PROVO — Here are three things to watch as BYU opens the 2016 season beginning with fall camp.

Who steps up at wide receiver?

The biggest question in BYU’s passing game is who will be the starting quarterback: fifth-year senior Taysom Hill, one of the most athletic players in recent BYU history, or sophomore Tanner Mangum, who was named freshman QB of the year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.

But just as important to any quarterback is who is catching those passes. The Cougars lose three of the top five receivers from a year again, including top two pass catchers Mitch Matthews and Devon Blackmon. Matthews had 54 catches for 737 yards and 11 touchdowns, but he is now with the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL. Blackmon piled up 669 yards on 46 catches and left BYU is arguably the best pass catcher to never grab a TD.

A lot will be expected, then, of seniors Nick Kurtz and Mitchell Juergens, who combined for 76 catches in 2015. Kurtz will be the senior statesmen of the group, totaling 578 yards and three touchdowns on 39 receptions as a junior.

But look out also for rising underclassman Moroni Laulu-Pututau. Though he had just 112 yards and a touchdown as a returned missionary freshman in 2015, the former Mountain Crest High standout was among the top emerging threats from BYU since last year’s fall camp.

The Cougars could also get immediate help from Snow College wide out Jonah Trinnaman. A four-star recruit by Rivals and ESPN, Trinnaman was an NJCAA first-team All-American with the Badgers after he caught 47 passes for 803 yards and eight touchdowns. The 6-foot, 190-pound graduate of American Fork High should see plenty of balls thrown his way in 2016.

Which newcomers are the real deal?

Beyond Trinnaman, BYU also picked up a few four-star recruits in its latest signing class. Troy Warner tops the list, and coaches haven’t been shy about putting him on both sides of the ball through spring practices.

Warner started spring camp at wide receiver, but quickly moved over to cornerback to play closer to his older brother Fred, a standout linebacker for the Cougars. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of San Marcos, California, was the 18th-ranked safety in the nation by Scout and No. 23 cornerback by Rivals while at Mission Hills High. He enrolled at BYU in January to join his brother and also be available for the spring, where he shined on both sides of the ball — and has coaches hinting that he could play both ways as early as this year.

Joining Trinnaman in making the leap this year from Snow to BYU is defensive tackle Handsome Tanielu. The 6-foot-2, 285-pound Hawaiian was the No. 3-rated defensive tackle in junior college in 2015, amassing 36 tackles with 22 solo stops and three sacks for the 10-1 Badgers.

A returned missionary from Charlotte, North Carolina, Tanielu is expected to fit into BYU’s defensive scheme alongside returning linemen Travis Tuiloma, Tomasi Laulile and Logan Taele. But he won’t be the only thing new about BYU’s defense in 2016.

How will BYU adjust to a new defense?

First-year defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki calls his scheme “multiple,” with elements of both a 3-4 and 4-3 base formations. Even that is a departure from previous head coach Bronco Mendenhall’s near-strict focus on the 3-4 defense.

Among Mendenhall’s biggest defensive advantages were linemen like Taele who could hold off multiple opposing offensive linemen and allow linebackers like Harvey Langi and Fred Warner to make plays behind him. Tuiaki’s new scheme may leave one fewer linebacker to make those players — or it could push the ends closer to the quarterback and better able to pressure opposing signal callers.

Whatever happens, there are plenty of unknowns about BYU’s defense that likely won’t be answered until the Cougars’ season opener Sept. 3 against Arizona.

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