This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
With just 15 committed or signed players in the 2017 recruiting class, Utah currently sits at No. 39 in the Scout team rankings, which is not out of its usual position in the Pac-12 era.
But there's more than one way to look at the assembly of talent Utah has: The average star ranking of the Utes' recruits is 3.40, the 20th-highest average in the country, according to Scout. Between Scout and Rivals, the two largest recruiting services, only one player in Utah's class has a two-star grade.
With its seventh recruiting class in the Pac-12, Utah football has established a higher baseline for talent. The coaching staff deliberately went into the 2016-17 cycle with the approach of offering touted prospects earlier, but waiting for more evaluation on mid-tier players. Already with some potential impact players committed, Utah is still in the thick of races to add to its pool of three- and four-star prospects.
Scout analyst Brandon Huffman said while some may still be surprised to see Utah in the top 25 of average star ranking, he's seen the momentum building up over the years.
"A couple of years ago, Utah probably doesn't get a Javelin Guidry or a Jaylen Johnson," he said. "They're catching the eye of more out-of-state players, who have seen that Utah has been knocking on the door of winning a Pac-12 championship. They're about to go through a whole generation of kids who were in middle school when they joined the Pac-12. It's paying dividends."
Guidry and Johnson are two of the more exciting recruits in a stacked secondary class. Guidry, a 5-foot-10 cornerback from California via Texas, is a track star who is well-versed in the man coverage Utah likes to play. Johnson, from Fresno, is a 6-foot defensive back who was an Army All-American and is a top-10 rated player at his position.
Replacing almost every starter from the secondary, Utah has replenished at the junior college well (which worked well with Garett Bolles last season). Marquise Blair, a hybrid linebacker/safety, and Tareke Lewis, a physical cornerback, will contend for roles. One of Utah's highest-rated prospects, safety Corrion Ballard, is already in the program working out with the team.
Pac-12 analyst Yogi Roth, who studied film of each of Utah's prospects, compared Ballard to former USC and NFL safety Taylor Mays.
"You need to recruit big safeties," he said. "I think a guy like Corrion — who played a rover position in college where he could read and react — he's going to be able to fill [former safety] Marcus Williams' void to a certain degree."
Utah has voids to fill on the offensive line, losing four of five starters. The Utes have signed 6-foot-5 junior college prospect Jordan Agasiva, who should contend for a starting role this fall, and have commitments from preps Orlando Umana and Michael Richardson (American Fork). Roth said he sees all three, particularly Agasiva and Umana, as guys who can play at the Pac-12 level in their first season.
In Troy Taylor's new offense, the Utes will need playmakers. They've added them in early signee Tyquez Hampton, who reminded Roth of former Stanford standout Ty Montgomery. Jaylen Dixon, a receiver out of Texas who was a high school teammate of fellow Utah commit quarterback Jason Shelley, and recent Oregon State flip T.J. Green will all add some spark up and down the depth chart on offense.
"They offer competitive depth, which they've never had that at wide receiver position and some of the other skill positions on offense — not like they have on defense," he said. "I think that's what this class really does for Utah."
The class, of course, needs more bodies. The Utes are expecting to sign about 20 of their 25 scholarships, in part because of their practice of using "push-forward" scholarships with players such as Armand Shyne, who joined last fall which will count against the class.
Utah's aim continues to be high: The top target on the board is Bingham defensive tackle Jay Tufele, a five-star prospect who also posts USC, Ohio State, BYU and Michigan among his many suitors. The Utes are also playing some defense, holding off competition for Johnson and Lewis until Signing Day.
Other in-staters who could be Utes include West Jordan's Alden Tofa and East's Jordan Lolohea. The Utes are also looking to add out-of-state talent: Receiver Bryan Thompson, receiver Reggie Roberson, linebacker Daniel Green and D-lineman Nick Ford all took visits in recent weeks, and Utah could add another running back in Oregon commit C.J. Verdell. At Utah this weekend from out of state: lineman George Moore, defensive end Miki Suguturaga, lineman Mo Unutoa and D-lineman Aliki Vamahi.
While any of them would add to the class, Huffman identified Tufele as the highest priority for Utah — not just for the immense talent he would bring to the line, which Huffman described as some of the best he's evaluated in 14 years. But Utah has missed on elite in-state prospects for a while: Xavier Su'a-Filo, Stanley Havili, Brandon Fanaika and Porter Gustin are among those who have opted for out-of-state offers. But Huffman thinks if Utah can land Tufele, they could start changing that trend.
"That's really the only other thing they're missing with the blend they've already got," he said. "If they just get that one in-state kid that can really tip the scales their way; you can make a case that Tufele is the most important recruit that Utah has recruited in the high school ranks."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah's 2017 class
Name Pos. Hgt/Wgt School
Signed/enrolled
Jordan Agasiva OT 6-5/310 Pima (Ariz.) College
Already enrolled, JuCo lineman will compete for a starting spot come fall
Corrion Ballard FS 6-3/200 Blinn (Texas) College
Hard hitter was brought in to help replace Marcus Williams
Tyquez Hampton WR 6-2/210 El Dorado (Texas) HS
Raw but athletic receiver was once committed to Washington State
Committed
Marquise Blair SS 6-3/190 Dodge City (Kan.) College
Hybrid player had 99 tackles, 4 picks last year in JuCo
Jaylen Dixon WR 5-10/160 Lone Star (Texas) HS
Dynamo in the slot was high school teammates with incoming QB Jason Shelley
T.J. Green RB 5-11/185 Chandler (Ariz.) HS
Oregon State flip has explosive straight-line speed and solid hands in passing game
Javelin Guidry CB 5-10/180 Vista Murrieta (Calif.) HS
Man coverage specialist had one of the fastest 100-meter times in the country last spring
Jaylon Johnson CB 6-0/170 Central East (Calif.) HS
Utah's highest-rated recruit thus far was an Army All-American, picked Utes in fall
Tareke Lewis CB 6-1/175 Riverside (Calif.) College
Receiver-turned-defender has a lot of physical traits of a lockdown defender
Devin Lloyd ATH 6-4/210 Otay Ranch (Calif.) HS
Utes project the lanky former safety as a linebacker at the next level
John Penisini DT 6-2/285 Snow College
Longest-committed prospect from West Jordan is the next big thing from Snow pipeline
Taniela Pututau DB 6-3/185 Cottonwood HS
Third Pututau brother commits to the Utes; missed senior season but promising athlete
Michael Richardson OT 6-5/260 American Fork HS
Only in-state prep prospect so far brings a great frame to the trenches
Orlando Umana OG 6-5/315 Grant (Calif.) HS
Late-rising prospect was a masher in the run game at Devontae Booker's alma mater
Jason Shelley QB 5-11/160 Lone Star (Texas) HS
Dual-threat passer showed competitive fire on big stages in Texas