Three questions to consider going into Utah's spring camp

With spring football camp less than a week away, the defending Pac-12 Champions have several questions to consider as they begin preparations for 2022.

While the 2022 Utah football season is still a little more than five months away, spring camp is finally upon us and the Utes are set to take the training field next week. Along with that comes the opportunity for the program to regroup and assess its needs for the upcoming season, and even though Utah was able to hang on to many of its super stars, there are still several questions to consider over the next four weeks.

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

Going into camp, the spring captains will be Cameron Rising, Clark Phillips III, Brant Kuithe, Devin Kaufusi and Jadon Redding. Notably, none of those should come as a surprise as they each played a key role for Utah last year and have since accepted important leadership positions.

However, you need more than just five designated captains to lead your team, and the defense is yearning for leadership after the departure of last year's upperclassmen.

Not only did Utah lose the heart and soul of their defense and the team's leading tackler in Devin Lloyd, but they also lost Nephi Sewell, Mika Tafua, Hauati Pututau, Vonte Davis and Brandon McKinney, all of which were major producers and key leaders.

So the question is, who will step up now that they are gone?

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Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Nov 5, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; Utah Utes defensive end Van Fillinger (7) warms up before the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

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Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Luckily for Utah, there’s a lot of young talent on this roster with not only the ability to dominate the field, but to help lead the team back to Allegiant Stadium in December. In addition to Clark Phillips III and Devin Kaufusi, guys like Cole Bishop, Karene Reid, Junior Tafuna, Van Fillinger, Malone Mataele and JT Broughton should all be expected to not only take their game to the next level, but their leadership skills as well.

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

After two years of battling for the starting position, ThiccBoi7 is here to stay and there is not a single person on the roster that will come anywhere close to competing with him. However, with that being said, you always want to be prepared under center and the QB2 race just got a whole lot more interesting.

To everyone’s surprise last season, it was former pig farmer Bryson Barnes who stepped up when Cameron Rising went down against Ohio State. However, with several impressive freshmen making their way to the program in 2022, not to mention Ja’Quinden Jackson who is still in the mix, things could get very interesting in a hurry.

Will Barnes defend his QB2 spot or was his performance in the Rose Bowl more of an in the moment type thing?

Also, what about Texas-transfer and former top-100 player Ja’Quinden Jackson? He appears to have been working on his passing game and we already know of his incredible athletic abilities.

Finally, Utah added some talented freshmen in the class of 22’ with three-star Brandon Rose and four-star Nate Johnson.

So while its understandable that a lot of fans may not pay much attention to who QB2 will be, since we all trust in ThiccBoi7, it's important to consider that Rising very well could take his talents to the NFL after next season, which means the next guy is currently being groomed.

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

This may be the most intriguing question of the three, as the linebacker room is quite literally bursting at the seam with talent. 

While the position group is already returning notable guys like Karene Reid, Hayden Furey, Trey Reynolds, Mason Tufaga and the Calvert brothers just to name a few, the program also added the likes of Florida-transfer Mohamoud Diabate and Stanford-transfer Gabe Reid in addition to incoming freshmen Lander Barton and Justin Medlock.

Ultimately, the most talented of the returning linebackers is soon to be sophomore Karene Reid who finished eighth in total tackles, the highest of any returning player at his position. However, now you have his brother from Stanford who is a vicious and experienced defender, Diabate who recorded 89 tackles for Florida last season in the SEC and several really impressive freshmen that very well could be college ready.

Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Simply put, this will be an incredibly tight battle and a very tough call for the coaches to determine who starts, who plays and who sits on the bench. On the flip-side however, go ahead and get your popcorn ready because this will be one of the best position battles between now and the first snaps against Florida on September 3.

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