RM Roster Rundown

Last Friday, I listed the whereabouts of the seven players from BYU's most recent recruiting class who will not be in camp this season; all but one of the players is serving or will soon be serving LDS Church missions.

Last night on Twitter, I was asked to do a rundown of this year's return missionaries and assess who might make the biggest impact in 2010.

So, here we go.

For the purposes of this discussion, I am listing only scholarship return missionaries who signed letters of intent for BYU before their missions.

By my analysis, there are 10 players who meet that definition and are projected to be in the 105-man camp roster:

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Austin Holt, TE (class of 2008, left on mission)

Austen Jorgensen, LB (class of 2007, played as true freshman)

Walter Kahaiali'i, OL (class of 2006, redshirt in 2006, played as RS Freshman in 2007)

James Lark, QB (class of 2006, redshirt in 2006, left on mission after 2007 season)

Aveni Leung-Wai, LB (class of 2007 as JC transfer, attended UVU in 2009, then enrolled at BYU for Winter 2010 and played spring ball; will be a Junior in 2010)

Devin Mahina, TE (class of 2007, did not play in 2007; played 2010 spring ball)

Eathyn Manumaleuna, DL (class of 2007, played as true freshman)

Marcus Mathews, TE (class of 2007, did not play in 2007; played 2010 spring ball)

Jason Munns, QB (class of 2007, redshirt in 2007)

Jordan Smith, WR (class of 2007, redshirt in 2007)

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In addition, there are three other return missionaries in the mix for 2010, while one other RM will not play this season:

Tyler Beck, LB (class of 2007, played in 2007; tore ACL in February; may return either in camp or after school starts, depending on rehab)

Manaaki Vaitai, OL (class of 2007, redshirted in 2007; returns from mission during camp; will join team after school starts)

Michael Yeck, OL (class of 2008, left on mission; returns from mission during camp; will join team after school starts)

Famika Anae, OL (class of 2007, did not play in 2007; played 2010 spring ball but suffered season-ending ACL injury)

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Holt and Yeck were two of the four players in the recruiting class of 2008 to leave immediately on missions before enrolling at BYU; the other players were linebacker Kevan Bills and receiver Jake Murphy.

Bills will return from his mission at mid-season, and while Murphy is to arrive home later this month, it sounds like he will go to Utah instead of enrolling at BYU.

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Of the ten RMs listed above, those with the best shot at contributing in 2010 would have to be Holt, Jorgensen, Mahina and Manumaleuna.

Holt was a U.S. Army All-American and one of the top tight end recruits in the country in 2008. A 1st Team all-state selection at Bingham, the 6'6" Holt returned from his mission after 2010 spring ball, but has already impressed observers at workouts. One of seven tight ends on the roster, Holt is good enough to push for the starting job coming out of camp. This much we know: whoever gets the #1 job has the inside track to all-conference TE honors.

Bronco Mendenhall said that players suiting up alongside Jorgensen in offseason workouts called him "the most skilled" middle linebacker. How that will translate to camp remains to be seen, but with Shane Hunter, Zac Stout, Collin Keoshian, and possibly Uona Kaveinga also at MLB, the position is potentially loaded.

Mahina was back from his mission in time for spring ball, and played quite well. Recruited by five Pac-10 schools coming out of high school, Mahina is another 6'6" target for Robert Anae to utilize.

Manumaleuna became part of Cougar lore by blocking UCLA's would-be game winning field goal at the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl. More impressive, however, was the fact he started every game at nose tackle as a true freshman. In 2010, look for Manumaleuna to move outside, with Romney Fuga, Jordan Richardson and newcomer Travis Tuiloma battling to start at NT.

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Six years removed from high school, Leung-Wai still hasn't played a down for BYU, but I expected him to push for playing time at inside linebacker this season. He played during spring ball, but reports out of offseason workouts are that his performance has slipped; I will be interested to see how he looks in camp.

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BYU's coaching staff will feature some familiar faces occupying the Graduate Assistant and Intern roles this season.

Former BYU defensive lineman Shaun Nua is joined by ex-Cougar linebacker Kelly Poppinga as the two GA coaches, while BYU alum Kelly Bills is one of this year's two interns, joining newcomer Jason Walker.

Last year, Poppinga and Nua were interns, with Poppinga now replacing new OLB coach Nick Howell as the defensive GA; Nua replaces the departed Justin Anderson as GA on offense (Anderson is now the WRs coach at Nicholls State).

Bills transferred to BYU from Southern Utah, redshirting in 2006 and lettering as a fullback/linebacker in 2007. Bills will intern with the offense; Walker with the defense.

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"Cougar Tracks" passed another milestone last month: we surpassed the 4,000,000 page view mark early in July.

Since its debut posting on August 6th, 2007, through Saturday, July 31st, 2010, "Cougar Tracks" has received 4,143,394 hits.

Thanks for making this blog a part of your day!

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A reminder: you can now follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/gregwrubell, and thanks to all of you who have signed up to follow my updates there.

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