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Given that Utah returns seven offensive starters and nine defensive starters, Kyle Whittingham's Day One list of position battles is surprisingly long.

• At the cornerback position opposite Dominique Hatfield, where junior Reginald Porter sits atop the depth chart, pushed by redshirt freshman Casey Hughes and sophomore Tavaris Williams, while junior Brian Allen and sophomore Boobie Hobbs also vie for more playing time. It was Porter who earned Whittingham's praise Tuesday, showing the same knack for coverage that he displayed last fall camp before a knee injury cost him a full season.

• At the safety position opposite Tevin Carter, or as far as the depth chart is concerned, at free safety. Former quarterback Jason Thompson didn't look to the naked eye like he was uncomfortable in his first-ever practice at the position, though after a few plays he received extra instructions from safeties coach Morgan Scalley. Sophomore Marcus Williams has game experience after playing in Carter's place last year, as does fellow sophomore Andre Godfrey — Carter's backup on the two-deep.

• At the defensive end spot opposite Hunter Dimick, occupied last year by all-everything Nate Orchard. It stands to reason that senior Jason Fanaika is the front-runner, considering Fanaika split time with Dimick in the earlygoing before his eventual move to outside linebacker, where he's no longer needed. But junior Pita Taumoepenu is a quarterback assassin, and coaches have spoken of UCLA transfer Kylie Fitts in glowing terms after his work with the scout team last season.

• At right tackle, where redshirt freshman Jackson Barton and junior Sam Tevi may have to wait a few days before the pads come on and true separation can be achieved.

• And at wideout, where senior Kenneth Scott feels pretty close to a sure thing, but where there's plenty of opportunity for younger players to impress in the absence of senior Tim Patrick. Raelon Singleton redshirted last year after season-ending shoulder surgery and showed nice hands Tuesday, while sophomore blocking specialist Jameson Field and junior speedster Delshawn McClellon got much of the run with the ones. Also playing some slot receiver Tuesday were running backs Troy McCormick and Bubba Poole. Poole, especially, spent ample time working with wideouts coach Taylor Stubblefield. He had 229 receiving yards on 29 catches last season.

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OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT • Forgot to mention safety-turned-cornerback-turned-running back-turned-wideout Monte Seabrook in the previous paragraph, so it's convenient that he also may have had the day's best catch, leaping to catch a bullet across the middle over the outstretched arms of Hobbs.

DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT • Allen was thought to be a pretty good wideout, so it says something that he was switched over to the defensive side of the ball, even as Utah's future at receiver seems uncertain. Allen broke on a Conner Manning pass that was thrown behind Singleton and snagged Utah's first interception of spring.

STANDOUT • Scott made probably the worst drop we've ever seen from him, losing a Kendal Thompson deep ball to the northeast corner of the end zone when a bird flew past (we'll assume), but he also made a half-dozen outstanding catches on a day when the best allowable matchups were cornerbacks trying to cover receivers. He has said time and again that he doesn't ever feel covered, and he was a man of his word Tuesday.

KEEP AN EYE ON • Whittingham's beard. Asked if his stubble was an indication he was growing it out this spring, he said, "Yeah, I might as well. I've got nothing to lose."

QUOTE OF THE DAY • BYU — er, Utah redshirt freshman quarterback Chase Hansen, who is back after a two-year LDS mission to Australia. "I came back and someone's like, 'Congrats. Excited to have you at the Y.' I don't know what you heard, but I'm a Ute." Don't believe everything you read, folks.

— Matthew Piper

Twitter: @matthew_piper