Who will be the breakout player for Utah’s offense in 2018?

There’s a lot of excitement around the Utah offense going into the 2018 season, with so much returning talent across the board. The Utes did lose some big names from last season, with the graduation of Darren Carrington and the transfer of Raelon Singleton, two of Utah’s best performing receivers. While Utah has plenty of returning talent on the outside, there is one name I’m excited to see this fall and moving forward. There will be opportunities to take the big plays that Carrington had last season, and I think there is a guy that can help fill those plays. That would be redshirt freshman transfer from Texas Tech Bronson Boyd.

Boyd was dismissed from Texas Tech after an alleged altercation with a teammate not long after he got on campus. He decided Utah, who was one of his top teams out of high school, was going to be the new home for him. During his first season on campus, he took a redshirt to learn the offense and get a little more football experience. Per a piece by the AP on USAToday.com, Boyd was primarily a basketball player before playing a very good season his junior year in high school.

Here are some highlights from high school:

Boyd was a three star rated recruit coming out of high school, and had a nice list of offers including: Houston, Arizona, Boise State, Purdue, Wisconsin, and he had interest from Miami and Oregon. During spring ball, he made some plays that made the media take notice, but unfortunately didn’t make his public appearance, and won’t until the season opener. He could be the guy that helps take the lid of defenses for the likes of Britain Covey, Demari Simpkins and others.

One of the best skills Tyler Huntley has is to extend plays and find his guys downfield, and that’s where Carrington made a bunch of plays last season. That’s an ability that will be huge for the likes of Covey, but I believe we’ll see Boyd being able to make similar plays. I understand that Boyd hasn’t even seen a snap yet in college, but with a season under his belt, and plenty of practice he will be able to make an impact this coming season. I’m not saying he’s going to go for 1000 yards or anything like that, but I could see a 500 yard season and helps open up the field for guys like Covey to flirt with 1000.

Utah has the talent and experience to shape up to be a balanced and dynamic offensive crew. They had a returning 1000 yard rusher in Zack Moss, a young dynamic QB and offensive line, as well as the return of Covey. What really needs to happen is someone to fill that open spot on the outside, and I see Boyd being able to do that, not just this year, but more each and every year. Boyd has a full four years to develop on campus, and I think he could be the kind of player that Utah can build the receiving corps around — assuming he continues to develop his play making abilities.

Who would you put down as a possible breakout player?