He’s a guy that has a ton of upside. As I’ve said before, he’s probably the most athletic of our offensive linemen, which you need at left tackle. It’s the most demanding spot. – Kyle Whittingham
SALT LAKE CITY — Sam Tevi is starting to pull away for Utah’s starting left tackle position on the offensive line, for the moment at least, which would complete a difficult transition he has made from the defensive line that began leading into last season.
Tevi, a junior, has been the projected starter with redshirt freshman Jackson Barton close behind. After the team’s first scrimmage of fall camp on Thursday, Tevi appeared to remain the front-runner.
“Sam Tevi started to separate himself a little bit at the left tackle spot,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “He’s a guy that has a ton of upside. As I’ve said before, he’s probably the most athletic of our offensive linemen, which you need at left tackle. It’s the most demanding spot.”
However, Whittingham added that while the offensive line has begun to solidify, nothing is final with a few weeks left until the regular season opens Sept. 3 against Michigan. That includes the possibility of center Siaosi Aiono switching to a tackle spot and Hiva Lutui taking the starting center position.
“You always say the best five will play,” Whittingham said. “Whatever combination we need to sort out, we’ll get the best five on the field. We may very well see Siaosi at tackle, we’ll see.”
On Saturday, Whittingham said he hopes to have most of his depth chart order complete after the team’s upcoming scrimmage on Tuesday.
If the decision is to keep Aiono at center, Jim Harding, Utah’s co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, said Tevi played well and would be ahead of Barton, but with nothing finalized with one week of fall camp left.
In Thursday’s scrimmage, Harding said the offensive line as a whole only surrendered one sack until the two-minute drills, when play began to get shaky. While many of the positions may be set, Harding said the left tackle spot remains a tough battle, especially with it between a lineman who has played the position for just two years and a redshirt freshman. He added their battle isn’t helped by facing one of the best defensive lines each day in practice.
However, Harding said he’s seen “tremendous” improvement since his first day on the offensive line.
“[He is] understanding what defenses are trying to do pre-snap, understanding the finer points of the footwork and things that it takes to be a good offensive lineman, and he works hard at it,” Harding said. “He is improving every day. Small steps going forward and as long as he’s going forward and not backward, I think we’re making progress.”
Meanwhile, Tevi is doing his best working to improve his craft in what he said has been a "hard" transition learning a completely new side of the ball. Some of the difficulty has been overthinking what the opposing defensive lineman is going to do once the ball is snapped.
That's one aspect he's improved on, but Tevi admits there are still some minor flaws in his game he’s trying to work on in fall camp, while trying to earn the trust that is needed when given the job to protect the quarterback’s blind side.
“I want to catch the coach’s eye to where he can trust me and I can trust myself,” Tevi said, following Saturday’s practice. “If I can trust myself and he trusts me, then the whole team can trust me.”
Knowing that Whittingham will send out his best five linemen, Tevi said he doesn’t think he is worthy of being one of those five while camp continues.
“I want to humble myself to where when Sept. 3 comes, I want to be on that five,” he said. “As of right now, I don’t consider myself as a top five or as the best five.”
While he continues to focus on his area while trying to win a starting job for the opener, Tevi also said there is a little more improvement that the entire line can make.
“I think we need to improve on our run blocking — especially myself — just to open those holes for (Devontae Booker) so he can do his thing that he does,” Tevi said.