Estimated read time: 8-9 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — This week the experts at KSL.com looked at the breakout stars that will be walking the field for the local schools. Check them out now so once they hit the big time you can say you knew who they were before hand.
The three articles picked five players that will breakout for their school this season. Some of the pickers were picked based on need, others are expected to be that good players and some just fit. The definition is up in the air, but essentially it is all about players stepping into big roles for the first time and making a name for themselves.
As always a quick recap is in order, and then we will sum up the week. After that we will show a look at what stars need to breakout the most to have successful seasons.
BYU's breakout stars via Jason Shephard:
Taysom Hill — Quarterback For me, Taysom's selection is a no-brainer. I realize the sample size for Hill is small, but I believe his skill-set projects well for the upcoming season. Quite frankly, BYU needs Taysom to be a break-out player this year; the entire offensive production begins with him.
Mitch Matthews — Wide receiver I mentioned that it was easy for me to come up with the five breakout players for BYU. Truth be told, Mitch Mathews was the first name I thought of. Not only can he win dunk contests, Mitch has positioned himself to play a huge role in the 2013 BYU offense.
Bronson Kafusi — Defensive end What can't this guy do? No, really, I'm asking; what can't he do? As a true freshman, Bronson surprised everyone last year by climbing up the depth-chart in fall camp; despite only being home from his mission for a week. He played in all 13 games for the Cougars, collecting 23 tackles, 4.5 sacks (tied for 2nd on the team with Ziggy Ansah), one fumble recovery, one quarterback hurry and one pass breakup - all as a backup. Craig Bills — Safety I expect Craig to be one of the leaders on a very good BYU defense. His play has gotten progressively better with each year, and I expect 2013 to be the season where Craig shines for the Cougars.
Alani Fua — Linebacker Fua will enter the 2013 season as a backup to Spencer Hadley, but don't be surprised to see him on the field at the same time as KVN and Spencer in certain defensive formations. Alani's play warrants more snaps and the coaches will find a way to get him on the field when they can.
Utah's breakout stars via Mike Grant and Robert Jackson
Jeremiah Poutasi — Left tackle Jeremiah (CJ) Poutasi is arguably the best player on the 2013 roster. CJ started 10 games as a true freshman, leading the team in knockdowns (21) on his way to being honorable mention All Pac-12.
Kelvin York — Running back Will the next Utah running back please stand up? Gone is school record holder John White IV and his 1,000 plus yards of offense. Next in line is senior Kelvin York, a 5-11 220 pound bruising downhill runner. In limited action last season, York was the team's second-leading rusher with 273 yards (4.6 average) and three touchdowns.
Jake Murphy — Tight end Murphy is one of the only Utes to be on a preseason awards watch list which means many outside of the state expect the tight end to break out too. Murphy has NFL size and talent and with the addition of Dennis Erickson, Murphy will be a focal point as the Utes offense. Murphy's 34 receptions in 2012 will most certainly increase as he will be targeted more by Travis Wilson.
Tenny Pelepoi — Defensive tackle The Utes have historically plugged in the next player on the defensive line and it has worked out. 2013 better have a similar outcome with Palepoi. For the first year in a long time, the Utes seem to lack some depth on that side of the line.
Travis Wilson — Quarterback Dennis Erickson will be a great mentor for Wilson who will give him confidence. Simplifying the system will be a saving grace for the entire offense and Wilson especially. Erickson will put Wilson in positions to succeed and give him chances to make some exciting plays. 2013 is primed and ready for Wilson to break out.
Aggies breakout stars via Jarom Moore through Matt Glade:
Joe Hill — Running back This is probably the easiest player to choose as a breakout star, but that is because he really should be a breakout star. Utah State has a short run as running back U in Utah. The Aggies put Robert Turbin, Michael Smith and Williams into the NFL and next in line is Hill.
Bruce "Jojo" Natson — Wide receiver Keeton is the best quarterback in the state, but still needs someone to throw to: Enter Jojo Natson. Natson is entering his sophomore year at Utah State and last year he didn't too much, catching 17 balls for 132 yards. Now that the Aggies will see four of their five top pass catchers leave someone needs to fill the void.
Nevin Lawson — Cornerback By the end of the year Lawson's name will be called a lot, for better or worse. The corner position has been good in the past for the Aggies and Lawson will need to step up to be the next big name. Not only did the Aggies lose Davis, but also Terrence Alston and Jumanne Robertson who gave the Aggies time last season. The only other corners who played any significant time was Tay Glover-Wright and Rashard Stewart. Brain Suite — Safety 73 tackles for the second safety is either really amazing or really sad depending on the defense. Since the defense was really good it is amazing. The now junior safety will be the returning leader in the secondary. Suite will have to command the team and still make the tackles if anyone can get past those linebackers.
Brandon Swindall — Wide receiver Have I mentioned that Keeton will need to throw the ball to someone yet? Because he does. While the aforementioned Natson is the new-age short slot receiver Swindall is the 6-4 prototype red-zone threat. He was a high-school All-American from Oklahoma three years ago. In high school he caught 46 passes for 1,200 yard and 17 touchdowns. The math on that is 26 yards per catch and a touchdown every 2.7 catches. He also had 17 interceptions on defense and returned 8 of those for touchdowns.
Which players need to break out:
Those are 15 players that should have breakout seasons, but what players actually need to in order for their team's success.
1. Taysom Hill — BYU Hill gets the nod over Utah's Travis Wilson because there is a little more expectation on BYU than on Utah. The Utes probably have one more rebuilding year while the Cougars have their stars now and need to capitalize. On the flipside Hill has a better backup just in case, but if Hill doesn't take a big step the Cougars aren't going to enjoy their very tough schedule.
1a. Travis Wilson — Utah Okay, it is really two, I hate making a list of five with six people. This isn't going to sound great, but the Pac-12 doesn't look like it is claimable this season. Even with a great season from Wilson, the Utes will probably be in the hunt for third to fifth in the conference, which would blow away expectations.
That is why Wilson doesn't have to be amazing this season, he can just learn and stay healthy for a push in the coming years. Still, if he doesn't take a step to a certain extent, this year could be really awful.
3. Joe Hill — Utah State The Aggies need something else on offense besides Chuckie Keeton. They essentially lost their top five or six skill position players. Keeton is good enough to do a lot of things on his own, but for a big run in the Mountain West Hill needs to step up.
#poll
The Aggies should be fighting for the conference title and Hill's emergence would help that for sure. If he doesn't step up there isn't much behind him, but the Aggies always have someone to carry the rock.
4. Brandon Swindall — Utah State Swindall needs to breakout to show his potential and to add something to the offense. While Jojo Natson will be counted on as well the deep threat of Swindall needs to show up. He is tall and can make people respect the pass in the red zone.
He might not have the biggest numbers for his breakout season, but he just has to show that he can make a play or two this year. If he ends with 40 catches and 8 touchdowns the season should look very good.
5. Kelvin York — Utah I really didn't plan on going all offense for these rankings, but here we are. The Utes are really missing offensive weapons and with a new quarterback the running game needs to be there. Sorry to spit out clichés like that, but there is simply no way that Wilson can throw the ball 40-plus times and be successful, or stay alive.
Jake Murphy would probably be next on the list because of Wilson and then Poutasi. The Aggies secondary will need to make a step because teams will probably look to throw instead of running into their great core of linebackers. Craig Bills is going to be important, but most of the other players are going to be a bit of luxury for BYU.
Next week we will take a look at the camps that will open up. What do these teams need to figure out as the camps come to a close?
