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SALT LAKE CITY - I have a minor confession to make. Like the NFL draft geeks and the fantasy sports guys, I'm addicted to National Letter of Intent signing day.
When signing day was underway I was nose deep into Twitter and the Rivals' message boards to see who would sign where and how it affected the Utes and other Pac-12 teams. All the politicking and positioning the various programs take with these recruits is very fascinating to me. It's similar to general election time and election day - all the campaigning is over now it's time to see the actual votes.
For the Utes in this signing period, it seems they may have come up winners. Now as I have written about in my previous recruiting column, none of these guys are a guarantee to perform. Even the lowest ranked kids in this class could see playing time on Sunday's eventually with the past history of Utah recruits. From top to bottom however, this class looks promising. Dan Sorenson, of Utezone.com on the Rivals network, said on paper this is the best class Utah has ever signed. Rivals ranked this class just outside the top 25 at number 27, the highest Utah has ever been.
Utah was able to land some of the bigger fish out there with five 4-star kids (again according to Rivals). One of those kids I'm going to keep a close eye on is the running back Kelvin York. York was actually a USC commit, but he tore the meniscus in his knee and then the Trojans cooled on him. I believe USC gave Utah a big get with him. Regardless if the kid turns out to be an all-conference type of player, it gives the Utes depth behind John White. The fact of the matter is that the Utes can not just rely on White down in and down out and expect him to stay healthy through a Pac-12 schedule. York is a bigger back that could come in and punish the defense and give White the breather he deserves. And in today's football, to have just one back is not viable.
In big time football a team needs to dominate the line of scrimmage to be a serious contender. Now this past season Utah won the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the ball more often than not, and that shows with the top ranking defensive stats the Utes had. However, throughout the season (mostly in the early going), the offensive line was inconsistent. That was largely due to the early season injuries to some of the linemen and having players switching positions. For example, Miles Mason showed up days before the season started and was thrust into the starting lineup. In an ideal scenario that is not what you want. So Utah signed eight new offensive linemen. Sorenson told us on the U Fan Cast to watch out for one. He told us, "Hiva Lutui, after a redshirt year could potentially be a four year starter at guard or center for the U." Lutui is a three star rated, 284 pound kid out of Euless, Texas, and was a kid Pac-12 south rival USC wanted. He was even a UCLA commit for a period. Of those eight linemen signed, two of them are junior college kids that could come in and play right away, according to Sorenson, in Marc Pouvave and Carlos Lozano.
Brandon Fanaika, the four star offensive lineman out of Pleasant Grove, may have been the one that just got away. Sorenson told us, "He called up the Utah coaches before his signing day ceremony and committed to Utah…. But Fanaika's mom said she wouldn't sign any other letter of intent unless it had the Stanford letter head on it." Fanaika is a sign and send however, meaning he's going on his mission right away, so after that he could be in play again for the Utes. If he would enroll one year and then go, he would fall under the "Riley Nelson" rule - if you enroll in school for a year then go on a mission and decide to go to another school, you don't have to sit out a year (BYU quarterback Riley Nelson didn't have to sit out after transferring from Utah State to BYU right after his mission).
Sorenson also pointed out something very interesting to us, saying that the attitude of local kids is starting to change, specifically around the kids that would normally be legacy BYU recruits.
"When they are watching Utah they are seeing Pac-12, they are seeing USC coming in next year. They know they will be playing the top competition week in and out. The programs are going to start to separate themselves, not only on the field, but in the mind of the instate recruits," Sorenson said.
He did note that BYU will get the kids that always dreamed of playing with the Cougars, but that some of these kids fathers that played at BYU played with Kyle Whittingham, and they trust him.
Sorenson said that the departure of Norm Chow had little effect on the class. They lost one recruit to UCLA and a couple recruits wavered - wide receiver Delshawn McCellon and offensive lineman Marc Pouvave, but both stayed strong. Overall the coaching staff as a whole really stepped up to make sure the kids that both Chow and departed coach Dave Schramm's kids felt comfortable and closed the deal with them.
Utah did land two kids at the glamour position of quarterback. They landed a kid that attended the Elite-11 camp - Travis Wilson, a Rivals three star rated, California kid that is 6'6", 205 pounds and what many would consider the prototypical Pac-12 kind of quarterback. They also got the four star rated, Gatorade Player of the Year out of the Utah - Chase Hansen. Hansen is what Dan Sorenson considered a ‘BYU legacy' kid and the best player in the state this year, hands down. His dad played at BYU, but the Pac-12 membership had a big influence on him. Hansen could be mission-bound after his freshman season, it just depends on where he is on the depth chart. Utah addressed the quarterback depth situation nicely by bringing in these two kids, both of whom will be attending spring practices.
Utah's first class under Pac-12 membership addressed a lot of needs at line (both defensively and offensively), quarterback, running back, and corner. This class has a lot of kids that could come in and play right away and challenge for spots in the two deep.
The need for depth was apparent after the first season in the Pac-12. This class could go a long way to help that. And over the next couple years if Utah's classes continue to improve, then the Utes could find themselves playing in January once again.
For the entire Dan Sorenson interview visit TheUFanCast.com.
Shane Roberts is a producer/writer for the U Fan Cast on TheUFanCast.com, a Utah-centric podcast that gives a voice to the fan. Twitter: @Shane_U_FanCast
