What we learned from Utah’s first spring practice viewing – Deseret News

The pads are on and now the real work can start for the University of Utah.

The Utes opened their second week of practice by breaking out the pads after an acclimatization period during the first week, and the intensity jumped a couple of notches as a result.

“We had some live work right out of the gate, about 10 minutes into practice when we cranked it up and went live. It was very spirited, very competitive. It’s different practicing with pads, obviously, some fatigue showed up,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

For the first time this spring, the media was able to view the last 20 minutes of practice, which was highlighted by a long run from Nate Johnson, who returned to Utah this offseason after a year at Vanderbilt.

Utah’s plan is to use Johnson’s athleticism to the team’s benefit in certain situations, and that was apparent from Tuesday’s brief glimpse.

“We hope so, we hope he’s a contributor. That’s why we brought him back into the program, because he’s a multifaceted athlete and can do a bunch of stuff. He’s got great speed and good size,” Whittingham said. “We brought him to be somewhat of a Swiss Army knife, and that’s what you saw some of today.”

Being that “Swiss army knife” is familiar to Johnson. He had special packages for him in 2022 and 2023 as a running option at quarterback and he even had a reception in 2022 against USC. He could see a similar role this season to get him on the field and utilize his speed in creative ways in Jason Beck’s offense.

“We’re also working with Nate doing other non-quarterback stuff, so working to develop him just to what he can add to the offense to be on the field at the same time and what he can do,” Beck said last week.

It was also the media’s first look at New Mexico transfer Devon Dampier, who is tasked with reviving…

Source link : https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/03/25/utah-utes-football-spring-practice-observations/

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Publish date : 2025-03-26 03:34:00

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