Keep Jaren Hall healthy.
That’s got to be the mantra of BYU football fall camp as head coach Kalani Sitake opened practice last week.
The Cougars have a perfect schedule to make some noise this year with Notre Dame, Arkansas, Oregon and Big 12 champion Baylor on tap, but the Cougars have to be wary of the opener at South Florida, the matchup with Boise State, a revenge game with Utah State and even old WAC and MWC rival Wyoming if what anonymous coaches told Athlon is true, that BYU tends to play to the level of its competition.
The fact is, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has a tremendous opportunity to put an experienced, confident, well-oiled offense on the field this fall. Hopefully, the defense can complement things by getting the ball back into the hands of Hall and his mates.
But a key factor for all these designs is having Hall as healthy as he stands today.
After the first day of practice last Thursday, the BYU quarterback was asked what really stood out with the offense on Day 1.
He didn’t hesitate, stutter or have to guess.
“The O-line. Just how clean the pocket is, how well we ran the ball today, although we don’t have pads on, but they’re moving dudes. It’s no secret you know that’s the strength of our team as always, but it looked really good up front.”
When the Cougars open against USF on Sept. 3, it will be the first time Hall has played a game since he left Los Angeles with a 35-31 win over USC in his back pocket. He did not play in the bowl game against UAB, and that’s too bad. He probably could have played, but he had previously played while nursing a foot injury.
Hall is lucky this season. He’s got a garage full of bulldozers out in front of him. There is every expectation that preseason honorees such as tackle Blake Freeland and Clark Barrington will be the anchors of a pocket-cleaning endeavor that features a mammoth group of blockers, who average 6-foot-7 and about 310 pounds up and down the two-deep.
They’re not just big, but strong, agile, experienced and dependable.
Folks will tell you the most important feature of any successful football team is a solid offensive line. That’s where it all starts and ends. If you struggle in that area, your chances go way, way down.
It would be disappointing if Hall’s O-line doesn’t elevate this season and keep his jersey clean and his body upright.
It will be disappointing if only three O-linemen from this bunch are drafted in the next two years.
You have senior Joe Tukuafu, a first cousin to the Kaufusi clan, returning at 6-foot-4, 305 pounds. He can play either guard or center and if he had to, move out to tackle.
You have sophomore center Connor Pay at 6-foot-5, 312 pounds, who can play guard and is extremely physical.
Campbell Barrington goes 6-foot-6, 295 pounds, and tackle Harris LaChance is 6-foot-8, 315 pounds with very little body fat on his frame.
Brayden Keim is one of the 6-foot-8 guys who goes 300-plus pounds, and these are just a few bodies in the room O-line coach Darrell Funk can draw from.
Add in fullback blocking types like junior Masen Wake (6-foot-1, 250 pounds) and Stanford senior transfer Houston Heimuli (5-foot-11, 250 pounds), and Hall will have added protection tools at his disposal.
Wake and Heimuli bring a ton of experience and diversity in how Roderick can deploy them, and Hall is the beneficiary, as are Cal transfer running back Chris Brooks and fellow running backs Lopini Katoa and Jackson McChesney.
This offensive line has potential.
It is capable of playing Big 12 football and was the core of Tyler Allgeier posting the best rushing season in school history a year ago.
This is an O-line that went 5-0 against the Pac-12, but now they’re older and wiser.
It is an offensive line that can make defenses respect the run close to the goal line, which opens up play-call choices with BYU receivers and tight ends and backs for pass plays.
If the run is a big threat in the red zone, the game changes dramatically for a defense. Ask hopeful tacklers of Allgeier last year.
Hall would be wise to NIL these guys to death and keep them happy.
This may be the best group of linemen since the days of Roger French back when the legendary LaVell Edwards coached the sidelines.
And that’s saying a lot.
Because if Hall can stay healthy, knock on wood, this group could produce some pretty good stories this fall in BYU’s final season of independence.