EDITOR’S NOTE: Today is 27 until kickoff, but this didn’t auto-publish yesterday like I meant for it to do. -Alex

With just four weeks left until the Utes host the Florida Gators, today we discuss no. 28, Sione Vaki. The former NorCal player of the year burst onto the scene in his first season at Utah in 2022, seeing action in all 14 games and logging five starts his freshman year. Vaki’s impact grew more as the season progressed and culminated with a game-high eight tackles in the Rose Bowl versus Penn State.

He’s a part of a talented and dangerous starting safety duo with Cole Bishop.

UteNation Take

Vaki was listed as a receiver coming out of LIberty HS (CA), but the plan was always for him to play safety at Utah. Defensive coordinator and safeties coach Morgan Scalley had to wait two years while he served his LDS mission, but it appears that it was well worth the wait.

Towards the end of 2022, Vaki found a home in the safety rotation with Cole Bishop and RJ Hubert as Utah found ways to get all three players on the field. With Hubert now graduated, Vaki should stepped up into more of a leadership role alongside Bishop. Vaki’s pursuit, range and solid tackling were on full display in the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Rose Bowl and he’s expecting have a huge breakout season in 2023.

Even if Hubert had returned because of technically having one more year of eligibility, Vaki would have likely been the starting free safety for this season.

Remembering Vaki’s Recruitment

Vaki was a highly sought three-star athlete from Northern California, holding 11 offers including USC, Washington State, Tennessee, and Oklahoma State. Most schools recruited him as a receiver, while Lewis Powell and Morgan Scalley sold him on a bright future in Utah’s defense.