Predicting the Winner of Every Major Position Battle for BYU Football

This week, BYU will wrap up Fall Camp and transition to game preparation mode. The Cougars will take 10-12 days to prepare for Portland State. They will also pick a starting quarterback and give that quarterback the first-team reps leading up to the game. In this article, we will pick the winners of all the major Fall Camp position battles.

Quarterback

We went in depth on the quarterback competition over the weekend. We believe true freshman Bear Bachmeier is pulling away in the quarterback competition. An announcement could come as early as Monday, or BYU could wait until game week to announce a starter. Either way, we expect Bachmeier to make history as the first true freshman to start for BYU in week one.

Prediction: Bear Bachmeier

Defensive End

The defensive end position is going to be fascinating to watchin 2025. The group is inexperienced with Logan Lutui as the lone returning player with prior starts. However, there is a lot of talent, more talent than any other season under Kalani Sitake.

Expect a lot of players to rotate in at this position, even if they don't start. Hunter Clegg, for example, will play a role for BYU. However, we don't expect him to start against Portland State.

For this prediction, we will lean on Logan Lutui to take one of the starting defensive end spots. Opposite of Lutui, we like true sophomore Viliami Po'uha to win the starting job. Po'uha returned from his mission in January of 2024 and played a limited role for the Cougars in 2024. Now that he has a full offseason under his belt, we expect him to be a major contributor.

Prediction: Logan Lutui & Viliami Po'uha

Mike Linebacker

Coming into camp, Siale Esera looked like the safest best to win the starting mike linebacker spot. Choe Bryant-Stroter, a former UCLA transfer, has had a really strong Fall Camp. We give Bryant-Strother a very, very slight edge to start here. Either way, both Bryant-Strother and Esera will play big roles for the BYU defense. We expect Jack Kelly, Isaiah Glasker, Choe Bryant-Strother, and Siale Esera to be the four linebackers that play the most.

Prediction: Choe Bryant-Strother

Wide Receiver

Chase Roberts entered camp as the undisputed go-to wide receiver. That's not up for debate. The rotation behind Roberts was up for grabs heading into camp.

Behind Roberts, we like Jojo Phillips and Parker Kingston to start at wide receiver. BYU typically rotates 5-6 wide receivers. Cody Hagen and Tiger Bachmeier will play for the BYU offense. If Bear Bachmeier is named the starter, Tiger Bachmeier is a candidate to have some high-level production given the built-in chemistry with his brother.

Reggie Frischknecht and Tei Nacua are candidates to rotate in at wide receiver as well. We expect both of them to see the field early in the season.

Starters
Chase Roberts
Jojo Phillips
Parker Kingston

Rotation
Cody Hagen
Tiger Bachmeier

Potential Rotation
Reggie Frischknecht
Tei Nacua

Safety

Jay Hill has said there are five safeties he feels he can win with: Tanner Wall, Raider Damuni, Faletau Satuala, Tommy Prassas, and Talan Alfrey.

We expect all five of those safeties to play for BYU in 2025. For the Portland State game, we will go with Tanner Wall and Raider Damuni to start. Wall will likely be named a captain and he might be the safety that Jay Hill trusts the most. Raider Damuni has flashed his playmaking ability in camp that made him a coveted recruit coming out of high school: he jumped a slant route and intercepted Treyson Bourguet, he also nearly intercepted a McCae Hillstead pass on Friday.

However, Faletau Satuala could take over a spot as early as the season opener. Satuala has a very high ceiling and he is starting to show why he was the top-rated recruit in the state last year.

Tommy Prassas and Talan Alfrey will also see the field a lot. We expect Jay Hill to rotate all five quite a bit until the best two or three emerge.

Prediction: Tanner Wall and Raider Damuni

Offensive Line

The two starting tackles for BYU will be Isaiah Jatta and Andrew Gentry. There has been some competition for the interior offensive line spots.

Prediction (Left to Right): Isaiah Jatta Weylin Lapuaho, Bruce Mitchell, Austin Leausa, Andrew Gentry

Cornerback

BYU has a few cornerbacks competing for starting spots. We like Mory Bamba and Evan Johnson to start the season as the starting cornerbacks.

Prediction: Mory Bamba and Evan Johnson

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