Utah Football: Potential impact of Jackson Cravens’ transfer

Kyle Whittingham could have a depth issue on Utah football’s defensive line in a year or two after Jackson Cravens entered the transfer portal.

Though he appeared in just one game with Utah, Jackson Cravens is leaving the school without ever really living up to his borderline four-star billing.

Cravens redshirted as a freshman in 2018 after playing just a single game and a handful of snaps, recording one tackle, so that will give him plenty of eligibility at whatever school he chooses after entering the transfer portal on Monday, according to 247Sports.

The Provo, Utah, native seemed like the perfect fit with the Utes, staying close to home and playing for an up-and-coming Pac-12 program that would need depth on the defensive line during his sophomore or junior seasons.

However, injuries forced him to redshirt and didn’t allow him to be at 100 percent this spring and he may have missed the opportunity to fit into that two-deep.

So how would Cravens’ potential transfer impact the Utes? Short-term, not much. He would be buried probably with the third or maybe second-team unit given guys like Pita Tonga, Viane Moala and Hauati Pututau are backing up All-Pac-12 linemen Leki Fotu and John Penisini in the middle of the line. He would be fighting just for backup opportunities.

Long-term, though, this one hurts. Cravens had a bright future in Salt Lake City and he would have filled the voids after the team lost guys like Fotu, Penisini, Tonga and Pututau. All of those guys are upperclassmen meaning he’d be a potential starter a year or two down the road.

Kyle Whittingham will have to make sure he loads up on defensive tackles in the 2020 recruiting class because Cravens’ departure will be felt especially starting next season and 2021.