Freshman QB Nate Johnson is focused on learning and developing rather than worrying about the QB2 spot

In his first fall camp, freshman QB Nate Johnson is busy learning the playbook rather than worrying about the backup position.

As one of the most talented members from the incredible freshman class of 2022, quarterback Nate Johnson has been busy turning a lot heads during fall camp. While the QB1 spot is locked up and the battle for QB2 primarily involves Bryson Barnes and Ja'Quinden Jackson, Johnson is focused on learning the offense and gelling with his talented freshman classmates rather than competing for the backup spot.

Standing 6-foot, 191 pounds, Johnson was a four-star dual-threat quarterback from Clovis, California. Despite holding nine total offers, the likes of which included schools like Michigan, Arizona State, UCLA, TCU, and Oregon State, Johnson picked Utah because of the love he felt during his recruitment.

"When I came on my visit here, I just felt a lot of love. As soon as I got here I was getting love from everywhere. Just as soon as I landed, I was just getting loved on. After going through the visit, meeting all the coaches and doing everything, seeing all the fans, that just locked in right there and that's one of the reasons why I picked Utah," Johnson said.

Now participating in his first fall camp, the talented dual-threat QB has hit the ground running. According to multiple sources in the program, and even head coach Kyle Whittingham in his press conference this week, Johnson is "really looking good." As for Johnson, he says things have been going really well and he's learning a lot.

"Its been really good," Johnson said. "Ive been learning a lot. As a QB, you gotta take roll, be loud, learn the plays, learn the routes, read the defense. I'm really just learning a lot right now. But so far, it's been really, really good."

As a part of his development, Johnson has had an opportunity to throw to a majority of the wide receivers, including new freshmen Tao Johnson and Sidney Mbanasor who he spoke highly of as they've all been learning together.

"Really its just going over routes, going over plays. All the freshmen that came up a couple months ago, we're all learning the plays so, we've gotta get each other in the room, talk about this play, what route they've got, see if they've got a motion and gotta have the right person in motion. So, it's really just a lot to talk about when we go over film. We're all in the learning phase right now," Johnson said.

"Sidney can go up and get fade balls...He's a young wide receiver, still learning, but I am pretty sure he will get in the game...It's really his size, agility, and his speed. To be able to go up and grab fade balls, and shield people off when running slants. And being able to catch, get in open space and run, he's going to be a really, really good freshmen receiver this year. Tao is the same way. He can go up and grab fade balls. Really off the line he's just really, really fast. He can get off the line and burn people on fades, get people moving on slants. Both of those receivers are gonna be really, really good this year."

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding Johnson however is whether or not he'll be heavily considered for QB2 this season. While nothing is confirmed, it's unlikely he'll be a final candidate just given the fact that Utah's offense is complex and takes time to learn. Additionally, he also mentioned that he's not worried about that right now and is simply just learning the scheme.

"I'm not really worried about that right now. I'm just trying to focus on learning the plays, putting myself in a position where I can learn the plays and learn the offense. I'm not really worried about the two spot right now. I'm really in the learning phase so getting the two spot is not really in my head. Im just focused on getting the offense down," Johnson said.

With all that being considered, Johnson is still an incredible quarterback with sky-high potential and very well could prove to be a worthy candidate. However, for now it appears Bryson Barnes and Ja'Quinden Jackson remain the frontrunners.

Facebook - @FanNationAllUtes

Twitter - @FN_AllUtes

Instagram - @fannation_allutes