At full strength Utah's corners have an 'unfair' amount of talent

After experiencing several injuries as a group last season, Utah's corner room is back and simply stacked with talent.

Looking back to last season, the group that was most heavily impacted by season-ending injuries was Utah's corner room. After losing JaTravis Broughton early in the year followed by Faybian Marks and Zemaiah Vaughn later on, Utah was left depleted in their pursuit of a Rose Bowl victory. While we all know the ending of that story, things are looking a lot different for 2022 with everyone back.

Clark Phillips III

Clark Phillips III, Utah Utes Fall Camp / Courtesy of Utah Athletics

As the leader of the group and the defense for that matter, Clark Phillips III is on pace for a massive season. Arguably one of the best corners in the entire country, Phillips has the opportunity to lead Utah's defense in just about every stat while also proving himself worthy of a high draft pick. However, regardless of how much individual talent he may have, he's happy to see everyone back.

Clark Phillips: “With everybody healthy, with everybody back, pushing each other and competing every single day, we have one of the top secondary’s and it’s showing. We’re getting better, we haven’t arrived yet, but it’s just a beautiful thing when everybody has experience.”

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) August 17, 2022

Phillips proved all season long, but especially in the Rose Bowl that he is a lockdown defender and fully capable of single-handedly altering the course of a game. However, with his teammates now healthy and ready to defend alongside him, Utah's pass-defense is nearly impenetrable.

Among those returning is Phillips right-hand man, JaTravis Broughton. As one of the more experienced secondary defenders, Broughton is also one of the leaders of the group and presents a lethal duo next the Phillips. 

JaTravis Broughton

JaTravis Broughton, Utah Utes Fall Camp / Courtesy of Utah Athletics

"I feel great, one-hundred-percent. Just excited to be back out here with my team...The room is one-hundred-percent. Everybody is ready to go, there's going to be a lot of playing time for all of us. Me and Clark [Phillips] are handling business, as well as Faybian, Zemaiah, Elijah [Davis]. Elijah and Jocelyn are coming along. Really the whole group, I can't leave out Kenzel [Lawler] either," Broughton said.

Of those mentioned by Broughton, Vaughn has been catching just about everybody's attention this year, being described as a "dark horse" amongst the defense by wide receiver Devaughn Vele. In addition to Vele's comments, Phillips also had a lot of praise for the sophomore corner.

Zemaiah Vaughn

Zemaiah Vaughn, Utah Utes Fall Camp / Courtesy of Utah Athletics

"He's making strides, he's taken a step, and he's making big plays," Phillips said. "He's got length like no other, speed and all that stuff. He's continuing to hone in on his craft, work on his technique, and I'm excited for that guy this season."

When you break it down, Utah's cornerback group is simply overflowing with talent. Not only do they have talented leaders in guys like Phillips and Broughton, but with several players on the rise like Vaughn and Marks in addition to talented freshman like Kenzel Lawler and Elijah Davis, the Utes are the best in the Pac-12 and one of the top rooms in the country. Don't believe me? Then listen to them.

"Definitely [the best] in the conference and one of the best in the nation I feel like," Broughton explained. "Just me getting back out there and how hard we work as a whole, I just know that they're not working as hard as us."

Zemaiah Vaughn on where Utah’s cornerback room ranks amongst the PAC-12: “One. We’ve got the best room in the Pac. We work harder, we do more.”

Utah’s corners are confident and rightly so. #GoUtes

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) August 17, 2022

"We're super confident in the guys that we've got. As one of the leaders of the room, I feel like I could line any of the guys up and we can go up against just about anybody," Phillips said.

As many of the corners mentioned, this group is incredibly talented and was even described by one wide receiver as an 'unfair' amount of talent. Between them and the safety room, opposing offenses will definitely think twice about passing against the Utes.

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