Utah Utes placekicker Matt Homosexual (97) strains up a subject objective throughout a sport towards Stanford in Salt Lake Metropolis on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. Utah and BYU are among the many nation’s finest at producing expertise at these positions, in response to ESPN. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Information
Which college can lay declare to being “DB U” or “QB U”?
ESPN got down to discover the reply for all place teams, and Utah and BYU made appearances on the checklist.
ESPN set 1998, the beginning of the BCS, as the place to begin for the rankings.
“Colleges received factors for all-conference and All-America choices, together with factors for being drafted (weighted by spherical) and for fulfillment on the subsequent degree,” ESPN’s David M. Hale wrote. “For that final class, we checked out solely the primary 4 years of a participant’s profession (past that, the NFL ought to get credit score for growth) utilizing Professional Soccer Reference’s weighted profession worth.”
Utah checked in at No. 2 within the “Punter U” rankings. At No. 1 is Texas A&M.
Of Utah’s 9 consensus All-People in class historical past, two have been punters — Tom Hackett and Mitch Wishnowsky. Wishnowsky is taking part in within the NFL at present because the San Francisco 49ers’ punter.
“The Aggies have taken the Punter U crown every of the previous two years, thanks largely to star Braden Mann, who was a sixth-round draft choose by the punt-first Jets,” Hale wrote. “Nonetheless, Utah and Tennessee stay scorching on the Aggies’ path. We nonetheless doubt that’s sufficient to get followers to start out rooting towards going for it on fourth down.”
Utah ranked No. 4 within the “Kicker U” rankings. Forward of the Utes are Florida State at No. 1, adopted by UCLA and Iowa. Ohio State rounded out the highest 5.
Of Utah’s 9 consensus All-People in class historical past, two have been kickers — Matt Homosexual and Louie Sakoda. Homosexual received a Tremendous Bowl in 2022 because the Los Angeles Rams’ kicker. He additionally made a Professional Bowl.
Whereas BYU didn’t make the highest 5 for any place group, it was ranked the very best non-Energy 5 staff within the “Tight Finish U” rankings, checking in at No. 14 general.
Three of BYU’s 12 consensus All-People in class historical past have been tight ends — Gordon Hudson, Dennis Pitta and Chris Smith.
The Cougars have despatched loads of tight ends to the NFL since 1997 — Gabe Reid, Dennis Pitta, Itula Mili, Chad Lewis, Doug Jolley, Daniel Coats and Matt Bushman.
Lewis was a three-time Professional Bowler and Tremendous Bowl champion with the Los Angeles Rams and Pitta was a Tremendous Bowl champion with the Baltimore Ravens.