Here is why you be excited if you are a Utah fan:
Your defense and special teams are both top 10 worthy. Your DL is top 3 in the country, and your secondary that was #3 last year in INT's? They all come back.
Andy Phillips comes back. He is a top 3 kicker in the country. Mitch Wishnowsky looks legit. While he doesn't have Hackett's personality or accuracy, he has a stronger leg that has more hang time and more yards. Utah's return game is always legit. Smithson, Dunn, Clay, Covey, Butler-Byrd. All Whitt does is score TD's off returns.
OL: Your offensive line may be the best in the PAC-12. You return 4 starters and a 5 star JC recruit in Bolles, who seems to be every bit as good as anyone could hope. Your QB will have time and Joe Williams will have holes to run through.
WR: You can't be worse than last year. Holliday has come over from BYU. He helped BYU have a much, much better passing game despite having less talent. And before anyone says BYU's receivers are better, look at this. Since the PAC-12, these NFL receivers have gone through Utah: Josh Gordon, Dres Anderson, Kaelin Clay. These are current NFL WR's that played at BYU: ...
We have talent at WR at Utah. Tim Patrick has NFL potential. Butler-Byrd looks to be a bigger, faster Covey (although maybe not as elusive). Smith will be better than he was last year. Siosi Wilson has potential. Alec Dana just arrived on campus. Singleton has an NFL body and hands...but can't stay healthy. We have potential at WR. Nothing proven, but there is potential. The cupboard may not be as bare as people say.
RB: Joe Williams came in and continued what Booker did, averaging 133 yards per game. You return McCormick, who was slated to be your backup last year. You also add Armand Shyne this fall, who is a very good JC guy, and all Whitt does is take JC guys and turn them into pros.
QB: Troy Williams. He was the #1 dual threat QB out of high school. He played out of his mind at the JC level. He is a natural leader. Coach Petersen said this about him: If Williams isn't your starter, then your QB will be on an elite level because Williams is top level talent. Petersen also said that Williams was one of the best leaders he has been around. Not only does Williams not turn the ball over, he throws very well from the pocket. He averaged 275 yards, 3 TD's and 0 INT's per game. All you need from him is 225 yards, 2 TD's and less than 1 INT to win the south.
There are a couple of extremes for Utah this fall.