Projecting BYU’s Travel Roster For Season Opener At USF

PROVO, Utah – BYU football entered the 2022 season with a good idea of their top players.

The Cougars are among the top teams nationally in most returning production. So there was a good baseline of who BYU would travel on road games.

Kalani: "We're sick of playing each other. We are ready to play somebody else."#BYU #BYUFootball

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) August 23, 2022

Typically, 72-75 players travel on the road. It’s a great barometer to gauge who the top players are, or the healthiest players are in the program for that week.

Kalani Sitake was asked by KSL Sports and Cougar Sports Saturday host Matt Baiamonte if any players were on the “bubble” of making the travel roster entering fall camp. But were then able to earn a spot through their play in camp.

The seventh-year coach misunderstood the question and thought Baiamonte was asking for the entire travel roster. So he replied, “Jaren Hall. [Ryan] Rehkow. I don’t know; I can’t go through the whole thing.”

Well, we knew the starting quarterback, Jaren Hall, would make the travel roster. Same with Rehkow, who could be one of the top punters in college football this year. But I’ll take on the task of projecting what the rest of the travel roster could look like for BYU’s trip to Tampa to take on USF.

Projecting the BYU football travel roster for week one at USF

For this exercise, I’m projecting a 75-man travel roster.

Quarterback

Jaren Hall

Jacob Conover

Cade Fennegan

Pretty self-explanatory here. Hall had an excellent off-season and a productive fall camp. He’s healthy now and appears poised for a big season.

Running Back

Chris Brooks

Lopini Katoa

Jackson McChesney

Miles Davis

Cal grad transfer Chris Brooks will get the first crack at carries. From there, Lopini Katoa is an experienced veteran with a pair of intriguing underclassmen who had good camps.

Wide Receiver

Puka Nacua

Gunner Romney

Keanu Hill

Brayden Cosper

Chase Roberts

Kody Epps

Talmage Gunther

Hobbs Nyberg

There were no season-ending injuries in fall camp, but we didn’t see much of Gunner Romney and Puka Nacua in the final weeks of camp. The BYU football staff made it a point to give proven players chances to take breaks and be sidelined, so they would be available for games in the season.

Tight End/Fullbacks

Isaac Rex

Dallin Holker

Masen Wake

Houston Heimuli

Lane Lunt

Ethan Erickson

The tight ends are in solid hands if all of these guys are healthy. I could see BYU also bringing Carter Wheat on the travel roster as insurance.

Offensive Line

Blake Freeland

Clark Barrington

Connor Pay

Campbell Barrington

Kingsley Suamataia

Harris LaChance

Brayden Keim

Sione Veiokoso

Joe Tukuafu

Tyler Little

Peter Falaniko

I’m projecting that BYU travels 11 offensive linemen. That would be good for two units, plus one. The left side of BYU’s offensive line is as solid as its been to protect Jaren Hall’s blindside with Freeland at tackle and Clark Barrington at guard.

Defensive Line

Tyler Batty

Earl Mariner

Lorenzo Fauatea

Gabe Summers

Caden Haws

Alden Tofa

Fisher Jackson

Blake Mangelson

Aisea Moa

John Nelson

Josh Larsen

Naisa Mahe

 

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You can never have enough defensive linemen. In a game where humidity will be a factor, keeping these guys fresh will be a priority. I’m projecting 12 defensive linemen travel.

Linebackers

Ben Bywater

Pepe Tanuvasa

Keenan Pili

Max Tooley

Morgan Pyper

Tavita Gagnier

Michael Daley

Payton Wilgar

Jackson Kaufusi

Josh Wilson

BYU’s linebackers are the heart and soul of the defense in 2022. When healthy, this group should be a productive one this fall.

Defensive Backs

D’Angelo Mandell

Kaleb Hayes

Jakob Robinson

Gabe Jeudy-Lally

Korbyn Green

Caleb Christensen

Jacob Boren

Malik Moore

Matthew Criddle

George Udo

Hayden Livingston

Ammon Hannemann

Micah Harper

Talan Alfrey

Ethan Slade

Coming out of fall camp, BYU football coaches Jernaro Gilford and Ed Lamb loved the depth that emerged at cornerback. Then with stability at safety in Malik Moore, Ammon Hannemann, and Micah Harper,

Specialists

Jake Oldroyd

Ryan Rehkow

Britton Hogan

Austin Riggs

Justen Smith

Cash Peterman

Kicker Jake Oldroyd dealt with a lower back injury that limited his availability last season. The touch and go nature of his back makes it a point to bring three kickers on the travel roster.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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