Utah Utes Football

All 85 scholarship members of the Utah Utes football team have received leased brand-new Dodge Ram 1500 Big Horn trucks thanks to the Crimson Collective, which is the name, image and likeness (NIL) group that supports the school's athletics program.

Josh Furlong of KSL.com Sports relayed the moment when Utah players found out they were getting the trucks:

When the players found out they were each getting a Dodge Ram pic.twitter.com/Sofq0knKov

— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) October 4, 2023

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports provided more information on the logistics:

"Funded by collective donations, the trucks will be leased to each player as part of individual six-month contracts that are expected to roll over contingent on a player's eligibility and enrollment at the university. Leases end when a player's eligibility expires or they choose to transfer.

"The Ken Garff Automotive Group, one of the country's largest auto dealers, is facilitating the deal with a host of Utah donors from the Crimson Collective. The collective made the announcement Wednesday as part of a new partnership with the collegiate streaming application For The Win 360 (FTW360), whose branding is plastered on the vehicles in an advertising wrap."

Dellenger added that the deal is "estimated to be in the seven figures" and that the retail price for each truck is $61,000.

Utah is enjoying a successful season thus far with a 4-1 record and No. 18 ranking in the Associated Press poll. The Utes won four straight before falling 21-7 to Oregon State last week. They've allowed just 11.8 points per game, ninth-best in Division I FBS.

The reigning Pac-12 champions will look to bounce back on Saturday, Oct. 14 when they host Cal.

Utah won't have start quarterback Cam Rising in the starting lineup for Saturday's Pac-12 showdown against No. 22 UCLA.

Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, Nate Johnson is expected to get the start with Rising still working his way back from a torn ACL.

Rising did return to practice without limitations earlier this month, but head coach Kyle Whittingham has yet to use his senior star through the first three games of the season.

Thamel did note Rising's availability against the Bruins is uncertain, leaving open the possibility he could get reps at some point in the game.

Whittingham told reporters after Tuesday's practice Rising "looked good" and wasn't limited in his mobility, but they were going to wait before making any final decisions. He also made it clear they wouldn't announce anything publicly.

Kyle Whittingham said Cam Rising practiced today and did “a great job” with the team but they won’t know anything for the next 48 hours. They won’t make anything public.

“He looked good today.”

— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) September 19, 2023

Rising suffered the injury during Utah's 35-21 loss to Penn State in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2. He had surgery a short time later and has been rehabbing to get back on the field at some point this season.

Johnson and Bryson Barnes were splitting reps through the first two games of the season, but Johnson got all of the snaps in last week's 31-7 win over Weber State.

A redshirt freshman, Johnson is 22-of-32 for 281 yards and one touchdown through the air. He also has 148 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries as a runner. Barnes has completed just 18 of his 37 attempts for 230 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Rising led the Utes to a 10-4 record and a victory over USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game last season. He set career-highs with 3,034 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and a 64.7 completion percentage in 13 games.

Saturday's game against UCLA is the conference opener for both teams. The Bruins won last year's game, 42-32, at the Rose Bowl.

If Rising doesn't play in this game, Utah has a short week before traveling to Reser Stadium for a matchup with No. 14 Oregon State on Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. ET.

The disintegration of the Pac-12 could be getting closer with Arizona, Arizona State and Utah set to be the latest schools to leave the conference.

Per Brett McMurphy of the Action Network, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah will join the conference pending "formal approval in the next 24 hours. This comes on the heels of the Big Ten formally accepting Oregon and Washington into the conference in a vote Friday afternoon.

This has been a monumental two weeks for the Pac-12, though not in ways that appear to be good for the conference.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark announced last week Colorado was coming back to the conference after the school's board of regents unanimously voted to approve the move.

A statement from the Commissioner. pic.twitter.com/UtGgY5WnTf

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) July 27, 2023

Colorado's move to the Big 12 will take effect starting with the 2024-25 athletic year. USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten, effective Aug. 2, 2024.

Thamel noted Oregon and Washington will "receive only a partial share" of the conference allotment through the Big Ten's upcoming television deals that run through the 2029-30 season after making the move.

The Pac-12's current media rights contracts are set to expire after the 2023-24 season. Commissioner George Kliavkoff presented a series of potential deals to chancellors and presidents from member schools on Tuesday with no agreement reached.

Per Thamel and Heather Dinich, the "likely leader" of the options presented was a streaming deal with Apple that's "expected to be a relatively short-term contract" and start at a "relatively low" value but "would incrementally improve and potentially be competitive with its peers in the Big 12 and ACC down the road, provided certain subscription numbers are met."

The Big Ten finalized new media rights deals with Fox, CBS and NBC in August 2022 that will pay the conference more than $7 billion over seven years through the 2029-30 athletic year.

Per CBS Sports' Shehan Jeyarajah, Apple's offer to the Pac-12 is believed to be in the range of "$20 million annually per school as a baseline" with incentives that could make it comparable to the $30 million Big 12 schools earn per year on its media rights deal.

The incentives, though, are considered a potential problem because Jeyarajah noted Apple could add a Pac-12 package to its baseline Apple TV+ service that "would need a million new subscribers for the deal to make sense" assuming a $15 price point for the package.

If all of the potential moves being discussed go through, the only remaining full-time members of the Pac-12 would be California, Oregon State, Washington State and Stanford.

Quarterback Isaac Wilson, the younger brother of New York Jets backup quarterback Zach Wilson, is going to play college football at Utah.

Wilson announced his commitment to the Utes on Twitter on Wednesday evening:

I’m committing to Utah!!! Thanks to everyone that has helped me through this process. #goutes pic.twitter.com/jvE0sYYkQA

— Isaac Wilson (@Isaac_kawika) May 25, 2023

The Corner Canyon High School standout is a 4-star recruit and the No. 22 overall quarterback in the 2024 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He had offers from a number of schools, including BYU, where his brother played from 2018 to '20.

The Athletic's Ari Wasserman noted Isaac and Zach's father, Mike, played on the Utes' defensive line for two seasons in 1993 and 1994.

According to Wasserman, Zach landed at BYU because the Utes opted not to strongly pursue him out of high school after getting a commitment from Jack Tuttle.

During his junior year in 2022, Isaac threw for 3,772 yards and 40 touchdowns and ran for 694 yards and five touchdowns in 14 games. Corner Canyon advanced to the 6A state championship game, losing 17-7 to Skyridge.

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham now has four commitments in the 2024 class. Wilson is the highest-ranked player in that class, which also includes 3-star defensive linemen Vili Taufatofoa and Isaia Faga and safety Jeilani Davis.

Whittingham has a 154-74 record in 19 seasons at Utah, including back-to-back 10-win campaigns in 2021 and 2022. The Utes beat USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game last season and earned a berth in the Rose Bowl for the second consecutive year.

HEIGHT: 6'3½"

WEIGHT: 225

HAND: 9¾"

ARM: 32½"

WINGSPAN: 80½"

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40-YARD DASH: 4.52

3-CONE: 6.96

SHUTTLE: 4.25

VERTICAL: 34"

BROAD: 11'0"

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POSITIVES

– Good athlete who is long and has room for growth on his frame.

– Reads gap runs faster and better than he does zone runs and has the speed to scrape over the top and beat the offensive lineman to the spot.

– Speed also gives him decent sideline-to-sideline range.

– Fluid hip to turn and run in coverage.

– Fast and athletic enough to match running backs and tight ends in man coverage.

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NEGATIVES

– Struggles to read zone runs and often ends up in the wrong gap, almost looks like he's guessing at times.

– Lacks strength to get extension when taking on blocks against offensive linemen, also gets stuck on blocks and pushed around in the run game.

– Tackles high and doesn't bring his feet with him, leading to misses against running backs.

– His eyes are late when playing zone coverage, as he'll miss threats coming into his area and often end up covering grass.

– Misses pick-up and pass-off opportunities in zone coverage, especially versus mesh concepts.

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2022 STATS

– 12 G, 58 total tackles (32 solo), 13.5 TFL, 5 sacks, 1 PD, 1 FF

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NOTES

– Born May 18, 2001

– Florida transfer

– A 4-star recruit in the 2019 class, No. 109 overall, No. 6 OLB, per 247Sports composite rankings

– Injuries: 2022 (Shoulder, had offseason surgery and missed spring practice; Undisclosed, missed 2 games)

– 29 career starts

– Sister, Fanta, ran track and field at UAB

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OVERALL

Mohamoud Diabate is an athletic linebacker who can be effective in man coverage. He's springy, runs well and has good change of direction to mirror and match or carry running backs down the field. Occasionally, he can use his athleticism to be an effective run defender too, but his instincts, in general, need a lot of work.

Diabate struggles to read the running back's path on zone runs and often takes himself out of the play to the point where it seems like he's guessing. He also misses pick-up and pass-off opportunities in zone coverage or struggles to locate threats coming into his area, frequently leaving his man open.

The Utah product needs to get stronger and find a way to carve out a role on special teams—which he doesn't have much experience doing—to stick on an NFL roster.

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GRADE: 5.6 (Backup/Draftable, 6th-7th rounder)

OVERALL RANK: 240

POSITION RANK: LB16

PRO COMPARISON: Drew Lewis

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Written by B/R NFL Draft Scout Matt Holder

HEIGHT: 6'4"

WEIGHT: 294

HAND: 9 3/8"

ARM: 33"

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: 4.99

3-CONE: 7.53

SHUTTLE: 4.6

VERTICAL: 30.5"

BROAD: 9'1"

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POSITIVES

— Twitched-up mover with very good initial quickness to close space on defenders in a flash

— Explodes out of his stance using angle- and flat-pass sets to eliminate space and reach his landmark first against widely aligned pass-rushers

— Has the necessary foot quickness to expand his landmarks and mirror rushers up the arc

— Can deliver jolting strikes on defenders to dent and halt movement

— Uses high-level burst and quickness to track down smaller targets on the move, fit and create lanes off of his backside

— Flashes the ability to play long in the run game to create lateral displacement on zone combo blocks before timely releasing and picking off scraping backers

— Proven versatility with double-digit starts at three different positions

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NEGATIVES

— Wildly inconsistent strike timing and hand placement leads to repeatedly being late and off-target

— Low hand carriage with a windup before his punch that leaves him tardy at the point of attack

— Minimal grip strength that leads to defenders shedding off his grasp with ease

— Late in his anchor with high pad level and marginal stopping power puts him on his heels against power

— Regularly beat clean across his face in the run and pass game

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2022 STATISTICS

— 14 starts at left tackle

— First team All-Pac 12 selection

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NOTES

— Former 3-star offensive tackle recruit out of Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas

— Standout in track and field at Hebron, finishing third in the district in the shot put in 2017

— 43 career starts split across left guard (18), left tackle (14) and right tackle (11)

— Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham referred to Daniels as the 'Swiss Army knife' of the O-line for his versatility

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OVERALL

Braeden Daniels is a four-year starter at three different positions, most recently starting 14 games at left tackle in 2022 inside Utah's zone-based run scheme with an approximately 55-45 run-pass split. Daniels has an athletic, lean build with adequate length and is a twitched-up mover with very good initial quickness and burst.

Daniels fires off of the line to cut space on widely aligned rushers in a flash, beating them to the spot with coiled hips, low pad level and holstered hands. He has a winding punch that is often late to target, but when it lands, it packs some heat to jolt and stun the defender. Daniels' foot quickness allows him to run rushers up the arc when they utilize basic speed moves, and he incorporates bait and snatch techniques to keep rushers guessing. Daniels struggles with strike timing and location, leading to him opening his hips early against rushers and routinely losing cleanly across his face. This also leads to an exposed chest and easy access into his frame making it so defenders can walk him back into the pocket. Daniels is also easily shed inside at the top of the QB's drop with a lack of awareness of his positioning relative to the QB, resulting in a lack of control at the top of the pocket.

In the run game Daniels closes space quickly on frontside kick-outs and can get in front of defenders on cut-offs, but his pads rise on contact with minimal grip strength that leaves him grasping at air and getting slipped far too often for quick penetration. Daniels has some decent power in his hands to stun defenders and feed interior rushers over on combo blocks as the 'drive man' with a quick trigger up to the second level to intersect and wall off backers. Daniels can also track, align and wall off targets effectively as a puller leading in the run game.

Overall, Daniels is unrefined and unreliable with his technique and ability to control blocks, but he has very good quickness, burst, decent power in his hands and proven versatility to offer upside as a stash-and-develop piece for a practice squad that can potentially contribute down the road.

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GRADE: 5.9 (Backup or Draftable/Rounds 6-7)

OVERALL RANK: 201

POSITION RANK: IOL22

PRO COMPARISON: Dawson Deaton

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn

HEIGHT: 6'4"

WEIGHT: 246

HAND: 10 1/4"

ARM: 32 5/8"

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: TBD

3-CONE: TBD

SHUTTLE: TBD

VERTICAL: TBD

BROAD: TBD

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POSITIVES

— Very good acceleration and speed, both as a vertical threat and after the catch.

— Great change of direction and flexibility in space. Navigates traffic seamlessly.

— Smooth, efficient route-runner on routes that allow him to pick up speed and stride into space.

— Elite hand-eye coordination and ability to contort his body to the ball. Bails QBs out from off-target throws.

— Alignment versatility. Can play in-line, Y-off and WR alignments effectively.

— Capable blocker, especially in space. Gets after it with a lot of energy.

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NEGATIVES

— Light build. May hurt him more in the NFL than it did in the Pac-12.

— Needs to add strength as a blocker.

— Average red-zone ability due to his size and middling vertical ability.

— Route-running can get a little robotic and bogged down on sharper, timing-based routes.

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2022 STATISTICS

—12 GM, 70 REC, 890 YDS (12.7 AVG), 8 TD

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NOTES

— Born October 18, 1999

— Unrated recruit in San Diego's 2018 class

— Transferred to Utah in 2020

— 24 starts over five seasons

— Only played one year of high school football

— 2022 first-team All-Pac 12

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OVERALL

Dalton Kincaid is the premier "move" tight end in a loaded tight end class.

As a pass-catcher, he has almost everything you could ask for. Thanks to his slender build, he plays with very good acceleration and speed through the open field. When combined with his smooth hips and flexible play style, Kincaid's movement profile is as impressive as anyone's in this class. In turn, he excels at running crossers at various depths, as well as seam routes, short posts and sail routes—all routes that let him get going in space.

Those movement skills come in handy with the ball in his hands too. Kincaid is an effortless mover when it comes to beating linebackers and safeties in space, and he's got just enough balance to round out his game in that aspect.

Where Kincaid really shines is as a ball-finder. His hand-eye coordination and ability to snap his hands to the ball in an instant is rare. He also plays with great flexibility and range as a pass-catcher, allowing him to contort his body to the ball wherever it is. As far as being a quarterback's best friend goes, Kincaid checks a lot of the right boxes.

Most of the inhibitors in his game are size-related. Though he was a tough blocker in college, there's a reasonable chance he'll struggle to maintain that same level as a 240-pounder in the pros. The Pac-12 to the NFL is a big jump in that regard. Likewise, for all of Kincaid's excellent ball-tracking skills, he isn't one to leap and high-point the ball as well as others, especially in the red zone. He's still a good red-zone weapon, just more as a shifty athletic mismatch versus linebackers rather than a jump-ball guy.

Kincaid should have no issue seeing the field early and often. He can align anywhere you can imagine putting a tight end. He is a plus athlete, he has elite catching skills, and he's willing to get after it as a blocker. Kincaid's age (already 23) and subpar weight/strength levels limit his ceiling a bit, but he's a ready-made two-way contributor. Kincaid would serve best in a spread, vertical-focused offense that embraces his movement skills and blocking ability in space.

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GRADE: 7.8 (Potential Impact Player)

OVERALL RANK: 28

POSITION RANK: TE3

PRO COMPARISON: Dennis Pitta

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen

HEIGHT: 5'9"

WEIGHT: 184

HAND: 9 1/8"

ARM: 29 1/8"

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: 4.51

3-CONE: TBD

SHUTTLE: 4.32

VERTICAL: 33"

BROAD: TBD

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POSITIVES

— Fluid player with loose hips. Shows very good twitch to get out of breaks and drive on receivers. Has the speed and movement skills to run with receivers downfield.

— Shows good instinct in both the run and pass game. Very good vision in zone. Sees the threats in his area and reacts with anticipation.

— Outstanding hands when playing the ball. Shows good tracking of the ball and attacks it with his hands away from his body.

— Can be an elusive and feisty player when taking on blocks.

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NEGATIVES

— Lack of size can show up at times. Bigger blockers can latch on and cause a struggle for him to disengage.

— Speed in his backpedal can make him rock back on his heels, causing him to reach and grab.

— Ankle-biter at times when attacking bigger backs.

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2022 STATISTICS

— 12 GM, 24 TOT, 2 TFL, 1 SK, 6 INT, 12 PBU

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NOTES

— Started 31 games in his career

— Three-year starter

— 2022 Unanimous All-American

— 2021 Second-team All-Pac 12

— Fourth in Utah history in career interception return yards

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OVERALL

Clark Phillips III is an active, slightly undersized cornerback position with excellent movement skills. He has shown the ability to play in both man and zone coverage.

When playing man, he can play from press and off coverage. When playing press, he does a good job of mirroring the receiver, allowing him to declare their routes and quickly getting into his hip pocket. From off coverage, Phillips shows good tempo and leverage, showing off his foot quickness and twitch to get out of breaks and drive on the ball.

One of his most impressive attributes is his anticipation and ability to run the routes for receivers. Once out of his backpedal, he does a great job of becoming the receiver and attacking the ball, finishing the play with great hands and ball skills.

In zone, he displays similar traits while using his vision to sink under routes coming in and out of his area. Phillips does a good job carrying routes downfield, although occasionally, he can panic and grab or bump the receiver before the ball arrives.

When playing the run, Clark is an active player who isn't afraid to get into the mix. He does a good job of quickly reacting and setting the edge, often using his quickness to beat receivers, although there are times when he can get stuck on bigger receivers and have difficulty disengaging. He is also fearless when tackling but at times chooses to throw his body at the ball-carrier's feet in an attempt to tackle.

Overall, Clark is an outstanding cover corner who shows versatility at both the outside corner and slot positions. His ball-hawking tendencies make him an elite player and one that will be coveted at the next level. His size may be a question to play out wide, but his movement skills are more than capable of playing from the slot. He can be a Day 1 or early Day 2 selection.

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GRADE: 7.9 (Potential Impact Player)

OVERALL RANK: 25

POSITION RANK: CB4

PRO COMPARISON: Denzel Ward

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Cory Giddings