Whichever quarterback Utah settles on to run the revamped attack of first-year offensive coordinator Troy Taylor, he might turn out to be only the second-most important part of the Utes’ new air-raid equation.
Utah’s identity in recent years has been built on NFL-caliber offensive linemen and running backs. The idea that all of a sudden the wide receivers will be the primary cogs in this new offensive machine can be both refreshing and unnerving. How the receivers adapt to Taylor’s offense and whether or not they can thrive against Pac-12 defenses will be a major theme of the Utes’ season.
“I feel like the receivers have a sense that we’re passing the ball a lot more this year, and they know they have to be accountable out there assignment-wise, making plays, that whole deal,” Utes senior quarterback Troy Williams said. “... Just the fact that they know they’re going to be included in the offense a lot helps their confidence, helps them to want to be great.”
The Utes passing attack has not distinguished itself in recent years. Last season, the Utes ranked ninth in the Pac-12 in passing yards per game (216.7) and 10th in pass efficiency (120.8 rating). In six seasons in the Pac-12, the Utes have never ranked higher than ninth in passing yards or eighth in passing efficiency.
Taylor’s offense at Eastern Washington led FCS in passing yards per game (401) and ranked third in both passing efficiency (168.19) and scoring (42.4 points per game) last season. That offense produced three receivers with more than 1,100 yards in one season. The Utes have had two 1,000-yard receivers since 2005.
Utah’s second-year eceiver coach, Guy Holliday, believes that the unit took a step forward last season, and has taken another two or three steps already this year. He’s optimistic about the receiving corps potential if it can avoid injuries.
“This group is a lot more diverse as far as talent base than it was last year,” Holliday said. “The depth is not quite where I want it, but it’s definitely better.”
The Utes lost three of their top four receivers from last season. The lone holdover is Raelon Singleton, a 6-foot-3, 212-pound redshirt junior came into his own last season as the team’s second-leading receiver with 27 catches for 464 yards.
“It was time to step up and put everything to the side,” Singleton said. “I learned a lot from [senior] Tim Patrick. That was I guess, the leader in the group last year. I looked up to him. He taught me a lot of things. Now, it’s my time to do what he did last year.”
Darren Carrington II, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound graduate transfer from Oregon, adds a proven big-play threat to the Utah offense. A former all-conference receiver who’d been suspended twice by Oregon and eventually dismissed from that program in July after an arrest for DUI, Carrington has 1,919 career receiving yards and a career average of 17.1 yards per catch.
While Singleton and Carrington have the most established track records of the group, several of the offensive returners — including Williams — described the addition of Carrington just before the start of camp as simply another weapon in what they already expected to be a significantly improved group this season.
“I don’t know if there’s more play-makers or if everyone is just working a lot harder than we did last year,” receiver Samson Nacua said. “I don’t know what it is, but you can definitely feel the difference between last year’s receiving corps and this year’s. Maybe it’s that we bond a lot more together and everyone is just really pushing each other and working harder.”
The scoreboard in the wide receivers’ meeting room serves as daily catalyst for internal competition. Every route, catch, drop and assignment throughout practice gets graded.
“We look at it and be like, ‘I’m going to get them tomorrow. All right, I’m at the bottom this week, I’m going to go get them tomorrow,’” said senior Troy McCormick, who has spent time at receiver as well as running back during camp. “It just brings out that competition, and competition brings out the best of everybody.”
Throughout preseason camp, the coaching staff has praised the progress made by Demari Simpkins, a 5-foot-10 speedy sophomore slot receiver who started five games last year (19 catches, 158 yards), as well as Nacua, a redshirt freshman from Provo.
While starters haven’t been named publicly, Taylor identified Carrington, Singleton, Nacua, Simpkins and Siaosi Wilson, a sophomore who started seven games last season, as the leading candidates earlier this week.
“Overall it’s a bigger, stronger, faster group than we’ve had,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said.
UTAH’S PASSING ATTACK<br>Last 1,000-yard receiver: Dres Anderson (2013)<br>Last 3,000-yard passer: Mike McCoy (1994)<br>Utes’ Pac-12 passing rankings<br>2016<br>Yards per game: 216.7 (ninth)<br>Efficiency: 120.8 (10th)<br>2015<br>Yards per game: 180.0 (11th)<br>Efficiency: 127.3 (10th)<br>2014<br>Yards per game:197.7 (12th)<br>Efficiency: 130.9 (ninth)<br>2013<br>Yards per game:236.2 (ninth)<br>Efficiency:121.9 (11th)<br>2012<br>Yards per game: 190.7 (12th)<br>Efficiency: 127.3 (eighth)<br>2011<br>Yards per game: 173.2 (12th)<br>Efficiency: 125.7 (ninth)