Provo • Is BYU a Big 12-ready team right now?
After spring camp broke in Provo last week, it is still a question that can’t be answered. The roster isn’t set. The depth chart is far from finalized. With the coaches on the recruiting trail over the next few weeks and months, a fuller picture of the program’s Year 1 preparedness will only come after everyone gets back.
But after 15 practices, there are some clues as to what BYU will look like in a new conference next year. Here are four thoughts about where BYU stands going into the summer.
1. Depth isn’t there, but youth shines through
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Before spring even began, everyone knew BYU was thin at a number of skill positions on offense and defense.
The two main positions that come to mind are linebacker and wide receiver. Throughout camp, BYU didn’t have a single healthy linebacker with any significant Division I experience, much less Power Five experience. And at receiver, the options are unproven when you get past everyone not named Chase Roberts, Keanu Hill or Kody Epps.
It doesn’t mean the guys who went through spring won’t be productive players one day. In fact, one of the highlights of this six-week window was how well certain young players played.
At linebacker, Isaiah Glasker, Ace Kaufisi and Maiki Kaufusi stood out as the rangy, athletic type of backers that will be the future mold of this defense. At receiver, Parker Kingston and Dom Henry were routinely making plays.
But the future isn’t the now. And BYU will need to make at least a couple of additions to those spots to give the younger guys more time to develop instead of being thrown into the Big 12 fire.
“We have got to get a little bit more depth at our skill position areas,” offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick admitted. “We like the guys we have, but we are a little thin right now.”
The need to add new players won’t just be isolated to those two positions. New defensive coordinator Jay Hill put it bluntly on how much he will mine the portal in the next month. “A lot,” he said.
“We envision adding some spots to make our roster more Big 12-ready,” Hill finished.
2. What is happening at quarterback and can BYU retain everyone?
All of the questions we had coming into spring about the quarterback position are still there coming out of it.
That doesn’t include the starter of course. It was Kedon Slovis’ position when he arrived on campus in January and it is still his position now. Roderick made that much clear.
“We put him in position to earn that job, and he has clearly lived up to what we expected up to this point. So he will go into fall camp as our starting quarterback,” he said.
But after that?
Well to start, the race for the backup role is still raging on. Returner Cade Fennegan and JUCO transfer Jake Retzlaff haven’t separated enough. Part of that is due to Retzlaff missing the first three weeks of camp after a surgery gone wrong. But nonetheless, that competition will continue into the summer.
It still leaves Fennegan in this weird position. If he wins the job, he could ostensibly contend to be the starter in 2024 once Slovis leaves. If not, it would be tough to see a path for him to ever be the starter at BYU with Retzlaff with three years of eligibility and freshmen like Ryder Burton rising.
And beyond just the backup spot, it is a crowded room with six guys in the mix: Slovis, Retzlaff, Burton, Fennegan, Nick Billoups and Cole Hagan. Will BYU be able to retain all of them in the era of the transfer portal?
“I expect to [retain all of them],” Roderick said. “If someone leaves it would be a surprise to me.”
Maybe the one non-Slovis related question that did have some clarity was Burton. He isn’t in the mix to be the backup. By age, the early enrollee should still be a junior in high school. But the arm talent popped at several points this spring.
“He is a young kid,” Roderick said. “It is funny, most of the quarterbacks you recruit now are old and have been held back. Ryder is the exact opposite. He should still be a junior in high school age-wise. So he is long ways from his ceiling. He did a good job this spring and is right on schedule. He is going to be a good player here.”
3. Same guys, new outlook
BYU has been looking for a 10-sack pass rusher for a long time now. It hasn’t had one since 2015.
And for the last two seasons, the guy everyone thought would do it was Tyler Batty. At 6-foot-5, he looks the part. But BYU’s past defensive scheme that asked the defensive line to eat blocks rather than make plays never allowed Batty’s pressure to shine.
Now, the hope is Batty will be able to be that 10-sack guy. In Hill’s new defense that puts a premium on getting after the quarterback, he should shine. If there was any tangible takeaway to come out of spring, it is that Batty was the most consistently productive player on that side of the ball.
“If he plays in the fall like he did in the spring, he is going to have a huge year,” Hill said of Batty.
It is possible that more than just Batty could benefit from a scheme change. Jakob Robinson and Micah Harper in the secondary could see the same type of productive increase.
Both were young last year, and neither had a bad year, but their athleticism and ball hawking might be tailor-made for Hill.
4. Vets need to prove themselves on the field
We mentioned the younger players who logged significant snaps in spring camp earlier. That was because many of the starters didn’t play.
Max Tooley, Ben Bywater and Chaz Ah You didn’t participate at linebacker. Caden Haws didn’t play much on the defensive line. Kody Epps had to sit out at receiver. Aidan Robbins sat out of contact drills at running back.
While it probably won’t make a significant difference in their ability to learn the playbook, there are two big questions about these veterans moving forward.
No. 1: Will they be back in time to get in a full summer of workouts?
No. 2: Do they need to prove it in front of a new coaching staff?
The reality with everyone except Epps is this current coaching staff hasn’t seen them produce. Tooley and Bywater figure to be big pieces of this defense next year, but Hill admitted that they are going to need to earn their stripes with him and linebackers coach Justin Ena. Haws falls into the same category. Robbins is a bit different on offense, but is a transfer who hasn’t taken a snap at BYU.
“They have to be ready to compete and get their spots back,” Hill said. “Because a lot of the guys who were young did some things this spring and played well. We need those veterans did not play this spring to play well. There is still a lot of solidifying to do in fall camp.”
The good news is all of those players should be fully available for the start of fall camp and get in a full summer. Head coach Kalani Sitake indicated that Bywater and Tooley have already started to do speed work. Epps’ shoulder is getting back its range of motion.
