Utah Football: Is Isaac Wilson ready to back up Cam Rising?

Intro will Isaac Wilson be ready if he gets thrust into action this fall and how is the Utah defensive backfield looking that's what we're going to be discussing on today's locked on use you are locked on Utes your daily podcast on the Utah Utes part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day h hello everyone and thank you for making locked on you it's you are first listen every single day part of the locked on podcast Network we are available wherever you get your podcast if you are in the market for a second listen make sure you check out locked on college football or locked on Big 12 as we gear up for this season which gets underway this Saturday thankfully this is your first time listening to the show make sure you like And subscribe you can follow us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast and we are brought to you today by our great friends at game time today's episode of on is brought to you by game time you can download the game time app create an account and use code locked on College all caps no spaces for $20 off your first purchase today terms do apply my name is JT weril former intern inside the University of Utah athletic department excited to be joined today by Utah beat writer Michelle Will Isaac Wilson be ready Bodkin and Michelle as we get ready for this Utah season one of the lingering things that comes with being led by cam Rising is his health keep should he's going to be good to go we're going to see him in the first game like that's not what we're worried about but every year he's been at Utah right there's been an injury at one point or another that usually takes him out of some action so the backup quarterback spot is very important and obviously we're knocking on wood hopefully Isaac Wilson only comes in in garbage time this season but there's a chance that he might have to come in start a game even I go back to how crucial it was when Bryson Barnes versus Washington State in 22 came in and won that game so the question is will Isaac Wilson be ready and can Utah win with Isaac Wilson and I do believe because of his talent and the roster and coaching around him I believe that answer is an emphatic yes yeah I think Isaac is just a guy that kind of has it what whatever that is to to quote with you know uh I think that became very apparent in the spring game uh you know that's really the only thing that myself you know other media fans have to go on at the moment the coaches have a whole hell of a lot more film and whatnot to to dissect on him and the other QB and I think you know it just was abundant abundantly clear that he's ready for the moment no moments too big for him uh and that's not to say that he won't go in and make mistakes if he's called upon in in that way um you know he's a freshman and he's he's going to make mistakes and he's going to have to learn some things but I think part of what tipped him over the edge maybe compared to some of the others is that when he makes mistakes he learns from them quickly and he's not repeating them over and over and over again so and and you pair that with you know he has a good arm he has good Mobility uh you know it's those are things that Utah and Andy Ludwick have kind of been loving as of late uh those are things that cam does quite well as well so you're not having to change the game plan and think the other comforting thing too is he has a lot of Veteran targets to go to right uh you you have a guy like Brant keithy that you can lean on you can lean on McKai Bernard uh Dorian singer hasn't been in the program forever but he's been there done that you know so I mean he he he's not new to playing football at that level so you know and that's just three three guys like that that doesn't even get into the guys on the line and some of the other weapons that are scattered across the offense so it's you know I feel like it's a combination of he's good and he's ready to go I I think you know again he just seems to have proven that he can handle that moment uh and then on top of that you know you have guys a lot of guys that he can kind of lean on in that situation if that situation does arise I agree completely because of love what you mentioned about the veteran Supporting Cast and look he beat out Backup QBs some other guys too of like hey Sam hu has experience Brandon Rose is his experience in this program not in game experience of course but I I feel confident in Isaac Wilson because the coaches trust him and I think this is also the thing right people last year when you talk about the backup quarterback thing obviously with the season didn't go Utah's way but the truth is Utah beat everyone they were supposed to beat and they lost to the teams when you have a backup quarterback and you're facing NFL quarterbacks you're going to lose to Utah last year lost to bonck and Michael penck both of whom were top 15 pick in the NFL draft the only one they didn't lose to that didn't have a great QB because I I know if fa I think he's going to have a monster season coming up here I think he's incredibly talented that Arizona team obviously ended up being highly ranked because of just the way he came on late in the season the only place Utah didn't win last season in the regular season I'm not talk about the nor the bowl game but I'm talking about in the regular season was Oregon State where no one had won outside of Washington in like years when until the huskys had came up there last fall too so this Utah team performed very well with backup quarterbacks they've won in the past Isaac Wilson does not need put this team on his back when he comes in he needs to be part of the reason they have success and not even one of the main reasons and to me he's absolutely capable of doing that and to me like there's really three games on the schedule that I look at like okay the Oklahoma State game this year the Arizona game this year and the game at UCF that I'm like those will be and I and then the Colorado one as well as one where it's like okay Utah's a better team than Colorado but that shador Sanders with the quarterback talent that He is versus Isaac Wilson that's another one that could be tough but but outside of that like UT Utah should still beat the likes of BYU Houston Arizona State like there's so many of these games I look at I'm like okay if Isaac Wilson is in I I still feel confident that Utah is gonna do that and that's a testament to this roster as a whole tot I mean I I completely agree with you I think BYU could maybe be a little bit hairy just from the standpoint of there's you know some history there and yep absolutely um and the family Dynamic and so like just the pressure of you know trying to you know if you're put in that position as a young guy I could see you maybe trying too hard or he again he could be ready for the moment but that's the same thing Oklahoma State too I mean we sit here and go oh I think already you know giving someone like that a little bit of leeway oh well he's a young guy he he hasn't played at this level you know it might be a little bit tough for him um but you know I mean maybe he would surprise us and he again he's ready for the moment we've seen a lot of freshman quarterbacks not necessarily at Utah per se uh but just you know you sit and watch a college football season how many times has a freshman come in for whatever reason um and and kind of surprised everybody so it does happen I think it's always good to go in with the expectation that mistake again mistakes will be made it might not be the prettiest game ever you might want to Ben him because that's just what fans do the next the next guy on the bench is always better than the one on the field right but uh you know there's also the possibility that we all walk walk away completely surprised and or maybe not even completely surprised but just optimistically surprised I don't know what what I'm saying here but you know what I mean like that that it's a pleasant surprise there we go that's what I was trying to say you know we're pleasantly surprised uh and and I you know I think he has that capability uh it's just I I always hesitate to put that pressure on someone when you're talking about Wilson Utahs schedule and not being like surprised if Utah wins like wins some of those games I absolutely agree I mean Utah should if Isaac Wilson starts and Utah goes to still wat Utah should not win that game that's a veteran Oklahoma State team and you need a great quarterback to more than like like just should win that game but Utah's roster is so good that I do think think hey contain olly Gordon Alan Bowman makes a mistake like Isaac Wilson does just enough because there there isn't a game on Utah schedule where it's like okay Cam Rising has to be amazing or else Utah is gonna lose like the USC game a couple years ago the regular season one that's what that game became is Cam rising and dton con Kate had to put on their Superman capes or else Utah was going to falter in that match up to the Trojans that game doesn't really exists to me right now where it's play at that level or go home and that's why I think we feel good about if Isaac Wilson comes in Utah should still be able to keep their momentum going too no they're not going to be as good as if Cam Rising was in there because cam Rising is one of the best quarterbacks returning to college football Isaac Wilson in many ways is an unknown but an unknown that has already won the backup job and we've seen Utah do well with backups in the past so I think we feel pretty confident if Isaac Wilson has to come in and it'll be interesting to see how he looks I mean hey we're gonna I Michelle we're getting to get our first look at him in a little over a week here against Southern Utah he's he's going to get in the game and I'm excited to see what the Wilson era looks like in that early matchup because it will be a preview of what I believe will come in 2025 but before we get to 2025 I want to talk about this Utah defensive backfield because yes there's no Cole Bishop son vaki is obviously gone even JT Bron transferred to TCU but zamaya vau still here and there are some other electric playmakers that I'm really excited to see take the field this fall want to dive into the defensive backs in one moment GameTime but first have to talk with you all about our great friends at game time game time has a new feature called game pick that makes getting tickets for your favorite Live Events even easier game pick filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great SE so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets I'm looking at going to some college football games this fall because I am fired up to have the sport I love back so much and the ticket site that I'm going to be be trusting is game time because with game time they just make it simple and easy when you're talking about game time you're talking about a site that allows you to get a 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on the Sunday Ticket action as well head over to FanDuel Defense today all right time to talk about the Utah defensive backfield it was a unit that caught some flak at times last year I mean Utah had a top five run defense and the past defense did not perform to that level but I do think it's important to remember Michelle and everyone so often forgets this is a Utah defense last year that held seven of their opponents under 15 points and only four times gave up more than 30 points those only four times they gave up over 30 points were to guys we've discussed Caleb Williams Michael Pennock B Nick Noah fafo all the first three of those guys have all been involved with the Heisman and faf has a great opportunity this year too so I do think this is a defensive backfield that actually played better than it got credit credit for often because this Utah defense was simply fantastic and one of the reasons this defense was fantastic last year is zamaya vau and he's back in his last two years his 15 B pass breakups lead the team he's led the team in pass breakups in back-to-back years played in 44 games overall during his time at Utah 24 starts all Pack 12 honorable mention from a year ago he's the best cornerback on this team and I'm excited to see him get to match up with some of the top receiv receivers in the Big 12 like a tetora McMillan from Arizona yeah and it sounds like only gone better since we've last seen him and and I think it's really important to point out and remind everyone that Von could have gone to the NFL this past year like there was legit interest in him I was having my NFL scout friends hitting me up hey what do you think about this guy is he gonna go we really like him you know blah blah blah on and on and he ultimately decided to stay another year in school which was huge uh and I don't to be honest with as much play is it sounded like he was getting at least from the people that I know in the NFL I was a little surprised that he came back uh but he he kind of came out and he said you know what I had some things that I felt like I still needed to work on and I wanted to come back and I wanted to you know do this thing with my former teammates and get a little bit better and having talked with Coach sha uh just the other week it sounds like you know he did exactly that he he he worked on some of the little things that sha pointed out to to him that you know he needs to get better at and and he's done those things throughout fall camp and so yes it it sounds like you know he's going to be every bit as good as we remember him being but he's probably going to be better which is I mean who doesn't love hearing that about you know their star cornerback and kind of one of the anchors in that backfield that is overall going to be kind of new faces yeah he's got to be a leader for sure for this group I think he has a chance to be one of if not the best corners and not just the Big 12 but in all of college football because of his returning experience especially improving on some of those things just hard to find guys with his length as well it's what's nice about his ability to knock passes away his wingspan is just gives him um advantage over a lot of those other cornerbacks I feel like you see on the outside and I was gonna say something else that I think makes him a little bit unique and probably why he's so deadly he did play quarter quarterback he he's not originally a cornerback he he was a quarterback uh and Utah gave him his one shot which is why he's stuck around he came out and said that not too long ago um and so he's had to learn this position but I think he sees it Through The Eyes of the signal caller which I I think is fascinating and I think again it maybe explains a little bit why he reads things so well and can see what's coming no that's a great that's a great Point too and it's not the last time we're going to talk about someone in the secondary changing offensive positions to uh defend defensive one I'm sure a lot of you know who teasing but before we get to him first we'll talk about the other guys in the quarterback room the other starters right zayon quarterback one the other outside start cornerback to me because you got to have three guys all times in playing cornerback basically because that's just you're gonna have three wide receivers on the field at all times pretty much you have Keenan Johnson out there the Georgia Tech transfer 45 games played with eight starts last year four passes defended and an interception to this seems like a nice reliable presence too and I think is a guy that I really trust that Sharie Shaw as well brought him in with a plan and it's something he's talked about too so I think he's going to be a nice addition for this team on the outside I think he'll do a good job holding it down and the guy that I'm really excited to see more of his Smith Snowden it was a huge get for Utah a fourstar commit we saw him in the Las Vegas Bowl he looked fantastic he's going to be the nickel guy and I think he is gonna Excel too so if your three corners are Zaya Von Keenan Johnson and Smith Snowden like Utah's are I think that's a really strong group of defensive backs yeah so I mean with Keenan Johnson the the comments been his closing speed right he he he just has a lot of speed he plays with a lot of speed and uh I believe if I remember correctly Shaw's comments after spring was that he's he's had a lot of great cornerbacks in the room but he's never had someone with the speed that K Kenan it's Kenan Kenan Johnson uh yes that's kind of a m Micah I'll get it right though we'll get it right we'll get it right Kenan yes Kenan just plays with a lot of speed that Shaw says he's never had in his room before so I think that's going to be really fun to see and then of course yes if you have Smith Snowden local kid uh you know Co comes from the BYU side of things decides that he wants to go to Utah uh that was a huge get for Utah the last last not this past recruiting cycle but the cycle before uh and as you mentioned you know he had some opportunities to kind of show what he had has he's made the transition to Nickel uh which is not an easy transition but he also gives the UTS some flexibility in the cornerback room as well because he he also can be called upon to play outside corner as well and then you start getting into guys that are kind of backing them up Scooby Davis has made some significant stride strides according to the coaches uh you have CJ blocker That was supposed to be playing nickel he's now been relieved of that Duty it sounds like he's he's more focused in on the outside and and that's just a much more natural fit for him so it's highly possible that we see him and then you have Kamari I'm pretty sure I said that right Kamari Shamwell uh freshman he came in and showed that he has an aptitude for playing nickel so so between all those guys you know I think this cornerback room has kind of come together uh and it will be interesting to see you know who kind of Rises to the top and and stays there or what different kinds of you know mixtures of people uh that can be thrown out there and we didn't even get into safeties that potentially could also be called to the cornerback I mean there's just so many different things that I think youah can do with this defensive back field because they have so many guys that have experience playing other positions so it'll be fun to watch yeah and we we're going to talk about those safeties in one moment too did a great job naming the rest of the quarterbacks the only other guy I'm interested to see at all if we see this fall is Cameron Calhoun he's a guy who transferred in from Michigan as well too and sometimes it takes time to pick up this defense so he'll probably be a guy we see more next fall I would expect but it shows you have a four-star Corner who's transferred over from the national championship team and no he didn't play at Michigan of course but he isn't one of the first few guys we've talked about in general for this and even amongst the backups shows you how strong the cornerback room is for Utah and that's only half the secondary we still have to talk about the safeties and there are four safeties in particular that I'm really fired up that Utah has on the back end want to break down their special skill sets in one moment but first we have to talk with Ibata you about our friends at ibata it's summer time which means it's barbecue season you can stock up on all your grilling favorites and earn cash back on every purchase when you use iata so you won't have to choose between burgers or hot dogs you can get both of them the average ey body user earns $2 56 per year that could cover the cost of an entire shopping trip that flight you've been eyeing or that fancy dinner you've been craving other apps give you points that don't amount to much with ibata you earn cash back that you can withdraw to your bank 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secondary and it's a move that worked out great played lot some nickel last year even a little bit of safety but his moved to safety fulltime coaches have been raving about him and this feels like he could very well be the next great Utah saw defensive backs made 12 starts in his first year playing defensive back like you said mostly played at nickel had 33 tackles he was second on the team with five pass breakups and he did not get the snaps as a lot as many as a lot of those other guys did too so I was impressed by that and and he still had a large amount of snaps but still wasn't one of the the starters you saw out there all the time and he had seven third down stops too so this is a guy that I think is if you were gonna say who's going to be the star the defensive backfield as good as and I think Zaya vau is a chance to be as well too but like Tao Johnson I could very well I think T has a chance to even be maybe if it all clicks together with how the coaches talk about him and Lander Barton could be this too I think there's a chance he could be the first Utah player drafted just based on the comments we've heard from the coaches yeah the coaching staff is really high on Tao and this move that he's made to safety uh you know when you start hearing names like Marcus Williams and Robert Johnson and uh Julian Blackman kind of thrown around and the those are all guys that were amazing free safeties for Utah and it's likely that we're going to see T Teo mostly at free safety uh it feels like that's just kind of where they see him and where he's been practicing the most uh and has really picked picked up some steam uh I I think that's exciting and I mean he he looks every bit kind of you know along the same lines as those guys so it's not hard to imagine and yeah again coming in I think with that knowledge of how an offense works what a wide receiver is trying to do I think is helpful you know when you're trying to stop those plays so that's something that I think he brings to the table and I'm excited to see what he can do and obviously we hinted at it in the last segment again with him having played nickel and he plays some outside corner as well you can move him around and stick him in a couple of different places and and use a different combination of guys and I think you know that is just something that potentially could make this defense really really hard for offenses to deal with is the versatility of the guys that they're playing yep absolutely agree and I'm excited to see Teo have a monster year and yeah he's the free safety who's going to be the strong safety well there's some there's some nice candidates as well around him just in the rest of the safety room there are four guys I expect to really contribute ta's number one you got Nate Richie was really good in 2020 then went on to serve his mission the next year and returned last year you know took him some time just get his field back get his footing there but like once we reached the Las Vegas game he looked exceptional and so did Jonathan Hall who he played in that game with who had five tackles and a sack in the game 19 stops from him total on the year I I love the way that those two players complement each other I thought they played great together and alakai Gilman's a guy who just transferred him from Stanford started all nine games and he appeared in last year 50 tackles three pass breakups and one int played in 32 games over three years for the Cardinal like the Utah has legitimately four highlevel potential starting safeties in my opinion on this roster and there's only two spots of course but I feel great about whatever combination they roll out there I I had to guess right now I'll go Johnson and Nate Richie but I could see them rolling with a number of combinations and I feel good about all of them yeah yeah I mean end of the day I suspect that we'll see all of them quite a bit uh even even if they're not necessarily named the starter that's also something else that Utah loves to do they love to rotate out their defensive guys to keep them fresh and we talk about that a lot more I feel like with the defensive line but they'll do it with the linebackers they'll do it with their DBS uh it's it's something that they're kind of known for something that they typically try to do and it just feels like this year they have a lot of options to be able to keep guys fresh and still maintain a certain level of play yeah I'm I'm excited to see what this group can do I think it's an exceptional group and very well at the end of the year even though there's some questions because we haven't seen him as much some of these guys I feel like at the end of the year this could end up being one of the strengths of the team so it's incredibly a great defensive backfield and obviously Michelle with you got Morgan scall and shie Shaw leading the charge you feel good about whatever defensive backs are out there for Utah yeah yeah it's it's hard not to trust those guys at this point in time they know what they're doing they've put so many guys in the league at this point in time Andor have just given guys that kind of weren't on anybody's radar at least a shot at it you know a cup of tea in the NFL maybe they didn't stick but you know teams are willing to to take a flyer on those guys and it's because they're so well coached and because I think they're just really good at identifying under the radar Talent they really are and it's going to be exciting to see what they can do with this group this fall so that does it for our defensive back talk but Michelle before we get out of here with every guest who's coming on this week I've had them give a bold or a big prediction about the 2024 Utah football season and I want to hear what yours is okay I I will do two I will do one one for the defense one this is a defensive one the pick six streak continues I believe fits year 21 if they get one yeah I I think it's 20 21 years straight if they get one I think someone handles their business and takes care of that for them I'm not entirely sure who it's going to be but I think I think there's several guys that could pull that off uh and then offensively I am going to say that cam Rising breaks Scott Mitchell's 35y old what is it alltime passing record is it alltime passing or career passing I think he's he's on pass if he has a big year I know he's on track to pass him career-wise okay yeah we're we're going it's 35 years old it's time it's time for it to be broken you know AB absolutely and if that happens that means Utah's had a fantastic season too and that's what we all hope and expect so we' love to see cam do that and once again just so fired up that we are basically a week in a day away from Utah football being back Michelle if everyone wants to keep up with your work where should they head over to uh yeah so for now you can check me out at utz.com it's part of the 247 Sports Network and then of course you can follow me online as well on X on threads and on Instagram it's Bodkin is a boss thank you so much again for joining me Michelle great stuff thank you that's gonna do it for today's edition of locked on units we've previewed just about every position except for we still got to talk about the offensive line and linebackers as well as we'll be reacting to all the latest relating to Utah football stick with us on locked on use we'll be back tomorrow