An Early Look at BYU's Depth Chart At the Start of the Transfer Window

It's transfer portal season in college football. The Cougars will add more transfers to the roster for next season. Today, we'll take a way-too-early look at the depth chart at the start of the transfer window.

Bold print indicates newcomers.

Quarterback

1. Jake Retzlaff
2. Ryder Burton

Jake Retzlaff showed flashes during his four starts for BYU this year. Until the Cougars add a transfer quarterback, Retzlaff has the edge over the other quarterbacks in the room to start.

BYU has reached out to multiple transfer quarterbacks, and they will continue to reach out to quarterbacks until they get their guy. Getting a quarterback is a top priority.

Running Back

1. LJ Martin OR Aidan Robbins
2. Miles Davis

BYU's running back room is in a good position going into next season. LJ Martin and Aidan Robbins have a chance to be a very good one-two punch.

The Cougars could swing for the fences and try to add a replacement for Deion Smith, but they can be picky. 

Wide Receiver

1. Darius Lassiter OR Kody Epps OR Parker Kingston

1. Keanu Hill OR Keelan Marion OR Dominique McKenzie

1. Chase Roberts OR Jojo Phillips OR Cody Hagen

BYU returns a lot of experience at wide receiver. The Cougars are set to get some reinforcements at wide receiver in Dominique Mckenzie and Cody Hagen. Both coveted recruits, those two will immediately be two of the fastest players on the roster. If they can shake the mission rust, they could both factor in for the 2024 season.

Tight End

1. Jackson Bowers
2. Ryner Swanson
3. Ethan Erickson
4. Mata'ava Ta'ase

The race for the starting tight end position is wide open. Maybe former four-star Jackson Bowers can take over the job. True freshman Ryner Swanson is a name to watch here. Swanson, a four-star recruit, will play right away. He could be the best receiving tight end on the roster as soon as he steps on campus.

Fullback

1. Ray Paulo

Offensive Line

Left Tackle
1. Jake Griffin
2. Trevin Ostler

Left Guard
1. Weylin Lapuaho
2. Jake Eichorn

Center
1. Connor Pay
2. Weston Jones OR Peter Falaniko

Right Guard
1. Caleb Etienne
2. Tyler Little

Right Tackle
1. Brayden Keim
2. Joseph Paulo

Of all the position groups on the roster, no group will lose more players from the two-deep than the offensive line. Kingsley Suamataia has not made an announcement, but it is assumed that he will declare for the NFL Draft. Connor Pay and Brayden Keim have not made announcements, but they could return for one more season. We assumed they will return in this projection.

The transfer portal will play a critical role here. The majority of BYU's transfer portal offers have been to offensive linemen. It's clear that BYU wants to add a few players to this group.

Defensive Backs

Cornerback
1. Mory Bamba
2. Jonathan Kabeya

Cornerback
1. Marcus McKenzie
2. Therrian Alexander

Strong Safety
1. Ethan Slade OR Crew Wakley
2. Preston Rex
3. Chika Ebunoha

Free Safety
1. Micah Harper
2. Crew Wakley OR Talan Alfrey OR Raider Damuni

Cornerback
1. Jakob Robinson
2. Evan Johnson

BYU will get Micah Harper back from injury. When healthy, Harper is one of the best players on the defense. True freshmen Therrian Alexander and Jonathan Kabeya are two of BYU's top commits in the 2024 class. Don't be surprised if you see their names on the depth chart early in their BYU careers. Those two are some of the best defensive back prospects that BYU has had in a long time.

Linebackers

Rover

1. Siale Esera
2. Isaiah Glasker

Mack

1. Harrison Taggart
2. Maika Kaufusi

Sam
1. Ace Kaufusi
2. Sione Moa OR Miles Hall

BYU has a young, solid core of linebackers led by Siale Esera, Harrison Taggart, and Ace Kaufusi. Those three are expected to play major roles for the BYU defense next year.

Defensive Line

Defensive End
1. Isaiah Bagnah
2. Logan Lutui

Defensive End
1. Tyler Batty
2. Blake Mangelson
3. Bodie Schoonover

Nose Tackle
1. David Latu
2. Joshua Singh

Defensive Tackle
1. John Nelson
2. Bruce Mitchell

BYU needs to add reinforcements in the interior defensive line. The Cougars lose both starters to graduation this year.

Specialists

Place Kicker
1. Will Ferrin
2. Matthias Dunn

Punter
1. Sam Vander Haar
2. Landon Rehkow

Kick Returners

1. Hobbs Nyberg
2. Parker Kingston
3. Keelan Marion