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Lets talk about the cougars next year.
The O-line- loses one starter in RJ Willing, they get back another starter in Jason Speredon and a projected starter in Jesse Taufi. If Braden Brown stays at tackle he will have a full spring and fall camp to learn the position and get in shape. Houston Reynolds will be back from injury and Manaki Vaitai returns from his mission to add depth. We should be better along the O-line.
Running backs- depends 100% on Harvey, however we do have AJ Moore, Drew Phillips, Algernon Brown and please lord Josh Quezada potentially coming in. JJ will obviously be the main guy but can he carry a full load? I am not so sure, Anthony Heimuli and Peni Maakafi if they do not go on missions will be relied on to play fullback but I think both leave on missions and we see Kariya become the main guy at fullback and Malosi Te'o and JJ carry the majority of the load as the running backs.
WR- We return everyone, I expect Chambers to get better, Jacobsen to get better being further removed from the mission. Ashworth is a solid possession guy, and Hafoka really came on late in the season. The future here is as bright as BYU has ever seen Ross Apo comes in and plays right away in my opinion. I think Bret Thompson goes on a mission, but Cody Hoffman has looked great on the scout team, Mitch Matthews is a weapon BYU has never had 6'6 target in the redzone. Jordan Smith received rave reviews before leaving on his mission (6'4), and Jake Murphy (6'5) is another huge weapon. BYU is going very big at the wideout position. We shoudl be able to find enough servicable guys in this group.
TE- 2 huge losses here. Devin Mahina, Austin Holt, Braden Brown (potentially), Richard Wilson (potentially), and Mike Muehlman should all have a chance to contribute and were all highly touted coming out of highschool. I definitely see us going with a single TE next year as opposed to the two TE sets we ran the past 2 seasons. Hopefully someone emerges but not a ton of experience and a real question mark right now.
QB- Similar to tight end, no experience here but tons of hype. Jake Heaps, Jason Munns and James Lark were all 4 star or higher recruits. Riley Nelson has had the most recent full year in the system. This is a toss up but I really see Heaps winning and either Lark or Munns (most likely Munns) transferring.
DL- We lose everyone along the D-line that was significant, Jorgensen one of the best BYU has ever had, Denney, and Tialavea along with Hola are all gone. Putnam, Fuga and possibly So'oto (if he receives is medical redshirt) are the lone players in the 2 deep that will be here next year, If Afutiti gets it together academically that will help soften the blow he would have been a huge contributor this year. I think those three are a solid foundation but one of the incoming highly touted freshman will be expected to contribute right away, Jordan Afo (2 star), Kona Schwenke (4 star), Alani Fua (4 star), Hauli Jamora (2 star), Tayo Fabuluje (3 star), Tuni Kanuch (4 star), Travis Tuiloma (2 star) several of these guys will really need to step up. As you can see BYU knew they were in trouble for this season and recruited very heavy along the D-line. I think the most ready to step in and play right away are Kanuch and Jamora.
LB- Weird that one of our weaknesses last year is actually one of our strengths next year. Jordan Pendelton will be first team All-MWC the next two years and I will even say he wins MWC DPOY by the time its all said and done. He has all of the ability and now just needs to learn the position. Kelly Poppinga told me he was going to be better than Kehl. Brandon Ogletree is another young stud that got valuable experience this year and made his mark on this team, he will fill in just fine for Bauman in the middle. Masi Tuitama, Shane Hunter, Jordan Atkinson and Grant Nelson all saw time this year and were in the rotation they will help add to the depth. COming in we have Kyle Van Noy who I think will start opposite Pendelton from Day 1, Zac Stout is also highly touted and has the ability to play right away. Sae Tautu, Joey Owens and Teu Kautai I think all leave on missions. I really could see BYU starting Pendelton on the strongside with Ogletree and Stout in the middle and Van Noy on the weakside. Young but extremely talented.
DBs- another weakness that may be the strength of our D this year. Rich is back for another year and will continue to lead the secondary. Brian Logan and Brandon Bradley return and should keep getting better. Lee Aguirre, Corby Eason, Robbie Buckner and Garrett Nicholson will all provide much needed depth. Coming in we have Khori Gaines (11 picks his senior year in Georgia) and Jordan Johnson (a 3 star recruit with Big East offers) who if needed can play. The Safeties we will need to replace Scott Johnson but I think Jray Galea'i can fill in. I wish Bills was not going on a mission as he would start for sure. BYU is looking at a few JC safeties and that Hanneman kid from Lonepeak was brought in to play safety, we really need to add some depth at that position the loss of Shiloah really hurts.
K/P- both Payne and Stephenson are back.
We will be really young next year but as talented and hyped as any team that I can remember. The question is will it equal wins.
The O-line- loses one starter in RJ Willing, they get back another starter in Jason Speredon and a projected starter in Jesse Taufi. If Braden Brown stays at tackle he will have a full spring and fall camp to learn the position and get in shape. Houston Reynolds will be back from injury and Manaki Vaitai returns from his mission to add depth. We should be better along the O-line.
Running backs- depends 100% on Harvey, however we do have AJ Moore, Drew Phillips, Algernon Brown and please lord Josh Quezada potentially coming in. JJ will obviously be the main guy but can he carry a full load? I am not so sure, Anthony Heimuli and Peni Maakafi if they do not go on missions will be relied on to play fullback but I think both leave on missions and we see Kariya become the main guy at fullback and Malosi Te'o and JJ carry the majority of the load as the running backs.
WR- We return everyone, I expect Chambers to get better, Jacobsen to get better being further removed from the mission. Ashworth is a solid possession guy, and Hafoka really came on late in the season. The future here is as bright as BYU has ever seen Ross Apo comes in and plays right away in my opinion. I think Bret Thompson goes on a mission, but Cody Hoffman has looked great on the scout team, Mitch Matthews is a weapon BYU has never had 6'6 target in the redzone. Jordan Smith received rave reviews before leaving on his mission (6'4), and Jake Murphy (6'5) is another huge weapon. BYU is going very big at the wideout position. We shoudl be able to find enough servicable guys in this group.
TE- 2 huge losses here. Devin Mahina, Austin Holt, Braden Brown (potentially), Richard Wilson (potentially), and Mike Muehlman should all have a chance to contribute and were all highly touted coming out of highschool. I definitely see us going with a single TE next year as opposed to the two TE sets we ran the past 2 seasons. Hopefully someone emerges but not a ton of experience and a real question mark right now.
QB- Similar to tight end, no experience here but tons of hype. Jake Heaps, Jason Munns and James Lark were all 4 star or higher recruits. Riley Nelson has had the most recent full year in the system. This is a toss up but I really see Heaps winning and either Lark or Munns (most likely Munns) transferring.
DL- We lose everyone along the D-line that was significant, Jorgensen one of the best BYU has ever had, Denney, and Tialavea along with Hola are all gone. Putnam, Fuga and possibly So'oto (if he receives is medical redshirt) are the lone players in the 2 deep that will be here next year, If Afutiti gets it together academically that will help soften the blow he would have been a huge contributor this year. I think those three are a solid foundation but one of the incoming highly touted freshman will be expected to contribute right away, Jordan Afo (2 star), Kona Schwenke (4 star), Alani Fua (4 star), Hauli Jamora (2 star), Tayo Fabuluje (3 star), Tuni Kanuch (4 star), Travis Tuiloma (2 star) several of these guys will really need to step up. As you can see BYU knew they were in trouble for this season and recruited very heavy along the D-line. I think the most ready to step in and play right away are Kanuch and Jamora.
LB- Weird that one of our weaknesses last year is actually one of our strengths next year. Jordan Pendelton will be first team All-MWC the next two years and I will even say he wins MWC DPOY by the time its all said and done. He has all of the ability and now just needs to learn the position. Kelly Poppinga told me he was going to be better than Kehl. Brandon Ogletree is another young stud that got valuable experience this year and made his mark on this team, he will fill in just fine for Bauman in the middle. Masi Tuitama, Shane Hunter, Jordan Atkinson and Grant Nelson all saw time this year and were in the rotation they will help add to the depth. COming in we have Kyle Van Noy who I think will start opposite Pendelton from Day 1, Zac Stout is also highly touted and has the ability to play right away. Sae Tautu, Joey Owens and Teu Kautai I think all leave on missions. I really could see BYU starting Pendelton on the strongside with Ogletree and Stout in the middle and Van Noy on the weakside. Young but extremely talented.
DBs- another weakness that may be the strength of our D this year. Rich is back for another year and will continue to lead the secondary. Brian Logan and Brandon Bradley return and should keep getting better. Lee Aguirre, Corby Eason, Robbie Buckner and Garrett Nicholson will all provide much needed depth. Coming in we have Khori Gaines (11 picks his senior year in Georgia) and Jordan Johnson (a 3 star recruit with Big East offers) who if needed can play. The Safeties we will need to replace Scott Johnson but I think Jray Galea'i can fill in. I wish Bills was not going on a mission as he would start for sure. BYU is looking at a few JC safeties and that Hanneman kid from Lonepeak was brought in to play safety, we really need to add some depth at that position the loss of Shiloah really hurts.
K/P- both Payne and Stephenson are back.
We will be really young next year but as talented and hyped as any team that I can remember. The question is will it equal wins.
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