Reese’s Senior Bowl Shows Utah Football Love Placing 10 Utes On Preseason Watch List
Aug 23, 2023, 8:28 AM
SALT LAKE CITY – The Reese’s Senior Bowl put out their preseason watch list for 2023 and 10 Utes made the cut for the prestigious postseason NFL senior showcase.
Executive Director Jim Nagy has been high on Utah and the players they bring into the program as of late, and this season appears to be no different.
Cornerbacks Miles Battle and Zemaiah Vaughn made the cut along with offensive linemen Keaton Bills and Sataoa Laumea, and tight ends Brant Kuithe and Thomas Yassmin. Rounding out the Ute selections were running back Micah Bernard, defensive tackle Junior Tafuna, defensive end Connor O’Toole, and quarterback Cam Rising.
Proud of all ten of our athletes on the @seniorbowl watchlist ‼️ pic.twitter.com/jvEdPSNDXL
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 23, 2023
First-round Draft picks Devin Lloyd (2022) and Dalton Kincaid (2023) accepted invites to the Senior Bowl the past two seasons, but ultimately had to back out to heal up.
The Reese’s Senior Bowl Love Rising & Kuithe
The Reese’s Senior Bowl has had two players in particular in the sights for a while in Rising and Kuithe. Nagy particularly has not been shy about how bullish he is on the tandem and how they could translate to the next level.
In July of 2022 Nagy shouted the duo out along with Kincaid. Of Rising, Nagy said he was one of the more impressive throwers at the Manning Passing Academy, while noting Kincaid and Kuithe had both received draftable grades before opting to come back for the 2022 season.
Our @Utah_Football followers know how much @seniorbowl buys into Utah QB Cam Rising’s grittiness—that’s been made clear in posts over past two years.
More importantly, NFL scouts appreciate what @crising7 is made of, too.
When we polled NFL teams last fall, most had… pic.twitter.com/IhIHz3vuep
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) June 14, 2023
The love continued to pour for Rising in June of 2023 with Nagy talking about how the Senior Bowl has had complete buy-in to his talent from the jump while pulling a clip of the massive hit Utah’s QB1 took in the Pac-12 Championship Game against USC as proof of his toughness and moxy. Nagy and the Senior Bowl of course followed that up by placing Rising on their watch list for the second-straight season.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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