BYU Spring Camp Mailbag: Jake Retzlaff and Depth Chart

The BYU football program has reached the midway point of Spring camp. With half of Spring camp down and another half to go, we asked our readers for some of their top questions for Spring camp. There were enough questions to split this into two parts. If you missed the first edition, you can read it here.

First, a brief but important disclaimer: BYU is generous to give some time to the media to view portions of practice. That's becoming less and less common in college football as fans are asked to give more and more of their hard-earned cash to support the program. Allowing some level of access to fans is a cool thing that BYU does. With that being said, it's only a small portion of practice. We will provide the best answers we can based on what we've seen and heard, but it's still very early and plenty of things can change between now and Fall camp.

Second, we want to be completely respectful of that privilege to view practice, so we won't discuss injuries. Unless, of course, those injuries have been talked about in the general media sessions.

Without further ado, it's time for the Spring camp mailbag.

However, the season doesn't start today. There is plenty of time for the likes of Faletau Satuala and Tommy Prassas to compete for more playing time. Those two got playing time as true freshmen and it's safe to expect them to play larger roles in 2025. During Spring camp, there is cross-training and lots of substitutions to get as many reps as possible. So in March, I wouldn't look too much into the specifics. Talan Alfrey is another player with some experience that will provide depth. Those five appear to be the top five.

There's lots of players rotating with the first and second teams at defensive end. Logan Lutui, Bodie Schoonover, Viliami Po'uha, Orion Maile-Kaufusi, Tausili Akana, and Ephraim Asiata. Tons of depth there but it remains to be seen who will emerge as the starters.

At nickel, Jonathan Kabeya is probably the leader in the clubhouse to start. The rotations are still very fluid at this point of the offseason. The Cougars could also move Evan Johnson to nickel.

1. Isaiah Jatta
2. Austin Leausa
3. Kyle Sfarcioc
4. Sonny Makasini
5. Bruce Mitchell
6. Andrew Gentry
7. Weylin Lapuaho

No real sleepers in that group with the exception of maybe SUU transfer Kyle Sfarcioc.

During Fall camp in 2024, Retzlaff showed flashes of brilliance, but there were also moments were he looked a little frantic when he was under pressure. For example, about midway through Fall camp last year, there was one particular play where Retzlaff was flushed out of the pocket to his left. Retzlaff quickly set his feet and fired a pass to Keelan Marion that sailed over Marion's head for an incompletion.

Fast forward to week two of Spring camp and there was a nearly identical play that resulted in a first down instead of an incompletion. The offense was faced with a 3rd & 8 during team portion. Retzlaff was pressured and he navigated the pocket to his left. He stepped into the throw and delivered a strike to Carsen Ryan. The pass hit Ryan in the chest and he ran for 5-10 yards after the catch.

There was another situation earlier this week where BYU was doing the four-minute drill. The Cougars were faced with a third & long and Retzlaff stepped up and delivered a first-down strike to Jojo Phillips in rhythm. He's making the easy throws look easy, and that important since it that was a deficiency early in his BYU career.

BYU fans should definitely expect Retzlaff to take a step forward. Not because of what he's shown during Spring camp so far, but because Aaron Roderick has a pretty solid track record with multi-year starters. It feels like Retzlaff has been the starter for a long time, but he only has 17 starts under his belt. Retzlaff has a high ceiling and area for improvement, and Roderick has been really good at helping quarterbacks reach their ceilings.

At wide receiver, it's probably time to buy stock in Keelan Marion. Marion looks ready to take a step forward in 2025 and be a key part of the offense. Jojo Phillips is another wide receiver that could have a breakout season. Phillips is so physically gifted - he will probably be BYU's best deep threat in 2025. If he can work to decrease his drop rate even a little bit, he will be very good for the Cougars.

On defense, it's hard to single out any single player. After all, getting beat is going to happen to even the best defensive backs! There have been a handful of notable plays from defensive backs, including an interception from Tre Alexander on the first day of camp. Faletau Satuala also shows flashes of his potential in coverage:

Jayden Dunlap is a name that most fans might not remember, but he has been getting some reps as well.

On paper, I think BYU would really benefit from adding an experienced cornerback in the transfer portal. However, if there's one position group that deserves the benefit of the doubt it's probably Jernaro Gilford. Gilford has a way the starters and depth pieces prepared by the time Fall camp rolls around. If Gilford feels comfortable with the room as it stands today, he must feel good about the preparedness of the young guys.

The turnovers were so bad for Retzlaff in 2023, that going into 2024, protecting the football had to be the primary focus. If he didn't get much better at protecting the football, BYU wasn't going to get back to a bowl game in 2024. Retzlaff wasn't perfect in 2024, of course, but he was better at taking care of the football.

Now that it's been established that BYU can win with Retzlaff, Spring camp is a really good time for Retzlaff to test when he can take chances and where he needs to be smart with the football. He never had that chance in 2024 because he was competing for a job and working to protect the football at all costs. BYU's offense can be really, really good if Retzlaff can strike that balance of protecting the football and knowing when to take chances for chunk plays. That's the process he is going through during Spring camp.