At Utah, the defensive line has often been the strength of Morgan Scalley’s defense, frequently producing NFL draft picks and then reloading. Rarely has the defensive line — the defensive tackle position, specifically — been of this much interest during spring camp, but after Utah lost two starters and a rotation piece at the position this offseason, all eyes have been on how group will step up.
In Junior Tafuna, who had 31 tackles, an interception and three pass breakups last season, Utah is losing not one of its most consistent players — Tafuna made an all-conference team in each of his four seasons — but one of the heartbeats of the defense.
Then, the Utes lost third-year player Keanu Tanuvasa — who earned a place on the All-Big 12 honorable mention team after tallying 17 tackles, a sack and four pass breakups in seven games — to BYU.
Simote Pepa, another four-year player who had 10 tackles and two tackles for loss in nine games, transferred to Washington.
That’s a lot of experience for the Utes to replace, and it’s the primary concern for defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley during spring camp.
“Solidifying the defensive line. I love the defensive end depth. Defensive tackle, obviously that’s where we’ve lost some guys, but I am excited about the guys that we do have,” Scalley said.
Headlining the group is Aliki Vimahi, a 6-foot-4, 296-pound senior that has been in the program since 2020 and has 13 starts under his belt, including two last season. Vimahi’s season was shortened due to injury — he played in just four games with seven tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass breakups — but he set a career high with five tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Iowa State.
“Dallas (Vakalahi) is really explosive, so is Jonah (Lea’ea). Very active, very athletic. They can do a lot of good things, so they got to continue to develop in those areas and start taking more of a leadership role, which Jonah has done a good job at and is ...
