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Their conversations have evolved to address the finer points of offensive line play, but J.J. Dielman said his cousin Kris still keeps it simple in his pregame texts.

"Do what Dielmans Do," he writes.

In truth, more Dielmans are basketball players than offensive linemen, but Kris was a four-time Pro Bowl guard for the San Diego Chargers, while J.J. leads a line that has conceded the second-fewest sacks in the Pac-12 and paved the way for Devontae Booker to rush for 1,116 yards.

They've have had an outsize impact on what people expect a Dielman to do.

J.J. and Kris first bonded over football when the former was a high school sophomore, receiving a package from Kris that contained two dozen pairs of blue gloves. Desert Vista's color scheme is similar to San Diego's, and Dielman wore a different pair each day to practice.

"Everyone was jealous," he said.

He watched Kris when the Chargers visited the nearby Cardinals, and later, during the U.'s spring breaks, he flew back to Phoenix and drove to his cousin's multimillion-dollar home in San Diego.

"I'd bring a few of my buddies, and the first time, everyone was pretty in awe about it, but after the first time, it just became the spring break spot," he said.

But while Dielman witnessed firsthand the spoils of NFL life, he had a long way to go when he first stepped on the U.'s campus — and, specifically, onto the scale.

He'd played both ways in high school, allowing one sack and totaling 39 tackles during Desert Vista's state title run his senior year.

The heavy workload and the unrelenting heat combated his efforts to add weight. By the end of his senior season, he weighed 225 pounds. He came to the U. at 236, and making matters worse, he followed 415-pound teammate Carlos Lozano in the weigh-in line.

"All the coaches then were really upset with me," Dielman said. "And I was nervous."

It was a slow process, he said, packing on the necessary muscle. Now 6-foot-5 and a stable 300 pounds, Dielman is described by Utah coach Kyle Whittingham as his line's most consistent performer.

"His work ethic is phenomenal," he said. "He's just a prototypical offensive lineman. He's got the size, the strength, the mentality, the footwork. And he's just a junior, that's the best part about him."

Dielman has started 22 straight games and leads the team in cuts for a second straight year (57, in all). According to analysis provided to The Tribune by Pro Football Focus, he's culpable for just one sack and eight quarterback hurries, and he was Utah's highest-graded offensive lineman heading into Saturday's win over Washington, for which he was named Utah's Offensive Player of the Week.

Left guard Isaac Asiata presented him with the award — the first time since he arrived at the U. that it has gone to a lineman, he recalls, though the claim drew a laugh from Whittingham.

"Isaac makes stuff up sometimes," he said.

Asiata said he might be biased as Dielman's close friend, "but I think he's our best offensive lineman. ... He's done a lot of good things, and it's not even just on the field."

Dielman excels at identifying the tendencies of defensive ends, Asiata said, and is a valued resource during film study.

While senior center Siaosi Aiono is expected to return this week from a hand injury — snapping with his left hand instead of his immobilized right — quarterback Travis Wilson has credited Dielman for expertly organizing the U.'s protections in Aiono's absence.

Self-dubbed Utah's "Right-side, Die-side" last season, Asiata's move to left guard split the colorful duo, who finished each other's thoughts during an interview earlier this season about position coach Jim Harding.

Dielman now provides guidance to right guards Salesi Uhatafe and Hiva Lutui, while Asiata tutors left tackles Sam Tevi and Jackson Barton.

Asked for an example of the many things Dielman believes he can improve upon, he said the line's communication still wasn't what he'd hoped for in Seattle.

"It wasn't perfect," he said. "And everything's got to be perfect until I'm satisfied."

Asiata thinks Dielman will make a fine coach — albeit "after a very, very long NFL career." Dielman isn't sure what lies ahead, beyond the completion of his economics degree.

"I see the stress we give Coach Harding, and I'm not sure I want that," he joked.

His discussions with his cousin have grown more complex, his mastery of the game more complete.

"He's really the only guy outside of this program who gets what I'm going through here, when it comes to the football aspect," Dielman said.

Despite moving to Phoenix from Michigan in third grade, he isn't a fan of the Wildcats or the Sun Devils.

He stuck with the Wolverines, until he became a Ute and helped beat them twice. And, of course, he liked the Chargers.

Though the gloves no longer match.

Twitter: @matthew_piper —

No. 10 Utah at Arizona

P Saturday, 8 p.m.

TV • FOX Sports 1