It’s a bye week and the Cougars are 4-0. The coaching staff isn’t taking a vacation though, they are currently all across the country on the recruiting trail looking for the #2015ChosenOnes. We decided to follow suit at Lawless Republic and focus on some recruiting news this weekend. Here is the Lawless Republic BYU Recruiting Big Board 3.0.
Team Needs
Offensive Line- There is no secret about it; BYU’s offensive line has left a lot to be desired the last few seasons. They have had some talent the last couple of years, but our Cougars always need more talent in the trenches.
Defensive Back- Craig Bills, Robertson Daniel and Jordan Johnson will all graduate following the 2014 season. Not only does BYU need defensive backs, they need defensive backs that can play immediately.
Running Back- Depth. Go Fast, Go Hard is intense. Depth, depth, depth.
Quarterback- Christian Stewart graduates this year. Walk-on (and third string) QB Hayden Griffits will likely go on a mission following the season. That leaves BYU will just Taysom Hill. Tanner Mangum and Trent Hosick should both be arriving in Provo prior to the 2015 season, but I think they need another QB.
Wide Receiver- Not a huge need, but depth.
Oct 12, 2013; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars linebacker Alani Fua (5) celebrates after scoring off an interception during the second half of a football game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Brigham Young Cougars won 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Jim Urquhart-USA TODAY Sports
Big Board
*= already committed.
Dayan Lake*– Probably the jewel of the class. Longtime defensive back commit from Northridge High School in Layton, Utah. Likely headed on a mission after graduation. He’s been tormenting all of Region 1 in northern Utah this season. Lake will be dynamic.
Mika Tafua*– DE/OLB prospect of Hawaii. Tafua is starting to garner interest from a number of big time programs. He committed to BYU early on before he had much attention from other schools so it’s going to be important for BYU to finish strong with Tafua.
Will Sedgwick*– MLB prospect out of Laguna Hills, CA. He’s a tackle machine. BYU’s MLBs are required to be tackling machines.
Devin Kaufusi*– DE/OLB prospect from Brighton High School. He’s a Kaufusi. Do you need me to really say anything else?
Khari Vanderbilt*– JUCO defensive back (I think he plays safety at BYU) from San Jose City College. Shoutout to Robertson Daniel for selling BYU to this kid.
David Lui*– DE Pittsburgh CA. The guy can play. His recruiting hasn’t taken off as much as it should have yet, and it might not now that he’s committed. But don’t kid yourself, he would have had a handful of PAC-12 offers had he let the process play out.
Kody Wilstead*– QB Pineview High School, St. George, Utah. Committed to BYU this past week. He has an NFL caliber arm and is mobile enough that he can be very effective. He’s throwing the ball all over the competition this year. I think he’s going to be a real player at BYU.
Riley Burt*– DB/RB from Box Elder High School in Brigham City, UT. Burt pulled the trigger last week on committed to BYU. He’s a raw talent, but he’s got a lot of talent. No mission plans for him so BYU can look forward to grooming him for four or five straight years.
Akile Davis*- Davis was on Big Board 1.0 but I had removed him from Big Board 2.0 because I thought he was an enormous long shot for BYU. Much to my surprise, he recently announced he would be attending BYU. The 6’1″ WR from Texas turned down offers from Indiana and San Diego State to come to BYU. He’s not done racking up offers and there is still a long time to hold onto him before National Signing Day. Davis is important for BYU.
Tevita Mounga*– DT from Vista Murrieta High School in Murrieta, CA. This three star athlete is the prototypical NT for Bronco Mendenhall’s defense. He’s an Eathyn Manumaleuna/Romney Fuga type. Depending on what recruiting site you check, Mounga has reported offers from Washington, Arizona and Utah.
– OL from American Fork, UT. I put the 10 that already committed to BYU at the top of the list but Empey may b e the most important get for BYU. So far this season he’s looked like he’s ready to step onto a division 1 college football team and play right now. BYU is battling Washington and Utah for Empey’s talents.
Sep 11, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars head coach Bronco Mendenhall before the game against the Houston Cougars at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Kieffer Longson– OL from Doughtry Valley High School in San Ramon, CA. This four star prospect has BYU in his top three teams with the Utah and Ohio State. He’s big, he’s physical and he’s the kind of offensive lineman that BYU used to get regularly. He and Empey would be huge boosts to the future offensive line at BYU. Hopefully, they’re not wearing red next season.
William Auwae– OT Kapolei High School, Kaplei, HI. Depending on where you look, Auwae is listed at 6’5″ and between 260-275 lbs. He received an offer after visiting BYU’s campus a couple of weeks ago. BYU needs big men. Auwae looks plenty capable of filling a need for the Cougars.
Jeremiah Ieremia– LB from Hurricane, UT. Ieremia is one of the hardest hitting seniors in the western United States this year. He has made a couple of unofficial visits to BYU this season. He needs to be a Cougar. He would continue the long line of hard hitting BYU linebackers.
Mufi Hunt– OLB that played at Brighton High School last season and is at Taylorsville this year. I stand by my “young Alani Fua” comparison for Hunt. One could also make a case that he looks like Utah’s Nate Orchard when he was coming out of high school. He’s got offers from a whole bunch of PAC-12 schools. BYU still has work to do here.
Quinn Fabrizio– S/OLB Alta High School, Sandy, Utah. He’s a big defensive back. He looks like a linebacker playing safety. In a recent interview with Scout.com, Fabrizio said that he’s focused on BYU, Utah, Utah State, Wisconsin and Washington. He believes more offers may be coming, but those are the five schools he cares about most.
Gabe Reid– DE/OLB prospect out of Timpview in Provo. The kid can flat out play. I like BYU’s chances here but I think that Stanford is a real threat.
Elias Miller– RB from Las Vegas, NV. Miller runs a little tall, but he’s similar size to Jamaal Williams was when he came out of high school and he runs a faster 40. Cross your fingers that Miller ends up like Jamaal. Miller has visited BYU a couple of times in the last few months and it seems like Miller is the clear frontrunner.
Britain Covey– WR/QB from Timpview. If Covey only had a few more pounds on him I think he would be the top prospect in Utah. He is absolutely dynamic. Yes, he’s small, but he is a football player. He’s JD Falslev with more upside. Utah is a real threat to steal Covey from BYU.
D’erren Wilson– WR Greenville, TX. The commitment of Davis makes it so Wilson isn’t imperative, but two tall receivers from Texas would be good for the program and good for the future of this BYU offense.
Thadd Daniels– JUCO CB from Cerritos College in Norwalk, CA. He should probably he higher on the big board. He has a Utah offer. Utah knows CBs. Daniels is the real deal.
Charlie Grammel– At 6’4″, 285 lbs. Grammel has the size to be a talented offensive lineman at the next level. He doesn’t have super impressive resume of offers, but he looks like a talented guard. Kyle Johnson or Brock Stringham are fair comparisons.
Charles West– RB Speedy back from Coppell, Texas. I think BYU is a dark horse for West, but we’ll see.
Lopini Katoa– RB/LB American Fork, UT. Katoa doesn’t have an offer yet, but the 6’1″, 200 lb. running back from American Form should. He’s bursting onto the scene in Utah. Another aspect to consider with Katoa; he’s best friends with James Empey. This would be a dynamic package.
Jonah Moi– OLB Riverside City College in Redlands, CA. Moi received an offer after attending the BYU Camp at Redlands Camp. At 6’4″, 245 lbs this JUCO prospect could be an immediate contributor at BYU. Though he is currently committed to Hawaii, he seems really excited about the potential of playing at BYU.
There are more players that have reported offers and more that are receiving interest. This is my best guess at each of them and how important they are for BYU.
Recruits that BYU had their eyes on but won’t be heading to Provo
Steve Miller– OL Gilbert, AZ. He was previously #7 on our big board here, but recently committed to Arizona State. If BYU could somehow flip him that would be great, but he seems pretty set on becoming a Sun Devil.
Sam Mays– WR from Houston, TX. Previously #15 on our big board. He committed to Illinois this past week. Bummer for BYU.
Adrian Miller– WR from Houston, TX. Previously #20 on our big board. He also committed to Illinois this past week. What is with all the quality WRs going to Illinois?
Kevin Estes– OL San Marcos, CA. Estes was #12 on our previous big board. He announced he’d be joining Gary Andersen in Wisconsin.
Branden Bowen– OL Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah. #13 on our last big board. He announced he would be attending Utah and then Urban Meyer offered him a day later. What we do know, however, is he won’t be attending BYU.
Cameron Scarlett– RB from Central Catholic High School in Portland, OR. He hasn’t announced what school he’ll attend, but it’s not going to be BYU. It was a really long shot from day one.
Stay tuned before Fall Camp starts as we continue to track the #2015ChosenOnes.
