Why Tao Johnson is primed to be the next impactful Utah safety, and who could start alongside him

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It’s been a constant theme through the offseason, starting in the spring.

Utah football coaches are fired up about Tao Johnson ’s move to free safety.

It’s a move that Kyle Whittingham would have made earlier — he said last September that safety is Johnson’s natural position — but there were two NFL-level safeties in the backfield in Cole Bishop and Sione Vaki, so Johnson started at nickel back.

Johnson has played just about everywhere on the field, starting out as a quarterback and cornerback at Thunder Ridge High in Idaho Falls, Idaho, but was recruited by Utah as a wide receiver. After appearing in five games during his freshman season at receiver and on special teams, Whittingham had a conversation with Johnson in the hallway at the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center, laying out why a move to defense would be beneficial for both sides.

“He was doing a good job there (at wide receiver), but as you watch people move and just how they operate, you just kind of have a gut feeling that hey, this guy probably will have a higher ceiling at a different spot, and that’s exactly is what I thought with Tao,” Whittingham said last September.

Since moving to defense, Johnson has played a myriad of positions — corner, safety and nickel — but spent the majority of time at nickel last season, shoring up a position that was up for grabs heading into the 2023 season.

He played in all 13 games, starting 12 of them at nickel, where he had 33 tackles (1.5 for loss), five pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

Whittingham and defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley used him where he could best help the team, and aside from playing nickel, Johnson also had 145 snaps at free safety — 66 snaps against UCLA and 38 in the Las Vegas Bowl vs. Northwestern — and some snaps at corner.

All of this experience proved to be invaluable for Johnson, who said that playing all over the field helped him understand the defense — and football — as a whole a lot better. Of course, he also has experience on offense under his belt as well, which helps him understand and process the offense from a different perspective.

Then there’s the physical attributes: 6-foot-1, 196 pounds and blazing speed. In response to a question about who the fastest player in the secondary was, Johnson answered, “There’s some fast guys, but if you ask me, it’s me.”

He had a smile on his face and was joking around, but his speed is a real plus, and is part of the reason why Utah’s coaches are so excited about him at free safety.

“Speed. He’s got really good speed over the top. He’s got great ball skills,” Scalley said this spring. “… Cole and Sione were very good, very good safeties, could play on the back end, but Tao just with his ability to cover ground is really pleasant to see back there.”

Free safety is a demanding position, and in preparation for the season, Johnson has worked on upping his physicality.

“What comes with safety is playing in the box, making game-saving tackles, just being that guy who can do everything and so I’ve really had to grow in all aspects of my game and pass rush and everything,” Johnson said. “It’s been great for me and I think I’ve grown physically a lot for sure.”

While Johnson has pretty much been penciled into the starting free safety position since spring, there’s been a competition between Nate Ritchie, Johnathan Hall and Alaka’i Gilman — all of whom are starting-caliber safeties, but there’s only one starting spot.

While all three will get snaps throughout the season, Ritchie started fall camp as the favorite for the starting strong safety spot, and is still the favorite to start beside Johnson when the season begins.

Ritchie has been in this position before, starting all five games at strong safety in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — he led the Utes’ secondary with 28 tackles (four for loss) — before serving a Latter-day Saints mission. When he returned from his mission ahead of the 2023 season, he missed all of the spring due to a back injury, and combined with some rust from his mission, wasn’t the same player that he was three years prior at the start of the season.

As the year went on, he found his rhythm, and played in 12 games, including three starts (he filled in for Bishop in the first half of the USC game after Bishop had to sit out due to a targeting call).

“Nate’s a baller. He’s very technical. He is technically sound. He can do a lot. He’s got a very balanced game. He can play in the post, in the box. He’s a good player,” Johnson said.

Now, Ritchie is feeling great as he heads into the 2024 season.

“I think it’s just been a year of getting my body back, just like the coaches have said. I mean, I feel stronger,” Ritchie said. “I feel like I’m able to really push through all of the hard times more just because I have more strength and more confidence in my body.”

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