A season ago, linebackers Gionni Paul and Jared Norris led the University of Utah with a combined 204 tackles. Along with Jason Whittingham, they formed a formidable unit in the middle of the Utes’ defense.
All three were seniors in 2015, however, and Utah will essentially be starting over at the position in 2016 with a group of unproven players.
Returning experience
In short, there’s very little in this department. Head coach Kyle Whittingham said junior Sunia Tauteoli (6-0, 226) performed the best of his linebackers during camp, but the East High School graduate and Snow College transfer only played on defense in three games a year ago (nine contests total) and had one assisted tackle.
He’s atop the depth chart at Mac linebacker.
Sophomore Cody Barton (6-2, 232) is listed as a co-starter at Rover linebacker with newcomer Kavika Luafatasaga (6-4, 237) after playing 12 games exclusively on special teams as a freshman. The former Brighton High School standout tallied seven total tackles in 2015.
Juniors Christian Drews (6-1, 230), Evan Eggiman (6-2, 215) and Alex Whittingham (5-10, 208), plus senior Sharrieff Shah Jr. (6-1, 225), all saw significant playing time in 2015, but they too only appeared on special teams.
Drews and Eggiman were early candidates to contribute at linebacker but have since fallen out of the two-deep.
Despite the inexperience within his unit, Tauteoli is looking forward to the opportunity he and the other linebackers will have to step up and produce in a significant way.
“It’s exciting,” he said of trying to follow the departed linebackers from 2015. “I like the challenge. I like the people doubting. It fires me up. When SUU comes (in the season opener Sept. 1), we’ll see.”
Newcomers to watch
Thankfully for Whittingham, there are some promising names in this department who will likely make an impact on some level in 2016.
The most notable is Luafatasaga, a junior college transfer who most recently played at Arizona Western College. He was considered an elite recruit and ultimately chose the Utes over Ole Miss.
It was widely thought that Luafatasaga would make an immediate impact, but Whittingham has said the junior has yet to get in playing shape, has struggled to master the playbook and that Barton would start at Rover if the season began today.
On Signing Day, Whittingham said Luafatasaga could eventually fill a linebacker/defensive end hybrid role similar to former stars Trevor Reilly, Nate Orchard, Paul Kruger and Koa Misi.
Beyond Luafatasaga, true freshman Donavan Thompson (5-10, 230) of Florida has been a pleasant surprise for Whittingham during camp and is listed on the two-deep behind Tauteoli. Fellow true freshman Davir Hamilton (6-2, 223) came to Utah as a linebacker/wide receiver, but has taken all of his reps at linebacker.
There is also a bevy of walk-ons who will be trying to make an impact at the position.
Key losses
As previously mentioned, Paul, Norris and Jason Whittingham were a huge part of the Utes’ defense in 2015. Besides the tackling numbers, they combined for 5.5 sacks, and Paul was second on the team with four interceptions, helping Utah tie for fourth in the nation in that statistic with 22 on the year.
Insider note
Both Thompson and Luafatasaga committed to Utah late in the recruiting process last winter. Thompson declared his intentions three days before Signing Day after originally committing to Florida International, while there was suspense on Signing Day concerning where Luafatasaga would choose to go.
Dark horse candidate
At this point, Thompson best fits in this category. While there’s a competition still going at Rover between Barton and Luafatasaga, Thompson will almost surely be a backup on Week 1 but may well end up making an impact during his first season on the hill.
General outlook
There certainly are some players in the linebacking corps who have potential, but all indications are that this unit won’t make the kind of impact the 2015 group did. So long as they’re not downright bad, the Utes’ strong defensive line and secondary should help compensate for the inexperience at linebacker.
If Luafatasaga can get up to speed and Tauteoli can be solid, they’ll make a Utah defense that’s expected to be scary that much stronger.
“We just have to work as a team in everything,” Tauteoli said. “Everything needs to fire like a machine, just keeping ourselves focused and everything working.”
A season ago, linebackers Paul and Norris led the University of Utah with a combined 204 tackles. Along with Jason Whittingham, they formed a formidable unit in the middle of the Utes’ defense.
All three were seniors in 2015, however, and Utah will essentially be starting over at the position in 2016 with a group of unproven players.
Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.