Who will be Utah Football's Top Running Back in 2024?

Utah's running back room is stacked with talent but who will emerge as the top guy and is the offensive line strong enough to pave the running Lanes necessary for each of those backs to have success all that and more on today's locked on you you are locked on you your daily podcast on the Utah yous part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello everyone and thank you for making locked on Utes your first listen every single day we are available on all platforms including YouTube and wherever you may get your podcast if this is your first time listening into our show make sure you like And subscribe love interacting with all of you in the YouTube comments as well as on social media where you can follow our show at lockon onx today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel you can make every moment more new customers can join today and you get $200 in bonus bets if your first bet of $5 or more wins f.com locked on to get started my name is JT wh former intern inside University of Utah athletic department excited to be joined on Today's Show by Alex Napolis of KSL Sports a producer and a commentator there as well and Alex this is a Utah football team that is pretty stacked with Talent right we've been talking throughout Spring ball and everything and like when you just go through the roster you're like oh they're good here they're good here running back is another one where they're very good at they do not have one of the best running backs in college football currently but they have a number of quality backs and a number of running backs I think if they were at other programs and that being power for programs would be the top dog at those programs too so the question then becomes who will be running back one this fall there's a lot of worthy candidates we're going to dive into all of them as we're going to kind of go through the order like say this is who we think will be one this will be two this will be three this will be four as of this exact moment based on how Spring ball is playing out and the information we have even going into it I believe mikai Bernard will be on the field more than any other Utah running back at this moment I am not sure he will be the best Pure Runner with the ball in his hands he's going to be right up there there's a lot of guys who are good at that he's by far the best pass catcher out of the back field he's also the team's best pass protecting back and he's still a very strong Runner with the ball in his hands too and I felt like he was gonna have a really great season last year just got taken away from him from the injury so we got to see him briefly in the bowl game when he came back there but this is an opportunity this season I think for him to really be the leading guy in this back field it's been always kind of like one a and one b and I do think we'll see a lot of these guys rotate in frequently but I think most of the time in the biggest like moments of the Season at least when it pertains to especially rushing the ball I think mikai Bernard is probably going to be the guy a lot for that experience and the Dual threat versatility he possesses yeah and just as you mentioned out of all the running backs in that room um at this level maai Bernard is the most experienced and naturally heading into the season last year year he was going to be running back number one unfortunately like you mentioned that season was cut just a bit short but I still expect Makai Bernard to come back bounce back and have a really solid year because of his experience because of kind of what you know you're going to get out of Michael Bernard when he's on the field I think that he's gonna have um it's it's kind of his spot to lose at the moment I feel like I feel like that number rb1 spot is McKai Bernard's to lose um but I think I think makai's gonna have a good bounce back gear he's gonna come back in with a group and it helps when there's a lot of that familiarity coming back um obviously cam obviously Brandt um a couple others here and there but maai Bernard is probably gonna be the most important running back for Utah next season definitely feels like it and when we're talking about Bernard we mentioned the experience well we'll give you some evidence of how what experien he is the last time he played a full season in back-to-back fashion that being 21 and 22 he had over 500 yards rushing in both of them and had over 200 yards receiving especially back in 2022 actually had over 300 100 yards receiving so we know he has the trust to cam rising and that is going to be a big difference maker too and Makai of course has battled some injuries so what's nice is Utah isn't going to have to run him into the ground there are other capable backs that I think are more than capable of stepping up and making big plays there's a lot of guys for the number two spot to me Jaylen Glover's been waiting in the wings for two years now who's been the kind of the third guy for both of those years I'm sure he'd love to be the second guy here Mike Mitchell's come on extremely strong but I don't want to overreact to Spring I'd rather rather focused back to what I've seen on the field now granted it's a new level of football this guy is going to be at because coming up to the power four level when he was playing in the FCS but he was at Idaho and that was a pretty good Big Sky school still a lot of things they were able to do shout out Big Sky Conference but when you're talking about Woods to me this is a guy who has a thousand yard season at Idaho he comes from a system that likes to run the ball Utah wanted him he wanted to come to Utah I think they're going to embrace each other and I think Woods's experience his shiftiness his toughness is going to be a Difference Maker for this team this is a transfer I think it's going to work out really well at all and as I said I think maai Bernard will be running back one I still leaning towards like who's going to lead Utah on carries and maybe even rushing yards I part of me really wants to say Anthony Woods because I think he's gonna have that type of a monster season and ever since they added him from Idaho I I thought big things were coming and I know we've seen some other guys rise up the ranks in Spring ball but if I had to bet on this moment who's going to be number two just overall on the depth chart I'm going to go with the guy who has a thousand yard re season as a running back which Woods of the next three guys is the only one he can say he's actually even maai doesn't have a thousand yards in know a single season which what he did last year that being Woods I think heading into I think heading into just looking at the depth chart at the moment I think there's a really big debate between you know going number two Glover or going number two Woods I really liked what I've seen from Woods um as you said uh I think he's going to be a transfer that's going to come in and surprise a lot of people um Anthony Woods even though he came from Idaho and the big guy right he's still I think he's going to insert himself into this offense very well and and he's going to surprise a couple people I don't think a lot of people really know what's coming in with Anthony Woods but just from what we've been able to see on film just from what he's been the numbers he's been able to put up at Idaho I think he's going to come in and surprise a lot of Utah fans and he's gonna quickly become one of one a fan favorite I feel like I think so too and I'm excited to see him break out have those big games those big moments that could make the next guy that I'm going to bring up in some ways he's already become a fan favor because he's stuck around right I'm talking about Jaylen Glover and once again I could easily go Mike Mitchell here he is having an unreal spring camp we're talking about a guy's a former four-star recruit and last time he was in his high school career he had 240 carries in his career Two over 2,000 yards eight yards of carry 22 touchdown and nine 100 yards rushing game and we're talk about the guy who played High School football in Florida which is of course one of the Premier High School football states too so part of me's like ah do I want to go against him Jaylen Glover also plays High School football in Florida though and he's a pretty good running back and what is Whittingham Valu so so much trust in his guys he trust Jaylen Glover Jaylen does a pretty good job taking care of the football I don't think he had many fumbles if any last season to and it just seems like each year we've been waiting for see his role increase with this team right you look at it in 2022 this is a guy who had 78 carries for 360 yards last year 137 carries 562 yards and he averaged over four yards a carry in both seasons to I expect him to get a large amount of carries too and just because he has been here longer and he's I mean just getting stronger the understanding of the Playbook the trust all those things Jaylen Glover is my rb3 Jaylen Glover he's a fun guy he's a fun player to watch and you know last year obviously maai goes down and there was a big question mark as to who was going to step up and I think I think overall Glover did a a well enough job stepping in for for Michael Bernard kind of being rb1 last season um at times and but there was something I feel like with Glover there's still an extra gear that needs to be AI there I feel like there's still more he's far from the finished product he's far from reaching his potential and I really hope that he's able to achieve that this season I really hope that we're able to see kind of that next gear Jaylen Glover come into that 2024 season um and and really take control of of a bigger role in that running back room because it as we're talking about it right now it is a very good stack running running back room at the moment with a lot of talent and Jaylen Glover is going to have to do something to stick out in that group and I really hope it's just taking it to that level taking it kicking into that next gear um which at moments I feel like we he kind of missed at moments last season it's true he he definitely did there were times he had nice moments we mentioned four yards per carry right but like there wasn't I didn't feel like he broke a lot of tackles if we're being honest with that as well there weren't a ton of like Breakaway runs like he got loose like he's still been very good we're not saying that but he hasn't obviously there's a reason he's rb3 here and was even last year right you see you saw why jaquin and Jackson and maai Bernard coming in the year we still one and two but another year for him another opportunity to rise up to so right now we agree he would be the third guy I do want to talk about Mike Mitchell though we could even talk about some of the honorable mention backs in a moment too and we still got to dive into all the stuff with the offensive line we're going to be discussing all that and more in one moment but first want to talk to you all about one of the sponsors of our episode of lock on news today our friends at FanDuel the sports calendar is loaded and FanDuel makes it even easier and more exciting to get in on the action because right now new customers get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that 200 bucks you can use to bet the tney MLB NBA NHL and so much more so visit fanduel.com locked on and make your first bet a big win it's capital L and O in locked on FanDuel America's number one sports book and keep speaking of FanDuel Alex we got some great games this coming weekend as the final four is officially here whether the first matchup is NC State we're going to see them get to take on produce so we get Burns versus Edie I can't wait for that personally I'm going to roll with the boiler makers there get the win 's coming off a 40o performance and NC State yes it's been an unreal Cinderella run they're actually the I saw they're the first ever team with 14 losses to make the final four unreal what they've been able to achieve and then you look at it from the opposite side of the bracket over there Yukon has been unbelievably dominant and Alabama is it's great for them they've gotten this position and I think they have a chance to still do it but this Yukon team feels like a team of Destiny I think Yukon and Purdue are going to be the two we see in the final four that's where I would put my money where do you land on the two final four match up I think I agree with you I think it's going to be number one versus number one Yukon versus Purdue and look if any team's going to repeat it's going to be this Yukon team right we haven't seen a team repeat since what 2007 they are very very good if anyone can do it it's going to be this Yukon team but you can't bet against zachi and Purdue I got Purdue winning the marchmadness tournament oh you got Purdue winning at all I like it I'll be talking about who I think will be winning it all a little later once we get to the day of the game but if you guys want to make your picks for March Manis especially the final four and the woman's tournament it's also been fantastic we just saw what Caitlyn Clark was able to do here tonight some great games over on that side too make sure you head over to FanDuel today Alex coming back into this one let's talk about the last running back that we did really fail to mention and this is no shade to dejon Stanley who I think will be used in different packages in different ways John Randall has a chance to maybe see the field right Charlie Vincent's Old Reliable still maybe he gets some carries into some situations in games but does feel like Mike Mitchell has separated himself from the other true freshman running backs last year are now going to be a sophomore I mentioned some of this stats and the things he's been able to do we've heard he's gotten stronger and added strength I think we are going to get a taste of what he's capable of next year but after this year I mean Woods I think has extra year eligibility left so we'll see what he does but we know that M Bernard maai Bernard is gonna be gone after this one so that's where I think this is the year we see some really strong Taste of what's to come from Mitchell and I think a a year from now is when we see the real breakout from him yeah look and Mike Mitchell has been a guy who's been thrown around thrown around around a lot in in uh during spring ball as you know coaches are are seeing as Praises coaches are saying hey this is a guy who's really impressed Us in Spring ball we're very excited to see what he can do on the field and I agree um Mitchell he's he's got speed he's he's got kind of that that downhill running back um that that that I don't think we've seen in Utah for for a little bit so it's going to be really interesting to see kind of what Mike Mitchell is able to continue to do through through the the last couple weeks of spring ball and hopefully just carry that momentum into into the fall and we see him get some get see him get some really good opportunities on the field this upcoming season I'm excited to see how the running back room all shakes out a lot of talented guys whoever emerges as running back one I feel good about them because they beat out some stiff competition in order to earn the top spot in Utah's backfield and of course we talked about the running backs running back position is extremely dependent on what the offensive line is going to be able to do for Utah and Utah as of this moment has a very interesting offensive line at least the one that we've heard most about so far in Spring ball Caleb lomu and Spencer fono are both going into just their second years lomu has never started a game and if he got experience I think he did in limited fashion in blowouts never in like heated moments Bono obviously a pretty for for being a true freshman a pretty good year as a left tackle but I think the right transition back to right tackle where he spent most of his high school career will be even better for him and I am expecting a good year out of him but it's just an inexperienced offensive line it's the theme I want to get at here Coy the projected starting center has less than 10 starts in his career at Center tongy played a lot last year he was the other tackle that left tackle that rotated him with fono he only started two games and yes Michael moafi has a lot of career starts 26 of them if you were to say what has kind of been one of the weaker Links of the Utah offensive line I would probably say moafi at times has been he's still been really good there's a reason his team's had success had some nice moments as a run Blocker in particular but in past protection he has had some of his woses and issues so this is not the like two years ago we got Braden Daniels SATA laeha back Keaton bills even last year you have Keaton bills and SATA laa coming back this year's group is doesn't you don't have that name power like that but also say this R Daniels satow laa Keaton bills at one point we were all unsure about those guys they figured out I think it's nice that a lot of these guys has got experience last year in Jim Harding We Trust so even though this is a young projected offensive line right now I'm not overly concerned I am slightly concerned but it's a Utah offensive line even when they haven't been great like last year they're still pretty good and I expect them to still be able to open up those rushing lanes and keep cam Rising upright and I think you you hit on a very important point right there is is Jim Harding I think Jim Harding does a fantastic job in in coaching these young guys up um it's the reason why Keat and bills you know fans were unced about him at first but he was able to become this fantastic uh uh lineman it has a lot to do with coaching and I think I think Jim Harding sometimes doesn't get the praise that he deserves but because he really is good at developing this young Talent which is why I'm not overly concerned about the en as you are because they have a leader and and and a coach like Jim Harding who's just going to coach them up and hopefully get them to get them to their ceiling get them to reach the potential and hopefully move on to the next level right I think uh I think guys like Foo are G to be fantastic this upcoming season as a true freshman he showed signs that he has a really really high ceiling very excited to see what Spencer Foo is able to do um I think there is a lot of talent in that old line and I think Jim Harding's just going to do what he can to to help them Reach their potential as he's done in the past right in Harding We Trust as you mentioned Harding put it on his shirt I like it and Harding We Trust so gotta feel pretty good about the state of this Utah offensive line and you know you mentioned the leadership of Jim Harding this is where I will give say like Michael Mesi he's been through a lot where I think he can be a leader on the field to these guys right show them the ropes a little bit work them through and all these guys were talking about here as well right satal La has had a role in me mentoring both lomu and fono Keaton bills has been another guy who's been a leader in this room so they've learned from some of the best Utah offensive linemen they've been a part of a lot of success all these guys are they know what the standard is they've been training day in and day out so you do have to feel pretty good about this offensive line and look it's the pass blocking is going to be incredibly important Utah has run blocked well for years and last year they were pretty good at it too they weren't exceptional at it hence why at times Utah's running game didn't get off as strong as we we hoped it would in some of their their contests but the pass protection aspect is going to be what's most important because cam Rising has dealt with some injuries so it's going to be how do all of these guys hold up in one-on-one situations because they're going to be threatened with that off the top of my head I cannot name a dominant Big 12 pass rusher that's coming back now I will also say it's hard in general to name like dominant college football defensive lineman coming back from each year because the best guys usually go off to the NFL for a reason right and the one thing that Utah does going for them though about whoever they see in the Big 12 some of the best pass rushers they're going to face are already up on the hill and Conor otou and guys like van fillinger and Lander Barton if he decides to Blitz and things of that nature so I do feel like this offensive lineman has more than enough time to come together build that chemistry in pass protection that plagued this offensive line when they didn't have it last fall and get themselves ready to keep who I believe will be the best quarterback in the Big 12 Conference upright come 2024 I agree with you 100% in the fact that when you're up when you're going up against practices against Connor oul van fillinger and that defensive line you're going to learn a lot you're going to learn a lot because I I do think that they're going to be the best D line heading into the Big 12 uh next season you got these young guys who are going against top top players in college football and you're the you're just going to learn from from that from those experiences you're just going to learn from that and I think that's going to really gear up these younger o line players to just be better to just get better learn learn and practice um those types of in those types of situations where you are going to be facing tough defensive lineman around the Big 12 and like I said when you're going against some of the best in college football you're just gonna you're just going to make your younger guys better and I think that's huge for for that o line I think it's huge and I can't wait to see how this offensive line does end up coming together I will say this I as of this moment if you had to say like okay would you bet like who's going to be the starting offensive line I would say it's it would be this group of guys have had to put money on it but if I could reserve judgment would do that because I never expected Spencer Foo to start a left tackle last fall and that's what we saw playoffs so I will very much so say we'll wait and see what the final iteration of it's going to be but if it is this group of guys come to fall I will be a little bit like let's just see it work out but I would still be like okay I feel like more than lik this is going to be a pretty good group because they still have some experience even if they don't have as much as some of the Utah offensive lines of years past have had so gonna be something that's fascinating to watch as not just Spring ball but fall Camp continue to roll on something that was surprising to watch was that Raley roer entered the transfer portal I know some people have said they weren't too surprised by that but so one of those things he's been Craig Smith's guy for so long a little bit surprising to see him enter the portal we're going to talk about what his departure means for the University of Utah men's basketball program in one moment but first I want to talk to you all about one of the sponsors of today's episode of lockdown Utes our friends at Fire TV Fire TV is your destination for sports from live games to Highlights to in-depth analysis Fire tv offers amazing viewing experiences with Smart TVs as well as Fire TV sticks that you can plug into your existing TV that provide access to millions of movies and TV episodes as well as free and live TV whether you're into the opening weekend for baseball or college basketball tournament you're going to want to have a fire TV Fire TV recently created Fire TV channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands 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assists shooting 40% from the field to not the greatest three-point shooter on the year but look his defense was pretty stout too early on the best version of this Utah team and this is where it would have been interesting because you know Devon Smith obviously everything he was doing with the triple doubles Off the Bench he was Unreal too but some of the best ball we did see this Utah team play was with Ry roer at the helm his familiar with what Craig Smith likes to do as well as just his veteran because of how long he's been around and playing the sport having a guy who made the NCA tournament with Craigs Smith all back all those years ago was a big thing for this team so this will be a little bit of a loss in terms of just like right now like if you look at and daav Von Smith right if he comes back then you don't feel as shaky about it and we expect him to come back as of this moment but it is one of those kind of interesting things where if you're this Utah team it's always nice to have that returning experience back so I I still think it hurts a little bit and I feel bad for Raley that he didn't get to see this season through because he was having his best at the running as a running you when he got hurt oh absolutely 100% And I think you kind of hit it on the on the the nail on the head right where you lose that leadership you lose that veteran player a guy who's very familiar with what Craig Smith does and what Craig Smith likes you're L I think that's where the biggest loss comes from in this transfer is you're just losing that familiarity that veteran leadership um and that's something you know that's something that that's super valuable in the locker room right you you need guys like that to to make sure that the locker room um basically buys into what Craig Smith is doing and he's he's a guy who's embodied that because of his longevity with Craig Smith um unfortunate loss but I hope he does well wherever he goes yeah I do too and I'm sure some of you are screaming at your TV like Raley was terrible or all these things like that and look first of all he wasn't terrible no he was never a world beater he was never one of the stars of this team he was never one of the top point guards in the Pack 12 this year actually might have had a chance to end up as being one of them but he didn't get to play in Pack 12 Play really overall but he is a very capable starting guard and also say this I know that Raleigh wasn't perfect be careful what you wish for because we knew what Raley was at least and sometimes the grass ain't always greener on the other side I'm not talking about Devon Smith he did some unreal things but we just don't know how this whole transfer cycle usually kind of plays out like that so the guard position rather than having someone who's solid there now is an unknown in a gamble so the gamble could pay off and it's not a gamble for youah Ry Moving on but like just that unknown could turn into an upgrade but it could also become even worse especially in a tougher conference so that's where I think Utah will feel the loss of not having Raleigh as well and and look it's going to be interesting to see how the rest of this all plays out we are recording this episode a little earlier in the week so we don't know exactly how the NIT unfolded at the moment but I I will say this also with Raleigh transferring and it does help to have him as a veteran but when this you Craig Smith and co co did say they want to change some things up recruiting wise right Alex so I'm sure one of those is also getting a little bit more athletic at the guard spot to pair to a guy next to a day ofon Smith and I think this is where you know one of the positives the transfer portal comes in right you don't necessarily have to go out and get uh a guy fresh out of high school to come in and recruit him and bring them in um and kind of take over that position right you can start look at options in the transfer portal and bring in a a a more athletic guard right from the transfer portal and and I think that's it's it's going to be interesting to see kind of what shakes up at that guard position for Utah but this is a moment for Craig Smith and that staff to kind of look at the transfer portal and try to take advantage of that of of that situation bring in someone who who you can rely on who's more athletic and kind of change things up that way I'm excited to see who they decide to turn to it's going to be fun to monitor all offseason we already heard Utah's a name attached to some of the transfers the p is always wild and crazy and can't wait to see how it all takes shape for the running UTS men's basketball team Alex thank you for joining us make sure you guys give Alex a follow on X he is napis Alex once again napis Alex on X great stuff is always Alex thank you and um also tell everyone where they can kind of find some of your stuff yeah hey thanks for the invite always a pleasure to be here with you on locked on Utes and yeah if you want to head over to uh X give me a follow at Anapolis Alex um I'll posting Utah stuff posting RSL stuff basketball stuff uh you know wherever KSL sends me I'm there make sure you guys head over and check it out and make sure you guys continue to keep up with locked on you it's lots more great content coming as it pertains to Spring ball and everything else going on at the University of Utah we look forward to seeing you then