number 25 Utah pre-season preview plus news and notes from across the country on good morning college football hello and welcome to Good Morning college football I Nicholas Ian Allen of cfp Winning Edge and C to canton.com thank you so much for joining us today as we get ready to talk about the number 25 team in our 2024 CFB Winning Edge pre-season team strength power ratings the Utah youths which uh if you've followed us uh at all over the last few months you know we're a little bit lower on Utah than most uh in fact you know according to odds makers draft King specifically this morning I checked up and and Utah is officially still the favorite to win the Big 12 the odds not quite as good as any other pre-season conference favorite but uh Utah understandably according to the odds makers according to the market and a lot of very smart folks out there are the team to beat in the Big 12 uh our numbers see something a little bit different we already disc discussed uh our number 22 team UCF as our highest rated Big 12 team preseason uh if you missed that you know it wasn't us uh screaming that we know something that that nobody else does about UCF there's a lot of skepticism uh we definitely do try to remove opinion from our team strength power ratings uh as much as we possibly can and just let the numbers speak for themselves uh and as it so happened Utah came in at number two in our preseason Big 12 power ratings but still uh absolutely one of the uh top teams to beat in that new look conference this season but uh if you haven't already want to uh please ask if you uh might give this video a like if you would subscribe to the campus to Canton YouTube channel where you get access to a wide range of content from across uh all of you know the the C2C Network you get College Fantasy Football uh content new uh draft uh best ball show uh with Chris Kay and Ethan sour very excited about that of course uh you know Debbie campus to Canton live all kinds of great stuff on the campus to Canton YouTube channel just about every single day the official keep up with recruiting uh I know I need to uh but we we very much appreciate those of you who have already subscribed uh to the channel give uh our videos a like and a comment uh and of course if you have subscribed to camps to canton.com where you can do so for as little as $2.99 per month get access to uh the Discord to rankings tools written content on the site uh those best ball rankings for the underdog uh large best ball uh drafts which are fairly new and and ongoing uh those continue to get updated regularly from uh the uh very very smart folks on the cff team at campus canton.com so uh you can join for as little as299 per month or you can uh take a look at some of our higher tiers including the C2C Winning Edge in all 22 tiers which include access to a lot of the things that we will be discussing today in our Utah preview our 2024 team profile files our returning production database our stat projections all of that is available to C2C Winning Edge in all 22 tier members before we dig into those uh Utah projections uh we've got a little bit more fall Camp coming out as more teams are opening uh their camps with you know August 1st coming up very shortly uh we are you know within one month from just about everybody in college football kick kicking off the 2024 season we're 24 days officially from week zero and that handful of games that will get us started uh but as we record on the morning of July 31st we are one month from the First full Saturday week one Saturday in college football so um the vast majority of teams will have opened uh their fall Camp by the next time we get together for good morning college football uh but we are seeing more and more teams open throughout the course of the week and and a little bit of news trickling out not too much that's Earth shattering uh but a few items I want to uh touch on briefly uh Jesse Temple of the athletic was on hand uh for Wisconsin's day1 of spring camp their practice in patesville and he opened the piece uh kind of an interesting uh observation and noting that Tyler van djk the transfer quarterback coming in expected by just about everyone to start for the Badgers was actually working with the number two offense during a particular drill and that that unit was sent to the sideline because uh you know the coaches thought that it was taking too long to get lined up uh Temple did of course note that van djk and Braden lock are both taking reps with the number one offense uh so far you know during that first practice uh but that it was reportedly a pretty sloppy day for the Badgers offense which lost six fumbles over the course of the practice uh but reading here from uh Temple peace says as expected van djk and lock rotated with the first and second team offenses neither quarterback produced their best stay overall but there were more solid moments from Van djk showing why he has the potential to ultimately win the job so um you know my personal expectation is that Tyler van djk was brought in to be the number one quarterback it's going to get every opportunity to win that job but at least so far the Wisconsin coaching staff is uh still challenging him still rotating uh lake or excuse me lock into uh you know that competition getting some reps with that number one offense so we will certainly uh be digging in and and finding out more as we can on whether or not van dijk's going to be able to to lock down that job relatively soon or if this thing is going to stretch out a little bit uh closer to kickoff uh Cameron lemons de bro of Demon Deacons digest uh observed that at Wake Forest there's a a slight surprise at least to me as far as the quarterback rotation on day one of practice for uh the Demon Deacons uh Michael karna was taking the first team reps ahead of Hank BM who um you know we had projected as our starting quarterback for Wake Forest in our team profile um I was hesitant to fully uh make the switch um I I you know me personally I do think that Bach Meer still has a pretty good shot to to come out on top in the competition uh but as de bro noticed or or mentioned uh you know bachmeier went through spring practice he didn't really nail down the job Kar was limited by injury um so perhaps getting him a little a little bit longer look in the early days of fall Camp uh we'll let the coaching staff know really what they're working with and and uh you know we'll see there's still plenty of time day one uh is not a slam dunk if you take that first rep at uh quarterback that you're going to be there in uh you know game one but if you uh are a top the dep chart in that first practice you know you have to to do less to uh retain that spot at least is is generally my way of thinking so went ahead did make the switch in our team profiles uh it it did impact our Wake Forest uh rating and ranking a little bit because bachmeyer due to his you know higher recruiting rating coming out of high school when he transfer excuse me when he uh signed with boisey State his early uh experience and production at the FBS level he's a 36 game starter has added five points of production uh value to his individual player rating in our team profiles uh he's a higher rated player by a you know fairly wide margin over Kern the way that we calculated so um but I didn't want to ignore the uh inside and and what we're getting coming out of fall Camp so did go ahead make the switch but um we'll be uh willing to to switch back if we get any indication that BME is um you know pulled even or uh especially if he's like to uh you know win that job uh ahead of week one if we hear anything concrete we definitely make the switch but I'm I'm willing to uh go in and and try to uh make the best uh you know judgment that that when I say we try to remove opinion from our uh ratings this is really the only place where it factors in is is if you know I'm looking at a particular position group quarterback especially and if I have a a strong feeling way or the other that might be just a little bit different than uh what we're hearing what we're reading I might make that judgment call but for now since Kern did take that number one rep uh went ahead and made the switch he is currently our number one quarterback on our uh wake Force Team profiles depth chart so uh we will certainly see what we can find out as we get a little bit closer uh the Florida state seals have been at it for about a week now uh go have gone through uh what six practices I believe now um after practice five Dustin Lewis of null game day had a nice write up that uh you know most of the Florida state coverage is is always great is always in depth but there just hasn't been a lot of newsworthy items to discuss just yet but um according to Lewis and a couple of things that you know stuck out to me I'm seeing the name Hakeem Williams quite a bit uh among wide receivers um that Florida State group other than Malik Benson who seems to be the uh the likely favorite to be the number one target for quarterback djay who is getting some positive uh you know uh Buzz this spring as well um there's a little bit of a question you know who else is going to emerge as a starting wide receiver as a playmaker at that position jakai Douglas has has you know seen his name pop up quite a bit some quotes from Mike norell discussing him I've seen a little you know positive mention of du span the former quarterback recruited Illinois who's coming in he's a big Target uh but Hakeem Williams a little bit more consistently in the early days of spring practice seeing his name pop up reading here from Dustin Lewis of n game day uh he says that stacking good days together Hakeem Williams continues to ascend this preas season he ran a really nice route in one-on ones to get wide open for a grab in the end zone Williams made the most of his reps getting open no matter who was a quarterback he even held on for a tough catch on the sideline where the sophomore took a big hit from F trell uh cypris II the former All-American Corner Williams has to keep this steady uptick going but the simol have to like where things stand after five practices uh one name that I didn't see very often through the first five practices was Alabama transfer running back royell Williams uh Lewis did mention Williams uh you know showing good balance and and also referenced uh that uh the former Alabama running back is now down to 215 pounds he was previously listed at 225 uh but it's a very very deep uh running back room where of course uh you know Lawrence T has been there for a long time he's making plays Jaylen Lucas his speed is always mentioned a couple of true freshmen really getting Buzz early in in spring camp and then kazah Holmes a transfer uh who's been you know not really part of the mix much uh recently is also getting a lot of positive attention so um Williams we do still have projected as the starter at running back um but we'll we'll keep a close eye on how those reports are coming out I'm expecting a lot of players to play Early in the season at the running back position for Florida State it'll sort itself out but um there's a there's a chance that that I might be willing to move Williams out of our projected number one running back role depending on how you know the next few weeks of uh camp and and these reports are are starting to come out but hopefully we'll see Williams name mentioned a little bit more because uh you know expectations coming as a transfer from Alabama pretty high um and and I think you'll have an opportunity to to contribute but um running back probably uh most would say the deepest position on that Florida State roster especially on the offensive side at Kansas Michael Swain of fog the 247 site that covers the Jayhawks um had a a little bit of a note nothing too newsworthy but uh All Eyes in Lawrence are on quarterback Jaylen Daniels uh Swain reading here from the pie says obviously the health of Daniels is going to be a big topic during Camp the good news is that he's starting on the right foot he participated in every drill on Tuesday and didn't have any limitations from what I saw he was going through ball security drills he wasn't doing at times during the Spring and was throwing during all the drills uh continuing here he said I've heard Daniels will be a full go as Camp begins KU will track his workload during camp but this is a great place to build on for the KU quarterback so good news so far about Jaylen Daniels he is the biggest question mark uh for Kansas uh we discussed it in the CFB wining Edge uh Big 12 preview podcast uh this past week that you know this is a different team if Jaylen Daniels is fully healthy compared to uh if he is unavailable which certainly as we remember he wasn't for a big stretch last year so good news so far on Jaylen Daniels hopefully that will continue for Kansas a couple of final notes Here TCU has added a couple of former FBS head coaches to its staff as analyst Sunny dyes confirmed to ESPN's Dave Wilson that Todd Graham most recently at Hawai as the head coach uh prior to Timmy changen taking over a couple years ago and Dana hogerson who last season uh was let go uh after uh you know things went uh South a bit at Houston uh those two will be on dyk's staff uh in analyst roles uh I believe according to reports uh with Utah State having officially fired Blake Anderson uh the portal is open for the agies fortunately for Utah State uh if you are an agies fan we haven't seen a mass Exodus which would be uh incredibly damaging this close to fall camp but one notable name has emerged um Matt Zenit was the first to report I believe that Micah Davis uh the wide receiver started his career at Air Force has has always been um an exciting player to me and and seemed like he potentially uh could have been in line for a big year at Utah State this season uh is instead going to transfer the early Buzz that I saw haven't uh seen a whole lot of updates just yet but uh could be headed to the SEC with a whole mess getting mentioned a couple of places um did want to uh talk a little bit I saw a thread on uh from from a journalist uh sports editor of the Daily Chronicle in Decalb Illinois Edward carifio that that uh shed some light on you know some of the things that folks are dealing with uh when they're trying to to cover practices at this point in the off season and and you know we mention it here um and for the most part I I try to do you know my best to mention where we can get great coverage uh also of course try to uh give credit as as much as possible to the reporters who are on the ground doing the work of finding this information and and putting it out there um and you know some programs are are just more difficult don't allow a lot of access don't allow reporters at practice or don't allow you know certain things to to be reported or access you know could potentially be revoked and uh carifio uh posted a thread what yesterday yesterday morning with an update on uh how Thomas hammock at Northern Illinois is sort of handling access this spring and and you know this is specific to that situation but know that that you know some of this is is perhaps going on and and uh you know we get questions sometimes in campus to can Discord we'll get comments on videos like this I'm sure they say hey have you heard about you know ex player EX Team um you know why can't we get information on this or that or you know who's starting here who's starting there um sometimes you know the the reporters don't know sometimes uh they're not able to to share uh it's it can be a little bit tricky so um just wanted to to read this thread uh quickly but but you know as he put it out there uh so Edward carifio again from uh who covers uh Northern Illinois says so some news about our NIU coverage ahead of practices starting tomorrow our coverage is going to be dramatically reduced due to a decision made by the school only the first 30 minutes of practice will be open to the media and if you've seen NIU practices you know that's basically warm-ups so no more top five plays from practices no more top player performances however it will also limit how we cover the the team during the season since I took over the beat in 2020 I've been trying my best to maximize how I cover the team despite increasing limitations brought about not only by the economic realities in our field but by NIU as well have to cover High School football at the same time as NIU without a noticeable drop off in either fine no tweets fine no reporting on injuries bring it on and one of the big ways I did that was through practices I hit as many as I could before the season started and during the season was I always made sure I got out to one practice a week and sure if a player was hurt I couldn't write about it but I could mention a backup poised for a big week going to that practice made me less dependent on the coach who famously does not like talking injuries or any aspect that puts his team at disadvantage which he feels is pretty much everything from an injury to a mid-season offensive coordinator switch let me ask better questions and while I missed things I definitely gave it definitely gave me the chance to do the job to the best of my ability but now that's gone at press conferences were basically dependent on everything the coach says no way to confirm things for ourselves we're stenographers so we'll see how it plays out maybe this is for Camp only a further way to obate the QB battle I know this was a very long way of saying we're not going to have near as much NIU coverage for the next weeks uh as we normally would what would be 5 to seven stories will be about 2 to three thank you for bearing with me during this threat just felt important to let you know why our coverage will be dramatically less for the next couple of weeks so um you know I understand I have a it's been a long time but I have a little bit of a coaching background and and you know coaches are very protective some might say paranoid that information is going to get out that's going to help an opponent um but on the other hand you know I I think that uh what we can learn certainly you know we're a college Fantasy Football uh company at campus sc.com the work that I've done since 2018 on cfp Winning Edge we try to uh you know find as much information as possible to be able to properly project players and teams and how they will perform on the field and you know it's tough when uh that access is is not available so uh just do understand again you know he said it was a long thread obviously it was long for me to to read it all but um this show and and others that you'll watch and the the teams that you're trying to find information about through beat reporters and and through other outlets uh for the most part everybody wants to bring you as much information as possible and sometimes we we just can't so as we dig into uh you know or or or open uh fall Camp across the country as more information is coming out um we'll pass along the information we can and as much of it as we can um we also tried to you know add a little analysis when possible um but sometimes we just don't know because because you know maybe we're we're not able uh to to learn so uh with that in mind a another team that doesn't allow much media access really any I believe at practices during fall Camp uh the Utah Utes number 25 in our pre-season uh cfp Winning Edge team strength power rankings and you Utah we're a little bit lower than most uh not everyone there is a bit of a wide range as far as a lot of the media Outlets a lot of the computer based analytics projection systems uh you know Stuart Mandel of the athletic also Phil Steel in his top 40 uh prediction rankings have Utah number eight in uh the the preseason Mark Schall of ESPN has the Utes n uh in the EA Sports college football 25 video game uh Utah is number 10 in the preseason power rankings Phil Steels power pole or the you know computer system who will be uh favored against who on a neutral field that has Utah number 11 Athlon Sports and the preseason magazine has the Utes 14th Andy Staples of on three and the sporting news both had Utah 15th in the most recent rankings uh ESPN and Bill Connelly's SP Plus numbers uh have Utah number 18 nationally as does Kelly Ford and the K Ford ratings the football power index at ESPN has Utah 27th and beta rank on the low end for Utah at number 28 so bit of a wide range there number eight according to uh more of the the opinion base you know media folks analyzing how they're expecting uh the the season to play out and certainly Utah as we said is the betting favorite in the Big 12 so that in mind they would be a top 12 team uh if they were to win the Big 12 make it to the college football playoff um you know maybe the the ranking wouldn't be 12 but they'd be a top 12 uh seed top 11 uh most likely with the group of five team getting in as well uh as far as the odds makers go again according to DraftKings which is you know just habit who who I happen to check uh 18th in the National Title odds uh to win the college football playoff at 60 to1 for Utah uh they're tied for 16th to make the college football playoff which was a little bit of a surprise I thought that they'd be a little higher on the list there but uh plus 220 for Utah to make the college football playoff uh and our big 12 favorites plus 320 uh so a little less than three and a half to one there but as I mentioned before worse odds than than anyone else who is a uh conference preseason favorite according to DraftKings and uh one last note here you know as as we uh look ahead and and a lot of what we will discuss in this preview is why you know there's so much more optimism for Utah now is the quarterback position the offense uh you know on paper should be much much better than it was last season in large part due to quarterback cam Rising returning from injury after missing all of last season tight end Brank keithy the same situation you know was an allconference performer earlier in his career considered you know one of the better players at his position and unavailable last season so the numbers took a dip but both of those guys coming back seemingly fully healthy 100% on the field this year um understandably a lot of the projection systems ours included that rely at least in part on past performance to project you know how how this year is expected to shape up uh because this team was was different last season and the way it played was severely impacted by not having two of its best players arguably it's two best players on offense um that can throw off the numbers a little bit we think we do a pretty good job of of compensating for that uh but obviously uh you know a lot of the the media National Outlet folks and and a lot of these rankings the the the you know the athletic the sporting news the Athlon and and ESPN schall's uh Power Rankings expect Utah to be uh even more improved than than we do but uh We've mentioned David hail and and his great piece from earlier this summer where he put all 134 quarterback situations at the FBS level into tiers he's got Utah and cam rising in tier 2 alongside Arizona Colorado Kansas and Miami and want to read his observation here um you know puts it really really well says quoting here it's pretty easy to quantify just how much Rising means to Utah statistically over the past three years with Rising a quarterback the UTS averaged 6.6 yards per play 7.6 yards per dropback posted an 83.9 raw quarterback rating and scored 39.1 points per game in his starts with anyone else at quarterback 5.3 yards per play 5.7 yards per dropback 51.3 qbr and then 24.2 points per game how many other QBs in the country are worth 15 points per game to their team so with that in mind let's take a look at our CFB Winning Edge team profiles uh and uh take a look a little deeper into how last season played out again if this is your first time with us our team profiles have 134 uh tabs with each team have some national rankings uh tabs as well but uh we open up with uh kind of a a a stat and and information uh area in the top left corner our projected depth charts and our offensive uh player uh information on the leftand side we've got defense and some history on the right hand side transfers injuries all that good stuff Walk-Ons and and other uh depth players but in the middle we've got our uh recruiting and talent numbers how everything breaks out by position how things get adjusted based on experience and production we call that our position strength ratings um our our individual player ratings we do the same thing take the uh recruiting rating coming out of high school adjust based on uh just number of years as far as experience goes but then you know more importantly the uh production players are able to add through onfield uh performance and and reaching statistical benchmarks and then the schedule how do our projections shape up uh we've got three different projection models and then at the bottom we've got uh last season how how things shook out for Utah got off to a great start even without Rising available the win over Florida in impressive fashion 94% postgame win expectancy we're able to to get by Baylor snuck by 20 to 13 just 63% on that postgame win expectancy but uh far more dominant against both Weber State and UCLA even though that UCLA game quite close in the final margin Oregon State kind of the opposite statistically speaking if you were to rerun that uh game 100 times thousand times however many according to college football data.com which is where we get these postgame win expectancy numbers Oregon state would have won that game 100% of the time even though it was just 21 to7 but Utah uh comes out on the wrong end there gets back with back-to-back wins after an off week against Cal and USC that USC win very impressive especially at the time USC was uh very much expected to be in the mix for um you know a playoff spot one of those top four uh spots but uh Oregon you know things things certainly went South Oregon uh dominated that day started uh period where Utah lost three of four games with a 55-3 win over Arizona State the only uh positive that Washington loss was uh very very close and statistically speaking Utah would have won that game two out of three times according to college football dat.com split the last two get a win over Colorado lose to Northwest W somewhat surprisingly in the bowl game uh and you know because Utah lost that bowl game with a a two-thirds or so expected uh win percentage statistically the Washington State as well those two losses you would have expected uh if you were to add those up Utah to win what 1.3 games uh out of those two so um little bit unlucky you could say little bit unfortunate you know some coaching uh sometimes goes into uh those sorts of things there's no clear and obvious uh reason why a team might have a better or worse second order win number there but um at least according to college football data.com when we add up all these postgame win expectancies and look at those second order wins this Utah team was a little bit closer to a nine- win te uh Team uh than the 8 and five it finished last year statistically and we touched a little bit on uh Utah struggled on the offensive side of the ball the defense was not Elite but it was you know a top 30 unit in our team performance ratings uh where we take dozens of advanced stats and and you know try to uh focus on how a team will play against FBS opponents only in the regular season only um and then also filter for garbage time when we can we make a similar rating use the same scales we we do our individual player ratings our team ratings all that put it as a a team performance rating Utah was 30th in defensive team performance last season 29th against the pass 35th against the run but because the offense was much much worse statistically speaking 95th in overall offensive team performance 91st passing 86th rushing uh Utah finished 46th in overall team performance so played more like a top 50 team than you know a top 25 team that we've gotten used to Utah and and in a lot of ways you know much better if you look at the three-year weighted team performance rating which does include last season as the biggest Factor Utah ranks 22nd over that three-year window over a five-year window Utah has been a top 15 team so um if you were to throw out last season uh Utah would be much more in line for you know top 15 top 10 over the last three to five years so uh last season without Cam Rising available without rank keithy with that offense really struggling we saw a much much different team you can see uh you know stat by stat in some of our favorites scoring offense Utah ranked 84th yards per play 96 points per Drive according to Brian foro of BCF toys.com uh 78th 102nd in yards per pass attempt uh 86th in success rate and 105th in the EPA per play equivalent we use from cbal dat.com they call PPA uh the defense much much better in every category but still you know we're used to seeing Utah uh I mean team performance- wise defensively they they've been a top 10 defense in the past it's it's been a little while 2018 2019 uh they were they were sixth and seventh uh respectively we've seen a little bit inching in the wrong direction but got used to uh just being able to pencil Utah in as a top 25 defense um and last season you know a little bit of room for improvement on that but 24th in scoring defense 50th in yards per play allow 29th in points per Drive 65th in yards per pass attempt so again uh that was a real area of uh Improvement could be an area of improvement creating more big plays through the air stopping uh big plays through the air but success rate top 20 nationally at number 19 overall and then 51st in the EPA per play equivalent defensively if you put it out on margin or on net Utah was 56th in scoring margin outscoring its opponents by three points per game FBS opponents only regular season only once again 75th in net yards per play 58 net points per Drive 86th in net yards per pass attempt 38th in net success rate and 86th in EPA margin or PPA margin so uh there were some some bright spots especially on the defensive side of the ball but uh for the most part uh you know this this Utah team we expect to take a step in the right direction uh this season on the field so uh switching over now to our returning production database who's coming back from last season who's not uh if we were just to look at the raw numbers only you know across the country uh who on your 2024 roster is coming back from 2023 uh Utah would rank 69th overall in returning production 104th on the offensive side of the ball 26th defensively if you adjust that for transfers and in Utah's case added uh injuries we did put in cam risings 20122 numbers we also put in Brant Keith's 2022 numbers that gives Utah a little bit of a boost as well uh plus the transfer of Sam hu former five-star Washington s who spent last season at calply the FCS level that helps offset a little bit of the passing production lost when Bryson Barnes transferred to Utah State when Nate Johnson transferred to Vandy so you see that the numbers work out a little bit better uh than you otherwise would have expected when you know 96 plus percent of last season's pass attempts were gone 96 uh% of the completions and yards and all 100 touchdown all 100% uh of last season's 15 touchdown passes 11 picks as well uh moving on so if Cam Rising is able to play at the level he did in 2022 those numbers should take a significant step forward he had over 3,000 yards passing nearly eight yards per pass attempt so that would be a big big Improvement 26 touchdown passes you know significant step forward there also took care of the football a little bit better so Rising a big big addition in the running game the Utes lost jindon Jackson a personal favorite of mine to uh transfer he is in Arkansas now bring in a very productive running back in Anthony Woods from the FCS level he had over 1100 yards and 16 touchdowns at Idaho last season Jaylen Glover is the leading returner uh returning rusher from last season's team 562 yards he had two touchdowns but Michael Bernard who is uh lied to just two games last season expected by most to get that first Carry of the season but could be you know at least a a uh two running back rotation maybe three with Woods Glover and Bernard all there in the mix uh cam rising of course can run it a little bit and uh had nearly 500 yards and six touchdowns on the ground two years ago um but to stay healthy uh don't be surprised if if Utah tries to uh keep him in the pocket a little bit more and let those running backs do the work so uh there's again a lot to replace but because of woods coming in because of rising coming back uh the numbers offset a little bit comp compared to where they could have the receiving core got an influx of production with Damen Alford a late transfer from Syracuse he was a big play performer for the orange last season 182 yards per catch uh and was targeted deep downfield 14.6 that average depth the target U be very interested to see how he fits in Dorian singer was a uh you know went through spring practice he was a BigTime performer in the spring game he and cam Rising looked like they have built a rapport quite quickly money Parks coming back as the top uh receiver returning in terms of yardage and catches uh all those three seem like they will will have an opportunity to replace the production lost by Devon B moving on to the NFL Mikey Matthews transferred out uh but getting uh Brank keithy back and he was he was limited in 2022 he's got more uh potential than than just 19 catches 206 yards and three touchdowns so um you know the the addition of of those players is is going to be key helps offset some of the losses but even keithy um you know couldn't couldn't fully uh add the the production that he is capable of there based on on past performance but the tight end position Beyond keithy should be quite deep with the addition of Carson Ryan the return of Landon King as well uh so the the wide receiver core and a name that again kind of like Mah Bernard who is expected to be a starter and you know didn't put up very much uh didn't have an opportunity to play very much last season the same goes for michah Pitman who just played in two games uh had three catches for 20 yards a lot of positive reports about him coming out of spring and and we have him currently projected as a starter the offensive line two fulltime starters are moving on graduated out of Eligibility uh one half time part-time starter uh at Center is uh on the move as a transfer but uh two full-time starters return two others that started multiple games for the youths last season are back so every you know position group every uh statistical category on the offensive side of the ball has um questions you know even even with Rising back we need to see him on the field fully healthy we're hearing great reports but um still a little bit of an unknown there especially you know is he going to be the same type player running the football and maybe he shouldn't be you you could say uh new faces at receiver relying on a couple of guys who are injured at running back and and receiver as well tight end of course a couple of new faces on the offensive line so this Utah team understandably we're optimistic uh but still you know some some questions at at each level defensively a lot more is coming back certainly three of the biggest losses uh guys left early for the NFL Cole bishop and can vaki at safety vaky of course you saw his name uh listed there on the offensive side of the ball as well he added a real spark at running back uh but defensive end Jonah Ellis him moving on also jatavis browon has been a starter in the secondary he transferred out but some transfers coming in including Paul Fitzgerald uh who had 34 pressures last season at Utah State um should be able to to help offset some of that production lost by Ellis he had nine tackles for loss seven sacks Ellis had 15 and half tackles for loss in 11 and a half sacks so uh big shoes to fill but um Utah a little more active in the transfer portal on the defensive side of the ball to help uh replace those guys so how does it all look for for this season going back to our team profile and the offensive uh depth chart as practice is opening if we are able to get uh some reports out of uh you know Kyle winingham in that Utah uh coaching staff will will make some updates but as of right now as we understand it based on reporting from the beat reporters and and other projections we've seen this is what we've got on the offensive side of the ball uh Bernard right now penciled in at at running back um wouldn't be shocked if if uh somebody else emerges as the go-to running back eventually but as it stands right now sounds like Bernard is is uh the the top player at that position we put in money Parks as a returning starter Dorian singer as the transfer coming in and Micah Pitman based on him back in fully healthy as our starting white outs uh Damen Alford certainly could uh emerge there manir mlan who has played wide receiver and tight end in the past as well we listed a couple of tight ends on the two deep because Utah will certainly use uh multiple players at that position on the field at the same time and the offensive line uh looks good as far as experience goes on the right hand side uh but three new starters uh even though there is some you know starting experience back uh Elsewhere on the offensive line as well defensively there is uh quite a bit of experience just in terms of you know are you a starter coming back uh in the front seven most notably three starters up front both linebackers uh Karine Reed being an allconference performer at that position Junior tuna of course in the interior as well uh and even though he wasn't a starter Connor otou played pretty much uh starter type snaps last season uh and has been a starter nine times in his career uh two guys coming back as uh full-time starters in the secondary corner zamaya vaugh and and safety D Johnson couple of likely starter uh first year starters as transfers coming in there as well Keenan Johnson the corner acki Gilman at safety uh and hopefully some uh you know players coming back from injury Logan feno who was off to a phenomenal start last season before going down uh could be should be back leani duni a linebacker as well so Utah defensively as usual we're expecting uh that unit to to play very very well top 30 like it was last season seems like a lock top 25 top 20 maybe even a little bit better certainly uh within the realm of possibility how does it stack up as far as pure talent goes and and usually when I mention you know Raw Talent pure talent ENT that's just my way of saying you know average uh recruiting rating coming out of high school and Utah is certainly one of the programs that has proven that recruiting ratings as good as they are and as helpful as they are and and they are the first ingredient in our individual player ratings they're they're not perfect there are plenty of of players out there who are under the radar relative unknowns that a uh great coaching staff is uh able to find and develop like you like K Whittingham and his C his staff uh but as far as Raw Talent goes Utah offensively 32nd in average 247 rating on the offensive side of the ball 28 defensively 32nd overall the areas where they're a little more talented uh than most top 25 at the quarterback position top 20 on the offensive line 18th at linebacker when we adjust those recruiting uh ratings for onfield uh performance as well as experience uh at the college level we see Utah take a jump the quarterback position uh with Cam Rising slotted in uh he's number 11 in our starter ratings among individual quarterbacks uh number eight for Utah overall at the quarterback position again Huard being a former five-star is still a relatively highly rated player um there's more competition for that role as well um so overall that that quarterback uh Group which was a major major concern last year should be a a real strength of this team this season uh with keithy leading the way the number one tight end room in the country and the offensive line uh somewhat oddly uh goes a little bit in the opposite direction uh 45th in our position strength ratings again just on paper how well are these players uh rated as far as their current uh situation because it is a little bit on the inexperienced side uh that number went down a bit but I think that Utah offensive line honestly little bit underrated in our numbers uh here in the front seven it's a top 15 unit defensively number one in the Big 12 among front seven uh with the defensive line ranked 23rd nationally third in the conference linebacker group 10th nationally third in the Big 12 the secondary little bit of a question mark 56th overall 10th in the conference uh but again with the influx of Talent with a couple of starters returning with Utah's track record of playing very very well um don't be surprised if uh you know we're we're underrating those players a little bit but also sometimes uh even though a team like Utah consistently outperforms its Talent level and this Utah team is pretty talented and as far as our overall roster strength top 20 nationally top 20 both on the offensive side of the ball and defensively 17th and 20th respectively this uh you know Utah team is is solid but maybe our numbers you know if you if you are like me and trying to look for a reason maybe to believe that maybe we're on to something maybe maybe Utah isn't the best team in the Big 12 what are what are some reasons uh you know what are some areas of weakness that could potentially uh you know play out for for this team to come up short of its status as the favorite maybe it's the offensive line maybe it's the secondary um the running back room you know doesn't great uh super well but um as we said pretty deep I think they're they're going to be fine there honestly I think Utah is going to be fine uh personally but the numbers like I said try to try to let them speak for themselves uh see a few imperfections and because of that even though Utah is uh you know has a has a favorable schedule ranks 51st excuse me 51st in our strength of schedule rankings uh cfp Winning Edge comparing to the win total the regular season win total from DraftKings which is nine and a half and the odds uh you know are at you know minus 145 I think this morning to go over um so you can get some you know plus money on the under in our projections do see this Utah team coming significantly under and and you know my level of confidence in that isn't particularly High I do understand why folks have Utah as the favorite in the Big 12 but um as you know good as as uh this team can be especially if things work out at the quarterback position and then that offense takes a big step forward we do have favored in 10 regular season games there are plenty of losable games on the schedule as well going to Stillwater uh you know second straight road game even though it's not going to be a long trip the week before at uh Utah State um that's a that's a little bit of a a tricky spot at still water it's a tough place to play Oklahoma State getting a little buzz as a big 12 title Contender understandably so they were underrated I think for a good part of the uh preseason that's a coin flip Utah absolutely could win that game especially if they're able to limit Ole Gordon and in that Oklahoma State offense but then getting uh you know Arizona immediately after um Oklahoma State you're you're playing maybe the best running back in the country certainly on the short list an All-American candidate in Oly Gordon and then you're playing maybe the best wide receiver in the country in Tech McMillan the very next week and his great connection with Noah faita that's a tough first two uh Big 12 matchups because that that Baylor week two game skipped over that um isn't a big 12 uh conference game that was on the schedule prior if I understand correct believe believe I do um but 10 Big 12 teams on the schedule only nine of those count as conference games Oklahoma State and Arizona that's a pretty to you know that's a pretty tough draw in the first two weeks of conference play do get a week off before things um at least in theory uh get a little bit easier but at Arizona State home against TCU at Houston there's there's uh you know th none of those are automatic uh our numbers I would say might be a little low as far as the the projected win percentage I I personally would probably say that Utah's maybe a 90% uh chance of winning at Arizona State probably an 85 % chance of winning at at Houston um but still nevertheless it's it's uh there we've seen Utah it doesn't happen very often but we have seen Utah sometimes drop a game um that it probably shouldn't and going on the road two out of three uh weeks if Arizona state if Houston uh take a big step forward with relatively new coaching staffs brand new for Houston uh you know those those matchups could be a little tougher Maybe than than expected getting BYU at home in The Holy War uh is uh you know we we see Utah having a big Edge in that game uh Colorado on the road a little bit tricky there but but Utah is had a a strong track record against the Buffs in the past very familiar program uh Iowa State that's another one uh very very experienced team um seems like our numbers maybe are a little little low on the Cyclones but think that especially at the end of the year we saw how uh they they really finished strong last season you know that running game took a big step forward at the end of the year last year um perhaps you know that the the youths are going to be uh challenged there and then this one might surprise some folks but uh UCF as we mentioned at the top of the show is our highest rated team in the Big 12 it's not my opinion just sort of how the the uh ratings worked out maybe we're on to something maybe we've got UCF overrated but having to go to Orlando cross country at the bounce house um that's going to be a tricky finale that's going to be a a difficult spot for Utah at the end of the regular season long travel day uh short week that gamees on a a Friday um most that you know folks that you're going to see out there probably won't have UCF favored in that game but that that is uh that's going to be tough I I think that it's very likely that the uh you know a spot in the Big 12 championship game might be on the line for Utah in that that finale at you know at Orlando and uh it'll be tough it'll be tough for Utah we do have two other projection models in the Talon Edge model somewhat surprisingly we think of Utah as being a team that you know consistently outperforms its level of talent but it looks pretty good on paper especially with Rising back we actually have Utah with the talent Edge in all 12 regular season gam so they will not be out banned uh as far as roster strength goes there is a slight home field advantage adjustment there but uh Utah looking good on paper the the projection model where Utah usually really performs quite well we call it prism or projected scoring margin it's our stats only model so the Talon Edge looks at only the roster information only the talent the prism model looks only at Stats that's usually where Utah is is at its best uh but we see the Utes as a slight Underdog against both Oklahoma State and Iowa State not UCF but Iowa State there so um getting over that nine and a half wins absolutely we've got Utah favored in 10 if they take care of business no problem we've got Utah having the more talented team uh in 12 games so could could the UT run the table absolutely could things you know not work out quite as well perhaps I mean there are tough games on the schedule the Big 12 is very very competitive I think wide open um there are five six teams I could see winning this conference Utah is absolutely one of them understand why most folks seem to think that they are the team to beat uh but there's uh there's there's some tricky spots there are some some uh difficult matchups some trouble spots some travel that maybe isn't exactly how you would draw it up uh but this Utah team is is going to be I think very good very competitive very solid and certainly in the mix uh in the Big 12 so uh and with that you know they take care of business win the conference they'll be in the college football playoff and uh we'll see you know how how good this team could be in that scenario but uh that will do it for us today thank you so much for joining us uh We've now done a full preview of all of our top 25 teams in Our cfp Winning Edge team strength power ratings we will as as you saw as we went into the you know first 20 minutes or so with some news and some other uh discussion probably going to be uh a little shorter on the previews we will try to uh you know unless we just get bombarded with a bunch of news um we will continue our team previews uh on good morning college football as we record Monday Wednesday and Friday uh so with that in mind we will be back on Friday by that time I think every uh FBS team will have opened fall Camp maybe there'll be a couple of stragglers there uh later but I believe that that every team will be within that 30 day window and and hitting the practice field at the very least so we will look for more information injuries depth chart news uh all that good stuff any other updates we will try to pass along uh so do come back on Friday to check that out uh thank you so much for giving this video a like thank you for subscribing to the campus deanton YouTube channel and thank you for considering a membership at campus canton.com you can join for as little as299 per month or take a look at our C2C Winning Edge in all 22 tiers and get access to these team profiles our returning production database that we showed our stat projections as well all of those again we try to remove the opinion let the experts who have you know the great analysis dig in and see uh you know add a little more context we try to deal with you know just the the specific information and and what we see and and let the numbers speak for themselves not saying one way is better than the other certainly not saying we're better um but you know just just a little bit of a different look at it um that uh you know is is valuable I think but we'll be back on Friday uh again I'm Nicholas Ian Allen of cfp Winning Edge and campus.com uh we will uh be back for another preview and some fall Camp news and notes uh later this week till then take care