Utah State football position group breakdowns: Offense
Quarterbacks
Chuckie Keeton is gone for good, and Junior Kent Myers is officially taking the reins.
Myers is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the Mountain West, and set both the school and conference single-game record in his first career start at Hawaii with a completion percentage of 93.3 percent and three touchdowns.
As a freshman, he was turned from a redshirt to a starter to fill in for injured quarterbacks Keeton, Darrell Garretson and Craig Harrison.
He found himself behind Keeton on the depth chart once again last season, but after a brief experiment taking snaps at wide receiver Myers started eight games at quarterback due to Keeton’s frequent injuries.
“I don’t know if receiver was really the best thing for me,” Myers said, “but it made me a better quarterback today.”
As a sophomore last year, Myers first saw action against Colorado State. In that game he rushed for 191 yards in a 33-18 homecoming victory over the Rams — the most ever by an Aggie quarterback. Myers also had a nice showing last season at Air Force where he was 25-of-47 for 364 yards with four touchdowns.
Another year of experience should bring nothing but good things for Myers, who is currently 200-of-318 for passing (.629) in his career with 2,459 total passing yards and 21 touchdowns, all while tossing just six interceptions.
Behind Myers waits University of Oregon transfer Damion Hobbs. Last season, Hobbs played in seven games completing 4-of-5 passes (.800) for 73 yards and one touchdown. If Myers does go down, the three-star recruit’s athleticism and experience makes him a worthy replacement.
Behind Hobbs is returning sophomore DJ Nelson, who played in all 13 games last season as the team’s holder after redshirting his freshman year. Nelson played quarterback at Logan High School where he led the Grizzlies to back-to-back region titles.
Others on the roster sophomore Cade Smith who has experience in the program as a redshirt freshman last season. Smith, who attended West Salem high school in Salem, Oregon, was the Greater Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and completed 131-of-213 passes (.615) for a school record along with 32 touchdowns.
Last we have true-freshman Jordan Love from Bakersfield, California. Coming out of Liberty high school, Love is a three-star quarterback who totalled 4,078 passing yards his senior year.
Running Backs
Utah State enters 2016 boasting six running backs on its roster, including three with starting experience.
The Aggies will return Devonte Mays, their leading rusher from last season, who rushed for 966 yards and seven touchdowns in just six starts his first year with the Aggies.
In his first season with the Aggies, Mays ranked third overall in the Mountain West and 39th nationally with 5.9 yards per carry. He notched three 100-yard rushing games during the season, including a 22-carry and 176-yard stomping against Wyoming.
The Aggies also return junior running back LaJuan Hunt, who started in 11 games last year and has played in all 27 games in his two seasons with the Aggies. LaJuan led the Aggies in rushing two years ago with 540 yards, which was the third-most by a freshman in school history.
Though Mays seems the strong workhorse type, Hunt is the kind of backup coaches dream of and will likely split touches throughout the season.
Somewhat under the radar sits junior Tonny Lindsey, who played in nine games last season and started his first career game against Nevada. Lindsey ended the season with 93 yards on 12 carries. In his time at Cerritos Junior College, Lindsey played in only nine games due to injury. Even with the time he spent sitting out, he carried the ball 55 times for 530 yards and four rushing touchdowns. He added a receiving touchdown to his total.
The Aggies will also bring back sophomore Justin Hervey for his second full season as an Aggie. Hervey redshirted his first season at Utah State and then came in last season to play in eight games, carrying the ball 14 times. He ended the season with 47 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Others ball-carriers returning for the Aggies include include freshman Dionte Simon and junior Morian Walker.
Receivers & Tight Ends
Head Coach Matt Wells has a challenge ahead of him with his receiving corps.
Last year, 43.7% of Utah State’s passing yards ended up in the hands of either Hunter Sharp or Devonte Robinson. Neither of them are returning to the Aggies this year. Both graduated and are trying to make their way into the NFL. Sharp is currently with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Robinson was recently cut from the Green Bay Packers.
The top returning pass catcher is tight end Wyatt Houston who has caught 51 passes for 603 yards and seven touchdowns in his three-year career.
Along with Houston, Utah State will enjoy returning crowd favorite Andrew Rodriguez who began last season returning punts for the Aggies. He averaged 9.9 yards per return, the sixth best in school history.
The rest of the receiving corps consists of unproven veterans and newcomers, including junior college transfers, former redshirts and incoming freshmen. Fortunately, coach Wells is familiar with this situation — this year will be the third time in four years as Utah State’s head coach that he will have had to replace his top two receivers.
Braelon Roberts is a prime candidate to answer the call as he is one of the biggest receivers on the roster standing 6’3” and weighing in at 200 pounds. He can get down the field and his size will cause matchup problems for smaller corners. Last year, Roberts started in six of the 11 games he played in, finishing with 17 catches for 150 yards.
As the team’s top returning pass-catcher, Houston boasts great athleticism and size to go along with good hands and blocking skills to boot. Houston has potential to wreak havoc on opposing safeties with his combination of size and athleticism. Underutilized in the past, Houston will look to be a major factor in the offense and an excellent security blanket for Kent Myers.
The battle for the second outside wide receiver spot will be hotly contested. Zach Van Leeuwen, Tyler Fox, Jaren Colston-Green, Ethan Cortazzo and Alex Byers will all duke it out for playing time this fall. Van Leeuwen, Fox and Colston-Green all saw playing time for the Aggies last season while Cortazzo and Byers are junior college transfers. Byers posted electrifying numbers in his time at Antelope Valley Junior College with 56 receptions for 1,072 yards and 12 touchdowns in his sophomore season.
On the inside at slot receiver, the Aggies may see more of Rodriguez. In addition to his punt return duties last year, Rodriguez reeled in 27 passes — the most of any returning player — for 281 yards. Behind Rodriguez is redshirt freshmen Gerold Bright, senior kick returner Kennedy Williams and intriguing true freshmen Rayshad Lewis, son of former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis. Lewis will likely see the field this season after flashing big-play potential in fall camp.
Offensive Line
Returning three starters on offensive line is a good sign for the Aggies’ this year. Utah State will return senior tackles Austin Albrecht and Jake Simonich and senior center Austin Stephens. All three have starting experience and received honorable mention All-Mountain West honors after last season.
Albrecht started all 13 games last season, 11 at tackle, and finished the season with a team-best of 60 knockdowns. He had six knockdowns each in the games against Colorado State, San Diego State and New Mexico.
Senior center Austin Stephens is locked in as a starter after starting all 27 games in his last two season with the Aggies. Stephens was awarded both the Athlon Sports and Phil Steele First-Team All-Mountain West preseason teams. He allowed only one sack last season.
In addition to the starters the Aggies will return senior tackle Jude Hockel, junior guard Jarom Loane, junior guard Brandon Taukeiaho, sophomore tackle Cody Boyer and sophomore guard KJ Uluave all with game day experience. All together the offensive line will return eight players with game day experience.
Additions to the line include junior-college transfer Sean Taylor, redshirt freshman transfer Colby Kerns and true freshmen Demytrick Ali’ifua, Viliamu McMoore and Ty Shaw.