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Utah Football: Top 5 spring 2019 breakout candidates

By Connor Muldowney

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 24: Dayan Ghanwoloku #5 of the Brigham Young Cougars tackles the leaping TJ Green #4 of the Utah Utes in the second half of a game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 24: Dayan Ghanwoloku #5 of the Brigham Young Cougars tackles the leaping TJ Green #4 of the Utah Utes in the second half of a game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /
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PASADENA, CA – OCTOBER 26: Wilton Speight #3 of the UCLA Bruins is hit hard by defensive end Mika Tafua #42 and defensive back Javelin K. Guidry #28 of the Utah Utes after running for a first down in the fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl on October 26, 2018 in Pasadena, California. Utah won 41-10. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA – OCTOBER 26: Wilton Speight #3 of the UCLA Bruins is hit hard by defensive end Mika Tafua #42 and defensive back Javelin K. Guidry #28 of the Utah Utes after running for a first down in the fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl on October 26, 2018 in Pasadena, California. Utah won 41-10. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

Mika Tafua was coveted by a number of Pac-12 programs, such as Washington, USC and Oregon, but the Utes won the recruiting battle for the former four-star from Hawaii.

Two years later, Tafua is in a position to start at defensive end as a redshirt sophomore. He impressed in his freshman season, finishing with 22 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and a couple of sacks. He looked like a budding star on the defensive line and his role is only going to grow as his career progresses.

Did Tafua already break out? You could argue that since he had a decent impact along the line, but I wouldn’t say finishing 14th on the team in total tackles, fourth in tackles for loss and seventh in sacks is enough to say a player truly broke out and became a household name.

Tafua is going to be more recognized on a conference-wide level and maybe even nationally during the 2019 season. The former linebacker has put on about 40 pounds since stepping foot on campus a couple of years ago and now he’s poised to be one of the Pac-12’s top defensive ends.

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