
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: the greatest route runner creating separation, but still the guy
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: that is tough to bring down with the ball in
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: his hands, so he'll get involved. Bentley had over six
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: hundred yards last year. As we mentioned, I think the
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: tight end room as a whole could maybe get around that.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: But as of right now, I think they're gonna have
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: a lot less to do in this offense than they
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: did last year with the wide receiver stef up and
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: just as it seems at this moment, lack of a
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: dominant tight end. So we'll see if Hunter Andrews can surprises.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: A couple of the players said he'd be an X
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: back of this year, but I'm in waiting see mode
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: on the tight ends way.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Shawn Parker almost a thousand yards last year. With three
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: more carries, he would have hit one thousand yards. Based
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: on his average, he had a really really healthy average
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: six point six yards of carry. Can he maintain that
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: this year behind a less experienced offensive line.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: His average will go down? I believe. I don't think
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: the offensive line is going to be as good, and
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: I think therefore that will go down a little bit
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: because that wasn't part of product of just how dominant
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: the offensive line was and him not getting touched almost
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: ever behind the line of scrimmage. I think that number
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: goes down, but also in part because the volume of
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: carries is going to go up. But I do think
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: he hits his thousand yard goal this year. He wants
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: twelve hundred yards. I could see twelve one hundred total
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: yards for him if he's a part of the pass
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: game too, because he did have some nice moments as
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: a pass catching back to earn the trust of dam
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Pire with some plays he was able to make downfield too,
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: So that's something that I'm really excited to see what
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: he's capable of doing in both of those capacities running
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: the ball and catching the ball this year. But as
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: of right now, I don't think he seeds that yards
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: per carry average. I will say amongst power for backs
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: with the same amount of with a certain number of
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: volume last year that he had only Jeremiah Love average
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: more yards per game than him at the power for
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: or some the yards per carry at the powerful level.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: So we are talking about a game changing back. Big
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: twelve is loaded with good backs. I still think he's
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: one of the best in the conference. It's got good power,
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: tough to bring down, but the offensive line taking a
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: step back, and how dependent running backs are on their blockers.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: I see the yards per game going down, but I
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: still see a really good year for way Sean Parker,
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: and I'd be shocked if he didn't crack that thousand
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: yard mark. I still think he's going to leave this
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: backfield in touches and be one of the biggest stars
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: and faces of the Utah offense along with Devin Dampier.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I'm taking the quarterbacks out of the equation. And because
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: you have to give me the best offensive player and
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: the best defensive player on this Utah football team.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, offensive, I would go with Parker. I really think
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: he's that good. I think he's going to have that
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: type of a year if he did. Danfier was available,
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: I'd probably go with him just for what he did
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: last year. But yeah, Parker would be the guy for
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: all the reasons I just highlighted the best defensive guy.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Though if you look over there, man, there's a lot
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: of guys on this defense that I like that I
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: think are capable of having a really big year. But
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: by the time the year ends, I think the best
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: guy on this Utah defense will be saying is I'm
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: actually gonna go with Elijah Davis. I think being the
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: lockdown that is Jack Benny's right there. I think it's
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: very close. But I think Elijah Scooby Davis is the
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: best year of his career. I think he's capable of
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: shutting down some of the top wide receivers then a
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: really good, reliable guy for a number of years. I
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: think he puts it all together. I think he has
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: the season worthy of him being an NFL draft pick.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: Too sticky and coverage, physical against the run. I know
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: he got the picks last year. I don't think he'll
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: get the pick sixes because he's not going to get
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: targeted much this year. That's how good. I think he's
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: going to be Lance Holtzkuaf, Jonathon Hall, Jackson Benny all
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: worthy candidates. But I think Elijah Scooby Davis puts it
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: all to again and has an incredible year for this
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: Utah defense.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: Love it, JT. It's a little outside the box from
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: what most people have been saying, and I appreciate that.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: So keep up the great work. We'll see you soon.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Thanks man, Thanks Sean, appreciate you JT. Wester Sill, publisher
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: over at Utes twenty four to seven UH, host of
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: the Lockdown Utes podcast,