BYU Football: Three players who are under the radar
By Adam Gibby
Zach Wilson, Lopini Katoa and Isaiah Kaufusi are players that fans are always talking about when looking ahead to 2019. But who are the under the radar players we should be talking about?
Going into the 2018 season, all of the hype was around Zach Wilson, Tanner Mangum, Corbin Kaufusi and Sione Takitaki. This was for good reason. In the end, all four played significant time and made a huge difference on the team. But nobody was talking about Matt Hadley, Dayan Ghanwoloku or Aleva Hifo and yet those three players represented arguably the best running back, defensive back and receiver on the team.
Every year we talk about three to four players who are going to be the ”Impact Players”. With it being 191 days away from the first game of the season there are already the frontrunners. There is a lot of coverage on those players, including us, so here is a list of three players who may make a big impact in 2019 but aren’t getting talked about.
3. Moroni Laulu-Pututau
Moroni Laulu-Pututau (MLP) is the definition of a player that is under the radar. With the injury early in the 2018 season, and the emergence of Matt Bushman late in the season, not very many fans are talking about tight end that led the team in receptions before his injury. He is expected to make a full recovery and be ready to practice during the summer. Alongside Matt Bushman, BYU could have one of the most dangerous tight end duos in the nation, especially considering that in the final three games of the season, 36% of Wilson’s completions were to the tight ends.
Granted, we probably won’t see the stat line of TE’s of the past like Jonny Harline or Andrew George because of having Bushman as a second target, but watch out for MLP to be a top three receiver in catches and touchdowns next season.