BYU Fantasy Draft Replacements

-- An evergreen list of players from 2020 and on who would be picked in a redraft

The great BYU Fantasy Draft conducted in spring 2020 was a superb activity in ranking the BYU greats ... but the results will grow stale with each new BYU football season. Within this post I'll be keeping track of what players from the 2020 season and on would likely be drafted if we were to ever do this again, as well as guessing what round they'd be picked in and who they might have kicked out of the draft. 

2020 Season

QB Zach Wilson - How nice, we get to start with a no brainer. Zach would be 100% be drafted, possibly as early as the fourth QB off the board after the McMahon-Detmer-Young trio. I would have taken him above Sarkisian if I had the chance. Given that Taysom, Doman, and Max Hall were all picked in round 1 I'd guess Zach would've been picked round 1 as well. 

Expected Draft Range: First round

Who is Zach replacing? Marc Wilson was the last qb picked, called up wisely by Team Odysseus. In the original draft Team Odysseus waited until the final round to call upon a signal caller, a shrewd move given all other teams had staffed that roster position. But in a redraft I suspect that Zach Wilson gets picked by Team Magathisll in the first round instead of Brandon Doman.

WR Dax Milne - In our fantasy draft we required three spots for wide receivers and lo and behold a number of teams struggled to put together a strong pass-catching corps. As a result I feel confident Dax Milne is 100% chosen in our redraft. Considering Glen Kozlowski and KO Kealaluhi were picked in round 5, I'd say that's the lowest he'd drop. 

Expected Draft Range: 5th Round

Who is Dax replacing? Goodbye Matt Odle, chosen in round 13 by Team Davis. 

--Summary--

IN: QB Zach Wilson, WR Dax Milne 

OUT: QB Brandon Doman, WR Matt Odle

2021 Season

RB Tyler Allgeier - I never got tired of writing about him, even when every week his performance demanded a lead-off feature in the PFF recaps. If we redrafted he would be a top-ten pick, possibly going as early as #6 (right after I picked Austin Collie), unlikely to go any later than #10 (Brandon Doman). He knocks Manase Tonga out of the draft. 

WR Neil Pau'u - We drafted 29 receivers (why not 30? Because one of our teams quit mid-way through the draft). Neil Pau'u finished 33rd in receiving yards in a BYU career. That may not sound amazing but it's more yards than a variety of folks drafted ahead of him managed (K.O., Lewis, Hifo, Juergens). So yeah, he's getting drafted. Michael Reed and JD Falslev went in round 10, and that sounds about right for Pau'u. He knocks out Nick Kurtz. 

WR Samson Nacua - This is an interesting one. On the one hand you could argue Samson was essentially a mercenary, a twelve-games-and-gone blip on the radar. In the future his stats won't raise any eyebrows -- 21 catches, 329 yards, 3 TDs. But for those of us who were there, he meant something to this 2021 team. He and Puka changed the culture. They were a key part of the mental release that occurred on September 11, 2021, the day the streak died. He had a ridiculous TD catch against Virginia in a game that mattered a ton. It seems silly to say a person who averaged 33 receiving yards per game in a BYU uniform would be drafted, but remember in our league with 3 receivers we had to dig deep into the WR barrel. For his TD catch against Utah, and for his even more impressive TD catch against Virginia, I think Samson gets picked up in the 11th or 12th round and replaces Luke Ashworth or Devon Blackmon (not the later drafted O'Neill Chambers or Ross Apo because those two dudes were picked by me and I ain't letting go).

--Summary--

IN: RB Tyler Allgeier, WR Neil Pau'u, WR Samson Nacua

Out: RB Manase Tonga, WR Nick Kurtz, WR Luke Ashworth

2022 Season

QB Jaren Hall - I really enjoyed the two seasons of the Jaren Hall experience. He rose to the occasion in almost every game, with the woofy Notre Dame performance in 2022 being the only game that sticks out where I felt he hurt us. He always looked calm. He made me jump my head into the basement roof on the electric touchdown run against Utah that was called back. He was like the poor man's Max Hall; he played for two years instead of three; he beat Utah once instead of twice; he had Puka Nacua instead of Austin Collie. The injuries hurt his legacy. Losing to UAB puts such a weird stink on an otherwise remarkable 2021 season and we lost to UAB cause he was gone. Also, would Max Hall have let us lose that rain game to Boise? In a game where it seemed like the whole squad was asleep, we sure could've used a rallying speech from our QB. But those aren't the reasons Hall wouldn't be drafted inour fantasy league. The reasons he wouldn't be drafted are McMahon, Young, Detmer, Hall, Doman, Hill, Bosco, Sarkisian, Beck, Marc Wilson, and Zach Wilson. Those are the 10 original draftees (plus ZW, who I assume would replace Hill or Doman). I don't think I would take Jaren over any of those guys. That's not a slight on Jaren, who was awesome. It's a compliment to his predecessors.

RB Lopini Katoa - How many games did this guy play? It's so many that I couldn't count it in my head, I had to use a calculator. Katoa gave everything to BYU. He waited for his chance then got passed by Tyler Allgeier in his upperclassmen years. He waited for Allgeier to move on and got passed up by a mercenary, Chris Brooks. He didn't complain, he just kept churning out yards from his diminished role. He's the opposite of guys like Samson Nacua or Kedon Slovis who parachute in as one-season wonders. He only rushed for 32 yards per game. He averaged 47 scrimmage yards per game. But remember how many games he played? The answer is 57. When you add it all together Katoa finished with the 16th most scrimmage yards in BYU history. He's behind Pete Van Valkenburg and ahead of Todd Christensen. Those are names baby. I say he's definitely drafted in our league -- late, yes, but drafted nevertheless. He knocks Algernon Brown out of the list of draftees.

WR Puka Nacua - An absolute no brainer, the somewhere between 2nd and 4th best receiver in BYU history is picked up early in our redraft. Collie went 5th overall in our draft (thank you, thank you, it was a pleasure choosing him), one spot after Steve Young and one spot before Luke Staley. If we were to redraft I imagine Puka goes late round 1 or early round 2. He knocks Neil Pau'u out of the list of players picked.

WR Gunner Romney - I loved O'Neill Chambers for a couple of weird reasons, namely his excellent smack talk against the Utah State student section in 2008 and his punt return against Utah in 2009. But he was the last player chosen in our draft, and I was the one who chose him, so if I had a do-over and had to choose between Gunner and O'Neill ... yes I'm choosing Gunner. He's in.

CB Kaleb Hayes - I was a big fan of Hayes. The last four defensive backs chosen in our draft were Corby Eason, Tom Holmoe, Rodney Rice, and Jack Damuni. It wouldn't surprise me if Hayes knocked out Damuni to be the last man in. But then again in real life BYU players I expect to get drafted never do so in this 50/50 venture I'm betting Hayes is not picked. 

LB Payton Wilgar - Wilgar was an awesome story, a walk-on turned playmaker who was a reliable block in the middle of our defense. Then he kind of, uh, got mad that he didn't have a parking pass and we all turned on him. The last three LBs off the board were Colby Bockwoldt, Spencer Reid, and David Nixon. I don't think Wilgar unseats any of those three. He's undrafted. 

--Summary--

IN: RB Lopini Katoa, WR Puka Nacua, WR Gunner Romney

OUT: RB Algernon Brown, WR Neil Pau'u, WR O'Neill Chambers

2023 Season

Shall we address the elephant? There is not a lot of departing talent from the 2023 team. Still, we press on.

TE Isaac Rex - I'm about to throw some shade at Rex's statistical output so let me counter that by stating that the dude was a true Cougar for years and a well deserved fan favorite. But here are the stats: he averaged 2 catches and 30 yards a game. He had one career game with more than 5 receptions. Our weakest TE picked in the draft was Tevita Ofahengaue, who averaged about 2 catches and 24 yards a game for his career. The big difference? Tevita had 4 career touchdowns. Rex had 24. He is picked. But while we're here can I ask again why Devon picked Tevita over Byron Rex (Isaac's pop), Andrew George, Doug Jolley, David Mills, or Trevor Molini? 

LB Max Tooley - Let's start with the fact that BYU claims Max played in the most games in school history. That's dope. They credit him with the 4th most solo tackles in BYU history. With 7 career picks he's tied for 2nd among BYU linebackers. Two pick-sixes ties him for the 2nd most in school history. I love this guy. He easily unseats one of the last four linebackers that were picked in the last two rounds of the draft. I'd guess in a redraft he gets picked in round 9 or 10 around where Butch Pau'u and Jordan Pendleton were nabbed. 

LB AJ Vongphachanh and CB Eddie Heckard - Two absolute studs who unfortunately wore the BYU blue for only one season. I'd have loved to have seen more of these guys. They were great in their cameo appearance but not impactful enough to unseat any of the draftees. 

--Summary--

IN: TE Isaac Rex, LB Max Tooley

Out: TE Tevita Ofahengaue, LB David Nixon