Takeaways from BYU football's first day of spring practice

Thursday afternoon marked the first official spring practice for the BYU football team, making the six months and two days before its season-opener against Portland State just that much closer.

After a stellar 11-2 season capped off with an Alamo Bowl victory over Colorado, the Cougars bring back a good chunk of key players, and are hoping that some of their young guys can fill some major holes.

The quarterback room

So far, the BYU quarterback room only consists of three players: Jake Retzlaff, McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourget.

"Just because there's three of us, it's already the closest room that I've been apart of," starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff said.

BYU will need to look to add more quarterbacks to the roster before the season begins, as having only three quarterbacks means the Cougars are putting a lot of faith in the health of their players.

Last season, Retzlaff was remarkably healthy, but was notably banged up after the Utah game. Against Kansas, he was clearly battling through some pain and discomfort.

"Compared to last season, I'm gonna be a little heavier, take a little more hits, be able to run through guys," Retzlaff said.

Retzlaff has added some weight, which will be helpful for the quarterback who had a breakout campaign last season, but you can never be too cautious with depth at the quarterback position.

Wide Receivers

Last season, BYU was blessed with two top-level wide receivers in Darius Lassiter and Chase Roberts each amassing over 700 yards.

Now, with Lassiter gone, BYU is looking to fill the his hole and give Roberts a little less of a workload as wide receiver one.

Retzlaff highlighted Keelan Marion as someone that he believes can fill that spot.

"Marion is a stud," Retzlaff said. "He's never covered."

Retzlaff also mentioned returning receivers JoJo Phillips and Parker Kingston as two players who can be a major part of the receiving game.

Tei Nacua, the brother of NFL pro bowler and former Cougar, Puka Nacua, also got love from Retzlaff.

"I mean he's a Nacua," Retzlaff said, "and he shows flashes of a Nacua often."

There was no mention of any freshman receivers when asked, but BYU believes that their returning receivers are up to the task.

Photo by BYU Photo

Defense

With all three starting linebackers making the decision to come back for another season, the two biggest holes that BYU will have to make up for on the defensive side are cornerback ( Jakob Robinson) and defensive end ( Tyler Batty.)

Both players were key pieces for one of the best defenses in the country in 2024.

For the cornerback position, a few different players will have the chance to grab hold of the top cornerback spot.

Mory Bamba, Evan Johnson, and Tre Alexander will all be competing, but safety and team captain Tanner Wall highlighted Jonathan Kabeya as someone that caught his eye during Thursday's practice.

"I love Jonathan Kabeya," Wall said. "He's got great feet, he's extremely athletic, he's a guy who I think is gonna make an impact for us this year ... I see a lot of great potential in him."

Thursday also marked the first time that Utah transfer, Keanu Tanuvasa, suited up on the D-line for the Cougars.

After Tanuvasa's shocking decision to transfer away from Utah and to BYU, Tanuvasa now has the chance to take over Batty's spot on the defensive line.

Last season, Tanuvasa took down Retzlaff and gave him a little extra after the whistle — something that the now teammates can joke about.

Day one recap

The team as a whole feel like it's picked up right where it left off from last season. Retzlaff even noted that this year's first practice feels a lot different than last year's.

"Last year I felt like we were staring from scratch, we were building the program up. This year we have such a solid foundation," Retzlaff said.

With a majority of the core back, BYU believes that it is in store for as good — if not better — a season in 2025.