2020 Utes Breakout Candidates: JaTravis Broughton
One of the most exciting things about college football is the emergence of new playmakers year after year. Though the University of Utah lost a lot of experience and talent from their 2019 team, the coaching staff has done a great job of recruiting and developing players to replace the departed stars.
As we begin to look forward to the 2020 season, in whatever format it may take place, questions start to emerge about the depth chart, particularly since the Utes only got a week of spring ball before practices were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some team activities will resume in June, it still remains to be seen if fall camp will have its normal schedule, if it will be extended to make up for lack of practice time in spring, or if it will be delayed due to a later start date for the season.
No matter how things shake out, there are quite a few players poised to have a breakout season for the Utes this year, and the time has come to take a look at who they could be:
JaTravis Broughton, CB, 6-foot and 190 pounds
Broughton was a late gem of a find for the Utes as part of the class of 2019. They reached into Oklahoma- a region they usually don’t recruit- and pulled a speedy two way player out of Union High School in Tulsa. Broughton made an immediate impact as a freshman, playing in all 14 games on special teams, while appearing in four games on defense. He recorded his first career interception against Idaho State, and finished the season with eight tackles.
Broughton brings plenty of physical tools to the table which should help him turn into a lockdown corner. Aside from track speed (10.59 seconds in the 100 meter), he has great transitional speed, can flip his hips really well, and can change directions quickly to get on top of a route and make a play on the ball. The Utes will need him to step in and assume a larger role on defense as a true sophomore, due to the graduation or early departure of Jaylon Johnson, Josh Nurse, Tareke Lewis, and Javelin Guidry.
Now, about the guys he’ll be replacing—after a strong fall camp, Broughton was expected to be in the thick of the cornerback rotation in 2019. When he was being interviewed by Alex Markham in fall camp, Kyle Whittingham stepped into the interview to say, “Look out for this guy, he’s going to be special.” However, he hit a freshman wall of sorts, when it came to his impressive early progress. Heading into 2020, cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah will need him to have another strong fall camp showing and carry that progress into the season.
With so many losses on defense, the sooner people can win jobs in fall camp, the better. Every spot in the secondary is up for grabs, and getting the back end of the defense figured out as soon as possible is of the utmost importance for the Utes. Broughton appears to have a leg up on the competition, as he is one of the most experienced corners on the roster. Nonetheless, he’ll have to earn it, as there are a couple of other corners already on the roster that will also be fighting for a starting job, as well as a crop of incoming freshmen who will undoubtedly be looking to prove themselves and earn early playing time.