Keep an eye on these USU football newcomers

FILE PHOTO: The Utah State football team takes the field. Photo by Robert K. Scott

LOGAN – Every year new names must replace the old ones. Utah State saw numerous departures, both from graduations and from the transfer portal. Sometimes players already on the roster are there to fill in the gaps, but incoming transfers have become a great way to plug the holes left by departures.

These are players who have some of the most potential to come in and step in right away. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that not all are present at spring ball. Some will arrive in Logan over the summer and join the team in time for fall camp.

Cian Slone | Junior | Defensive End | American River College

The Aggies lost pretty much its entire defensive end rotation to the transfer portal and that means Slone may be a breakout candidate by default. He’s likely to see immediate playing time and will be relied upon – perhaps too much. But his likely heavy involvement in the pass-rush will lead to at least some decent production. And who knows? Maybe he will match his junior college production last year, a season where Slone had 84 tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss and 12.0 sacks.

Anderson, for his part, is really high on Slone’s potential production, saying he “could be the feature guy at the position.”

“Cian Slone’s tape was the most fun of any guy I watched in this entire recruiting process,” Anderson said. “He plays harder than anybody we’ve seen on film. He reminds me of watching Nick Heninger play.”

The red carpet is being rolled out for Slone and it’s up to him to seize the day. If his dominant JUCO numbers are an indication of an ability to play, there’s an all-conference spot waiting for Slone at the end of the season. But there’s never a guarantee.

Colby Bowman | Junior | Wide Receiver | Stanford

Bowman is a top candidate to fill some of the holes in the wide receiver room left by the departure of Brian Cobbs and Justin McGriff. And by physical measurements he might have a leg up on the two. He stands 6-foot-2 and if Blake Anderson is to be believed, has a 40-yard dash time under 4.5 seconds. It’s likely not the blazing speed of Deven Thompkins, who ran nearly a 4.4 flat, but certainly faster than Cobbs whose 40 time per reports was just under 4.6.

The Aggies have had plenty of good to great outside receivers and USU’s wide receivers coach Kyle Cefalo has done very well to mold his players into shape. Bowman could be the latest in top-of-the-line pass-catchers at Utah State.

Gavin Barthiel | Sophomore | Linebacker | Washington State

Just a week or so ago, it looked like Barthiel wouldn’t factor too much into the linebacker rotation in year one, perhaps playing some snaps but largely spending his time developing and learning the system. But now with AJ Vongphachanh in the transfer portal and Kaleo Neves also gone there’s a lot more room to fill in the linebacker room and Barthiel should be a top candidate for more time. It’s possible the newly opened starting jobs at linebacker and striker are taken by Max Alford and Anthony Switzer, but there’s always a chance Barthiel could step in day one and play a lot of snaps both on defense and special teams.

“We want him to come in and compete for a job,” Anderson said. “He’s not a guy that’s got to come in and play immediately although he has the ability to do so. We had good conversations with the guys at Washington State. We watched all of his tape both high school and anything we saw from the games he was on the field (at Washington State). Thought he was a super, super natural fit.”

Malone Mataele | Graduate | Safety | Utah

Safety has actually been a position at which Utah State has built a solid amount of depth, bringing in numerous junior college transfers and already having emerging star Ike Larsen in one of the spots. But Anderson breaking one of his recruiting maxims – not bringing in one-and-done transfers – to get Mataele in Logan should be an indication of how much of an impact the former Utah defensive back can be.

“He can play field (corner), he can play boundary (corner), he can play nickel,” Anderson said. “He’s very versatile. We thought he was a guy we’d be crazy not to take. He’s a plug-and-play player in a lot of different ways.”

Mataele could wind up leading the Aggies in numerous statistical categories on defense and be one of the most impactful players on either side of the ball.

Micah Davis | Junior | Wide Receiver | Iowa Western CC/Air Force

The name Micah Davis may ring somewhat familiar to the particularly observant Aggie fans. In 2020 and 2021, Davis played for Air Force. And in a 2021 game against Utah State he caught four passes for 110 yards and a touchdown — or half the receiving production Davis had in two FBS seasons (10 catches, 221 yards, two TDs) — to go with 32 rushing yards and another touchdown. He had a bit of a day.

After going down to the JUCO level for a year, where he won a NJCAA national title, Davis is back in the FBS. He caught 33 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns at Iowa Western. Those aren’t world-beating numbers but the key is that Davis has some solid physical tools. He’s got solid speed and can be versatile. He showed that at Air Force where he ran the ball 48 times for 373 yards (7.8 per carry) with four touchdowns. And at Iowa Western he ran it 10 times for 117 yards. The Aggies could very easily use Davis as an extra run threat and break some big plays on the ground or though short routes with a lot of yards after catch potential.

William Testa | Junior | Kicker | New Mexico Military Institute

With the graduation of Connor Coles the Aggies are in need of a new kicker. Elliott Nimrod is already on the roster and has been serving as the team’s kick-off specialist in recent seasons but Testa may bring tough competition. According to Anderson, Testa has “a huge leg” and has a career-long 52-yard field goal to back up that assertion at the very least.

Testa spent three seasons as the primary placekicker and made progressively more and more field goals each season with the Broncos. He made 34-of-52 field goals and 130-for-133 on extra points. Nimrod meanwhile has just one extra point to his place-kicking name. The fact Testa has experience should help, but this will be a battle fought in practice. And if Testa wins that he’ll be a major factor in the Aggies’ season. If Nimrod wins the battle, then he’ll basically replace Testa in this regard (though it’d be more of a breakout player since he’s not a newcomer).

Freshmen contributors?

It’s not common for freshmen to contribute in a big way on programs like Utah State that often depend on developing players through a redshirt and redshirt freshman season before unleashing them upon the world as beefier, more skilled athletes. Last year provided a bit of a deviation from that norm as numerous freshmen saw the field and even started. Weylin Lapuaho, Robert Briggs, Ike Larsen, Seni Tuiaki and others all played notable roles at times.

“You always have an Ike Larsen or a Robert Briggs that you’re not expecting, that just succeeds,” Anderson said. “I mean, Weylin Lapuaho, I don’t think any of us expected him to start 12 games at right guard. We did think he was a good player and we like all of these guys. But, who’s gonna be ready? Who’s gonna’ need a year? You never know. I’m always surprised at who steps up.”

But while it’s unlikely for freshmen to contribute, it’s almost just as unlikely that zero freshmen will step up in some respect. Redshirt freshmen are more likely to make this early jump (Larsen and Tuiaki were both redshirt freshmen) but we’ll be looking at the true freshmen for this breakdown.

The biggest potential for freshmen contributors will come from the running back room. Briggs will have a solid handle on the starting job, being the top returner, but he never really won the hearts of the coaching staff over last year as they relied almost solely on the now-graduated Calvin Tyler Jr. And even if Briggs is the clear lead ball-carrier, there’s still a backup role that will see some snaps. The Aggies brought in three high school running backs, each of whom has a solid resume in one way or another. So keep an eye out for Jaydon Bailey, Zakkarii Black and Reggie Foster.

Aside from running backs, there’s the possibility of the offensive line seeing contributions from freshmen. Utah State brought in two solid offensive tackle recruits — Taliafi Ta’ala and Jr Sia. And since the Aggies are looking to fill spots left by four departing offensive linemen, it’s possibly they could fit in somewhere in the rotation, either as starters or snap-getting backups.

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4 Comments

  • Kramer March 24, 2023 at 9:18 am Reply

    Give us more details on malone getting arrested the morning of the first practice for a warrant…..

  • Kramer March 25, 2023 at 1:20 pm Reply

    Stop censoring comments about malones arrest

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