BYU depth makes most of first live scrimmage of training camp

PROVO — Two days after a groundbreaking name, image and likeness agreement that will see all of BYU's football walk-ons placed on the equivalent of a scholarship thanks to local protein bar company Built Bar, the Cougars were back at work.

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake wasn't ready to name who "won the day," nor was offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick able to declare who the starting quarterback would be after the Cougars put the finishing touches on the first full week off training camp with Saturday's scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

"I thought it was some really good work for the quarterbacks," Sitake said. "I thought it was good to see how physical we are, how we attack and how we block.

"Overall, I thought we got everything we needed."

The most the two coaches learned, either way, was about depth. It was less about the emergence of Jaren Hall or Baylor Romney at quarterback, and more about the depth of players like Hinckley Ropati, Miles Davis, Mason Fakahua and running back.

Perhaps the clearest example of that was the emergence of Davis, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound freshman running back from Las Vegas who played in four games during the COVID-19 truncated 2020 season and finished with 96 yards and two touchdowns.

"That guy is a good player and he's going to play for us," Roderick told local media after the closed-door scrimmage. "That one needs to be said; he stands out every time he plays. He just plays at a different speed than everybody else."

While no clear-cut quarterback emerged from Saturday's scrimmage, the depth chart is coming into focus for Roderick, the first-year BYU coordinator sliding into the role vacated by Jeff Grimes upon the latter's departure for the same position at Baylor.

There's still time to determine that, and coaches will need to re-watch film to make any formal decisions, Roderick said. But being in position on the two-deep means more than simply starters, backups and basic X's and O's, the former Utah offensive coordinator was quick to add.

Davis came to BYU as a hybrid wide receiver/running back, and coaches openly experimented with his position through last year. Fakahua was a standout quarterback at Cedar High, where he threw for nearly 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Positions change and morph into an offense, and sometimes that means playing different players in a seemingly out-of-position spot depending on the scheme. It's also a good reminder for positions of immense depth, like the much-discussed wide receiver room that includes returning standouts Neil Pau'u and Gunner Romney alongside Pac-12 transfers Puka Nacua and Samson Nacua.

"Sometimes the skill players have to understand, you aren't just competing against the other guys in your position group," Roderick said. "We can play in a lot of different personnel groups, and that's part of this offense. We can put different groupings on the field, and make teams have to defend us differently.

"In order to do that, we need a lot of guys that we can trust. If I'm the third or fourth tight end, I'm also trying to prove that I'm more trustworthy than the fourth or fifth receiver or the third running back."

While Davis' role was smooth as jazz, he was the only one who earned a dramatic solo from his coaches.

Roderick also singled out the Cougars' top three tight ends — including freshman All-American Isaac Rex, recently returned missionary Dallin Holker, and former first-team all-flight H-back Masen Wake — on the offense, while assistant head coach and safeties coach Ed Lamb pointed to depth on the defensive line, including Atunaisa Mate, Caden Haws and former Orem High standout Joshua Singh up front.

"He's a freshman walk-on, and we weren't counting on a freshman walk-on to play his way right into the rotation," Lamb admitted candidly of Singh. "But he is."

Another former Orem standout, 6-foot defensive back Ethan Slade, also caught Lamb's attention with two takeaways amid a defense that stopped the first-team offense all day — though with the extra benefit of touch-tackles on running backs Tyler Allgeier and Lopini Katoa and an off-limits attitude toward the quarterbacks.

"Defensive players will come away glad they kept the offense off the scoreboard," Lamb said. "But a major caveat is that our running backs are really good at breaking tackles, and we did not go all the way live in that regard."

As for the quarterbacks, the race remains between Hall, Romney and Jacob Conover, though Roderick did add that the overall picture is "becoming more clear," while adding how much of a "boring answer" that sounds like.

"Jaren and Baylor look like veteran QBs; they run our offense efficient. And Conover has some moments that almost looks like Zach (Wilson, the current No. 2 overall pick by the New York Jets) when he was young," Roderick said. "Some of the plays he makes are great, and some of the mistakes are just young mistakes. The upside is really high, and he's an intriguing dude."

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