ESPN Ranks BYU's Offseason in the Middle of the Pack Among Big 12 Teams

The BYU football season kicks off in just over 100 days. The Big 12 season kicks off in 98 days when Kansas State and Iowa State face off in Dublin, Ireland in week zero. ESPN's Bill Connelly ranked the offseason of every Power Four team. Connelly ranked BYU's offseason as 9th out of 16 Big 12 teams.

What Went Right

On what went right for BYU this offseason, Connelly wrote, "The Cougars have a dependable returning starting QB in Jake Retzlaff, who put up more than 3,300 total yards and 26 TDs in 2024, and bring back six more offensive starters from their Alamo Bowl rout of Colorado. They needed to reload along the defensive line with four senior starters moving on and pulled off some major portal additions with Tanuvasa, Kirkland and Texas transfer defensive end Tausili Akana, a former top-150 recruit. The post-spring addition of Stanford transfer receiver Tiger Bachmeier should help make up for the loss of Marion, and Ryan helped resolve a big need at tight end."

Historically speaking, BYU's best seasons have typically come when they return a senior quarterback. Jake Retzlaff led BYU to a 9-2 season a year ago, but there were still areas where he could improve. If Retzlaff makes another stride and BYU's rushing attack is more consistent with a healthy LJ Martin, there is reason to believe that BYU can be a better team than they were a year ago.

What Went Wrong

On what went wrong for BYU this offseason, Connelly wrote, "The Cougars came up one game short of playing for a Big 12 championship in their second year in the league, rolling to a 9-0 start before back-to-back losses -- by a combined margin of nine points -- put them on the wrong side of a four-team tiebreaker. Now they must find a way to replace 12 of the 18 players who started nine or more games last season, with receiver Keelan Marion and linebackerHarrison Taggart joining the list as spring portal departures. The Cougars' lone returning All-Big 12 performer entering 2025 is kicker Will Ferrin. This team has great returning leadership but will need lots of players to step up into more significant roles."

Here are the 12 players that started nine or more games for BYU last season that won't be on the roster in 2025:

1. Tyler Batty
2. John Nelson
3. Blake Mangelson
4. Mata'ava Ta'ase
5. Marque Collins
6. Jakob Robinson
7. Brayden Keim
8. Caleb Etienne
9. Connor Pay
10. Darius Lassiter
11. Harrison Taggart
12. Keelan Marion

The trenches stand out - BYU loses seven players that started nine or more games a year ago. While BYU's portal class was small, they addressed the most severe needs along the defensive line and along the offensive line.

Connelly's Take

On why he ranked BYU's offseason the way he did, Connelly said, "Returning your quarterback and both coordinators after a good year is never a bad thing, but the Cougars are replacing a number of starters and didn't bring in much of a portal haul. Sitake will need to find some internal answers."

While BYU didn't bring in a lot of transfers, they did bring in transfers along the trenches that are expected to start in Keanu Tanuvasa, Andrew Gentry, and Justin Kirkland. There are also players like Tausili Akana and Anisi Purcell who will compete for starting spots.

Below is Connelly's full ranking of the offseason for every Big 12 team. Texas Tech claimed the first spot after bringing in the nation's top portal class.

1. Texas Tech
2. Arizona State
3. Baylor
4. Iowa State
5. Kansas State
6. TCU
7. Utah
8. Cincinnati
9. BYU
10. Colorado
11. Houston
12. Oklahoma State
13. West Virginia
14. Kansas
15. Arizona
16. UCF