Mitch Harper of Athlon Sports looked at five wild cards who could break out for the BYU Cougars in 2017.

“The Cougars already have proven stars in quarterback Tanner Mangum and linebackers Fred Warner and Butch Pau’u (who was on this last season),” wrote Harper. “Who are the players that are ready to break out and could potentially propel BYU from a projected good season to that of a special year?”

Harper then gave us the candidates who might fit the bill in Zayne Anderson, Matt Bushman, Kieffer Longson, Micah Simon and Sione Takitaki.

Speaking of Simon, Harper wrote, “Simon has turned a lot of heads around the BYU football program because of his sub-4.4 40 speed. The Cougars have a lot of question marks at the wide receiver spot, so expect Simon, who once led his high school team to a state championship at quarterback, to get every opportunity possible to emerge as a playmaker.”

Harper then looked at the potential of Takitaki, saying, “Takitaki’s gift is a knack for getting in the backfield and causing havoc. If he plays the entire season, Takitaki could finish the season with double-digit sacks.”

Utah has three of the five most important games on the Pac-12 South schedule

Erich Hilkert of Saturday Blitz ranked the five most important football games in the Pac-12 South in 2017, and three games for the Utah Utes made the list.

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