Utah Football: Will Lander Barton take the Big 12 by storm?

a week from today Utah football finally returns and we got to talk about one of the special players that's going to make this a season remember for Utah Lander Barton as well as Ken Reed the elite linebacker Duo as well as the linebacker room and Utah has a few elite players according to the Reese's Senior Bowl because Utah got some recognition more recognition as a Reese's Senior Bowl individual invites go than any other Big 12 Squad all that and more coming up on today's locked on Utes you are locked on youth your daily podcast on the Utah UTS part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello everyone and thank you for making lock on you to your first listen every single day we are available on all platforms including YouTube and wherever you get your podcast this is your first time listening to our show thank you like And subscribe love and interact with everyone on the YouTube comments we appreciate all of you who do listen to the show every single day if you're in the market for a second listen locked on college football is there for you as well as locked on Big 12 breaking down Utah's new conference today's episode of Locked on UT is brought to you by ultimate GM ultimate college football head coach is a brand new mobile game that is completely free and has no ads and 100% playable offline you can use the promo code locked on locked on CFB all caps no spaces locked on CFB in inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program begin your coaching Legacy today my name is JT wher still former intern inside the University of Utah athletic department excited to be joined on Today's Show by Elijah Grayson Murray of all UTS and Elijah we are got a week to go till Utah football I am we'll talk about the linebackers we got to talk about the depth of the room the Senior Bowl invites all that stuff I got a bold prediction from you at the end of the show but I mean come on man we're a week away from Utah football like I'm fired up and I know you're you go to the U as well it's going to be your senior season so you're fired up for what could be one last ride not just for you during your time at the U but also just cam rising and Co I I can't wait to get it on yeah I'm I'm so stoked I'm so ready um I actually saw a post on Instagram today is saying this is the last weekend without college football for the rest of the year so that is just I I love it so much and I'm so ready to you know be back in rice eel stadium and oh there's going to so many cool memories this year I can't wait it's going to be special and it's even the last weekend just without football in general until February so that's something that we're all fired up about and it means just the arrival of college sports season in general which we all love but it does start with football and Utah is gonna have a chance to have a really amazing season and I think one of the reasons for that is because they have a guy like Lander Barton and I'll say too K Reed the the duo of them as linebackers I think it's right up there for best in the Big 12 Oklahoma state has a couple of dudes as well well but I think Lander Barton has a really good shot this year to break out and be the best linebacker in the Big 12 yes there are other guys with resumés that you would go okay they should be higher than him right now just like for reasons like hey this Utah team is ranked higher than a lot of these big 12 teams because overall The Experience they return is more than those teams so that's why I could give some of those other guys the nod but Lander just the tools and the abilities that he's flashed in his first two years have been incredible we're talking about a guy with 34 tackles last year two interceptions and two pass break before the injury and that injury came against USC where he had a career-high nine tackles so it felt like that second half of the season for him was really going to be spectacular also if you look back at what he did in 22 this is what I love the versatility right last year made more plays in coverage than behind the line of scrimmage but the year before that in 22 played in every game 46 tackles eight tackles for lost four and a half sacks Lander Barton is a game wrecker he just looks like a man amongst boys out there even though he's banging against offensive lineman so I I Barton's in for a monstrous season and I do think he's got a chance to be the best linebacker in the country and I do expect this to be his final year at Utah because I think he's gonna be that spectacular yeah you know I'm I'm right there with you and especially you mentioned his his ability to you know go work in pass coverage just as well as behind the line of scrimmage and uh I think that's where he's going to thrive even more this year with Morgan scall you know having a more having an increased Focus focus on defensive takeaways um this year and uh I him him and Kar Reed both are are very multifaceted uh linebackers you know they're both great in coverage both great at stopping the run and and getting uh past the offensive line um and you know Barton he has all the tools to be the the best linebacker in the Big 12 and maybe even one of the best in the nation um and like you said if if he has the season that we are expecting him to have there's no I it's it's going to be sad to to let him go but it's you know you can't keep someone like that for too long you can't I mean just all the special skill traits that he has when you look at that physicality that allows him to blow up offensive lineman to then make the tackle he is a Surefire tackler too right he's grown so much with his experience his Instinct his feels we talked about the coverage ability we know he can be an effective Blitzer too so this is a guy who really does it all well and I think is going to have a Unreal season inside right tle stadium that I can't wait to see play out but I also think K Reed is spectacular and I think so often Barton will be making the bigger the highlight plays the hit stick plays that will end up on Sports Center K Reed will be the guy who bats the key pass away or does the little thing that causes the play to get disrupted we're talking about K Reed a guy who's played in 35 games started 31 of them two time all Pack 12 selection two over 65 tackles in each of his last two seasons has 11 and a half tackles for loss seven half breakups and two interceptions in that span and I still remember his pick six against UCLA like the very first I think it was the very first play was the first yeah that was just spectacular and you look back in 22 as well he had five sacks so this is a guy who can also do everything for Utah He's a captain for a reason he's gonna be one of the leaders on this defense and Reed is such a such a key piece to this Utah defense because he knows everything he's great in coverage he also understands how to shoot those gaps and break through his film study is phenomen this Duo is spectacular yeah 100% And and like you said they both can can you know execute at multiple levels of the field they they can both get to the quarterback they can both uh have pass C you know be great in pass coverage um but they also have differences which which makes it uh so lethal you know uh like you said Barton is the guy who will make the big plays and and you know get on the Highlight Reel and and everyone will be ooing and on over him and then Reed is just going to be the guy who's making the little plays and and keeping you know he's going to be the one who uh is going to keep the defense running and as a captain this year he is you know the Pres his presence um even off the field and in the locker room is so important and uh you know while and I know we're going to talk about this I I know that the the linebacker room behind him is isn't great or we don't know um but these two guys are going to be special this year and I think Morgan scall with his new approach to to the defense they're going to they're going to Blossom I totally agree I think they're going to have a monster year I think they're going to be one of the best Duos in the country I just feel like there'll be very few times on the year where we're like oh Lander and K missed a tackle in this spot and they were a huge part of the reason that this Utah defense held five or actually I think it was seven yeah held seven opponents last year under 14 points they're a huge part of the reason this Utah even finishes a top five run defense to so these guys are elite players and it will more than likely be both of their last years at Utah so we're gonna Savor up every moment with them this fall and they are great like we said but the depth behind them has serious questions based on how they've looked in the past and of course the injury to liamani deun he was a great third linebacker to have he's not there anymore so how does the state of the linebacker room look behind Lander Barton and Ken Reed that's what we have to discuss in one moment but first we have to talk to you guys about one of the sponsors of today's episode of lock on you it's our friends at ibata are you drink dreaming about that summer vacation that but just dreading the cost with iata you get cash back on all your purchases so you can spend more time making the memories this summer and less time dreaming about them ibata is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop you can earn on hundreds of items from groceries to Beauty Supplies even toys so you can make sure you're beating inflation no matter what you're purchasing the average ey body user earns $256 per year that could cover the cost of an entire shopping trip that flight you've been eyeing or the fancy dinner you've absolutely been craving other apps you get points that don't amount to much but with ibata you earn cash back that you can withdraw to your bank account PayPal or gift card simply add offers in the app and upload your receipt and voila the money 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right you have the contenders the next tier and then kind of the other schools that are still trying to figure out their identity it's a really fun show where we get all the angles of the Big 12 if you want to know the main story lines and everything going on with those teams you can check out our locked on college football Big 12 season preview today all right Elijah keeping it going here looking at the rest of the linebacker room Ken Reed and Lander Barton have proven that they're an exceptional Duo they won the Pack 12 Championship together in 2022 in 23 they were a great Duo that held a lot of team in check before Lander got hurt but because they've been so good we don't really know what's behind them mention leani deun he got hurt in Spring ball and is an injury that unfortunately keep him out for most if not all of the year the last time we were updated on that back in April and so we looking at the rest of the depth in this group there are a lot of question marks I think the first guy that would come in if there is a need for a linebacker and you do often play three linebackers is C fotu yes in 11 games last year he was returning from his mission had 18 tackles including seven in the opener versus Florida but there were several times on last season where it's like okay you could still see he was getting his legs back getting the flow back of things there was just a clear drop off in linebacker play when from what we REM from what from just watching those games to when you went from Lander Barton K Reed to sonone Fu so that's where I have questions I trust this staff I've heard we've heard good things about him coming out of fall Camp all Camp so I think that we can see some good things from F2 he's going to be the first guy in but if if we're just going on how he played last year that there are questions then how he's going to perform this fall right and I actually wrote an article about the the linebacker room uh about a month or so ago and it is it is pretty scary especially um if we get hit by let's hope not but if we get hit by the injury bug again you know um if if one of those if if either Reed or Barton go down uh you have fotu who is you know could be a very solid guy for us and I think he has improved a lot but again we don't have much to go off of um that that says that he could be like a solid option for us um and and then behind him really there's there's a bunch of unknowns um in terms of like how how they would uh work with the with the team um and so I I it is it is worrisome um but I think fotu I I do believe that he will be the guy that could step up and and be uh you know that kind of Deone type player should Reed or Barton go down um but and or even you know even if they are healthy and we play a three three linebacker set I think he could learn a lot from Reed art yeah he definitely he definitely can it'll be an opportunity for him to grow this season and he's gonna have a great opportunity to be one of the starters come 2025 so excited to see what he can do I think Colton Swan is a great coach as we as we' kind of both like just mentioned the trust we have there so that's where I excited to see what it looks like outside of him the other guys you know Trey Reynolds is the guy that Steve ble of KSL Sports recently highlighted as someone who since coming back from his mission has made really good progress but it is another example of a guy just you know kind of getting back in football shape all that so we'll see how he contributes Josh Calvert's been here for a while but he's only seen limited action in games so yeah outside of F2 at least as the backup experience not a lot of great candidates you feel strongly about that's where dunyi was going to be that guy and then fotu being your fourth linebacker like my gosh that's a heck of a room basically but that's not that's not how it ended up uh shaking out for Utah so going to be interested to see what this linebacker room looks like but either way we trust Colton Swan and the guys that he puts out there and the top two we mentioned are in for big things coming up this fall and speaking of in for big things the Utah football team is expected obviously to do some great things this year and when you're expected do that it's because of the elite players the Reese's Senior Bowl took notice and they recently relas their senior bull watch list and included 13 Utah football players cam ryzen maai Bernard Micah Pitman Dorian singer Brant keithy jiren C Junior tuna aliki B Mahi Connor OU Lander Barton keni Reed alak alakai Gilman and zamaya vaugh it's one of the things you love to see and since Josh furong of ksl.com was kind enough to put this out Utah has 13 players on the Senior Bowl watch list and then next after that is you get Arizona with 11 so Utah is the most among Big 12 teams NFL Scouts are taking notice of this team's talent and I don't think it's surprising that so many of these guys are on here because the Senior Bowl is for older college football players and that's one of the reasons that Utah is going to be awesome is because they have guys who were wning winning conference championships all the way back in 2021 yeah and you know the Senior Bowl is always really exciting to see you know the Utah colors being represented and last year um you know a lot a few of our guys made made a name from M themselves and improve their draft stock pretty pretty impressively as a result of their Senior Bowl performance and so I'd expect you know that now that we have a bigger pool of of players attending the event this year uh that's going to be a lot to a lot to watch out for um but I I mean and I I think it will uh lend well to Utah's draft prospects um in 2025 because you know there our team our players are developed so well um and sometimes they don't always get the uh recognition they deserve and so the Senior Bowl kind of launches them uh to that next level it absolutely does so love that all the guys are on here um a couple of guys too like I was I mean I love that licki viahi made it on here that's a guy who is incredibly valuable this Utah defense but so often gets overlooked because when you notice someone you notice Junior tuna even last year Keanu tanov Vasa broke on because of his pass rushing abilities too but man by Mahi excels at clogging up the middle of the field as well as he is a ten aous pass rusher too who has a nasty B rush so love that he was on there I'll be honest I do think this list easily could have been 15 because we all the guys who are on the watch list there's some names that aren't on there and we'll talk about maybe some of the underrated guys who have a should have a chance to maybe make the Senior Bowl but like to me van fillinger is a guy absolutely should have been on this list when you look at what he's done over the last few seasons talked about it on yesterday's show all the contributions he's had as a pass rusher overall or just earlier this week we talked about he's a guy who was 13 and a half sacks over the last three years too so and five and a half if you go back to what he did back in 2022 as or 21 and 22 so really high on what finger can do and Damen Alford has all the skills and intangibles to really Excel not just Utah but in the NFL too so those two were the biggest on missions other guys I thought that could have been on this list and I know there's only so many you're gonna select anyways but you look at simote Peppa money Parks Keen uh Ken and Johnson all like solid guys that I think could have made it under the radar ones that have a shot Cole Becker toita fotu Johnny Maya depending on if he starts Jack baser Kaleb loner and Mickey sugat traga all guys that I don't expect to be in this game but I think at the end of the year if they have a great year they will have a chance to get there as well but out of all those guys I mentioned who did you feel was kind of like okay I would have loved to see him on this list as well money Parks you know he he's he's a very underrated wide receiver in our setup um his speed you know obviously speed kills um in the NFL nowadays and so I I would I would have loved to to watch him you know burn the Senior Bowl cornerbacks and that would that'd be you know a lot of fun to watch and and I think that would translate he his skill set translates well to the Pro game um so he he was the name that I was kind of like wow especially since um Pitman made the made the roster um and and you know Parks didn't but like you said we could he could earn a spot as the season goes on so well hopefully hopefully we'll see him there yep he'll have a chance to as will a lot of these guys and look it's going to be very highly unlikely that Utah has 13 guys get selected anyway so it's always interesting to see how it goes but uh it's a great honor for Utah that Jim naggie and his staff who do a great job atesa senior bll took notice and sent out these uh this early season watch list excited to see how the year plays out for these guys I'm also excited to hear how Elijah thinks the season's going to play out for Utah because he's going to be dropping his bold prediction as we are just a week away from the season can't wait to hear that in one moment but first have to talk to you about one of the sponsors of today's episode of Locked on Utes our friends at ultimate college football head coach hey locked on Utes fans I want to take a moment to give you a heads up on a brand new mobile game that I think you're going to love as much as I do ultimate college football head coach in this amazing game in simulation you get to step inside the shoes of a head coach and lead your college football program to Glory can you imagine actually being the head coach of the Utah UTS from from recruiting players hiring a coaching staff to overseeing training camps and handling your school scholarships which we know what a world would can be that can be right now you control every 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I've been having my guest close out the show with a bold prediction and I am excited to hear yours all right so I've been adoring singer Homer this entire offseason so my buold take is that he's going to win the Fred bitof award this year I think he will be the best wide receiver in college football um you know cam rising and him have such good chemistry literally from jump they had great chemistry I think he is right up there with King Kade as the most talented Target Rising has ever had um and I feel like it's just everything is just going to click um it it feels everything around it just seems to to work like to mesh and so I think it's going to lead to a big season and I have singer taking home the bluff I like it how many yards you think he's going to have this year man let's go let's go for 1,500 let's let's let's let's let's get him let's get him there I love it I love it and I I will say for anyone who thinks like oh that's crazy Dorian went over a thousand yards already too right so if he's doing that Utah's winning this offense maximizes his skill set and I know Elijah you had an opportunity to see see their Connection in the spring firsthand too with the practices you ble to watch as well as attending the spring games so I I I think that he has a definite chance to be one of the best receivers in college football I'm excited to see it how it shakes out and man if he is up for the blit the cof that means Utah was doing some special things this fall which is something I can't wait to watch it play out Elijah thanks again for hopping on with me if people want more of your work where should they head over to uh you can follow my ex account uh it should be right below here Elijah G Murray um I repost all my articles there um and we write on Athlon Sports all use so you can check out all of our articles on there we keep up you know with all the latest news and and stuff surrounding Utah Sports and so yeah it's it's great to be on and it's always nice to to see you and to talk Utah football with you I appreciate you taking the time and coming well research my friend and like I said enjoy that first game coming up next week it's going to be a special Year yes sir we'll do and if it's not a special year well then I'm going to be in a lot of trouble for some of the comments I've made on this show so you all righty that's going to do it for today's episode got a fun Friday show tomorrow coming up moose Bing will be joining me there's only one position we haven't previewed yet it's the offensive line my biggest question about this team heading into the fall so make sure you guys tune in in tomorrow show it'll be a fun discussion with a former Utah player himself in Moose Bingham alrighty that's going to do it for our episode we'll be back with you tomorrow thanks again to Elijah for stopping by and we'll see you on tomorrow's locked on use