At 47 days until the Utes host the Florida Gators, today we discuss no. 47 Miki Suguturaga. A season ago, Suguturaga was competing for snaps at defensive end. This past spring, the former edge rusher switched positions to tight end in what Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig called “a home run move for us.”

The move is a testament to Suguturaga’s team-first mentality, as he started in nine games at defensive end in 2022, and it was a tough decision to change positions. Despite the major shift in a short amount of time, it appears that the Kaneohe, HI native is a natural at the tight end position.

He joins a group that is well established with Brant Kuithe and Thomas Yassmin, but it needs a reliable blocking presence, and that’s exactly what Suguturaga delivers.

UteNation Take

For the switch to tight end, Suguturaga worked hard to drop 10-15 pounds to improve his athleticism and also pick the brains of fellow tight ends Kuithe and Yassmin. Suguturaga brings good size and physicality to the position, and he has already drawn comparisons to recently graduated Logan Kendall with his blocking abilities.

Summer conditioning and fall camp will be big for Suguturaga’s quick development at tight end. It sounds like he may already have a role as a blocking tight end, but if he continues to grow as a pass catcher, Utah could have an extremely potent 13 personnel grouping, even without the services of Dalton Kincaid, who was a first round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Remembering Suguturaga’s Recruitment

The Utes beat out Vanderbilt and Virginia for his services, though he had offers from other Pac-12 schools such as Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State, and Washington State. One key factor in his commitment aside from the family connection with the Mokofisi and Ma'Afala families was how tight-knot and family oriented the Utah program is.