Utah freshman LB Lander Barton's confidence shining through early in fall camp
Most expect Lander Barton to step into an immediate role with the Utah defense in 2022.
The former 4-star, top-100 linebacker recruit is one of the highest-rated players to join the Utes in the 247Sports era. He’s a ready-made off-ball linebacker at the college level—athletic, strong, well-aware, and always on the move. Plus, Utah has a need in its linebacking corps with Devin Lloyd and Nephi Sewell moving on from last year’s team.
Barton’s maturity figured to only help him in the pursuit of early playing time, but he’s still a freshman and learning a defense takes time. But with fall camp opening this week, his coaches have seen a big jump in his confidence levels.
“He is a lot more confident,” defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley told reporters on Friday, according to UteZone’s Steve Bartle. “You can tell in how they communicate with others, normally young guys aren’t the ones talking and yelling, but (Barton)’s done a lot of that, he’s much more confident and comfortable.”
“He (Lander) is a lot more confident. You can tell in how they communicate with others, normally young guys are the ones talking and yelling, but he’s done a lot of that, he’s much more confident and comfortable”
— Steve Bartle (@SBartle247) August 6, 2022
Here’s more from the defense following practice:
Scalley said Lander Barton has “gained a lot during the offseason and he's getting much more confident” and he’s making a lot of progress.
— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) August 5, 2022
Lander Barton: “We have a pretty solid room. I think we can surprise people this year. It’s a lot of young guys and a couple vets but I feel like we have a really good room this year.”
— Cole Bagley (@bagley_cole) August 6, 2022
Morgan Scalley’s comments on a few players.
– Lander Barton’s confidence has come a long way since spring.
– Fillinger has worked a lot on his strength and they expect a big year.
– Isbell covers a lot of ground and poses some serious problems for offenses with his length.— Cole Bagley (@bagley_cole) August 5, 2022
Listening back to it, Morgan couldn’t wait to answer when asked about Clayton Isbell: “Oooh, covers a lot of ground. RANGY. The more he understands our scheme, the faster he’s going to play but with that length, he poses some problems.”
— Steve Bartle (@SBartle247) August 6, 2022
“We’ve got six or seven guys in the mix (competing for other DE spot). Love what Gabe Reid brings, he’s not as long levered but we have experience with guys like that. O’Toole brings speed off the edge. Suguturaga is physical and improved his pass rushing. Leaving some guys out”
— Steve Bartle (@SBartle247) August 6, 2022
