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PROVO — As we inch closer to the 2013 college football season, it's fun to look at BYU's roster and project what type of season we expect the team and individual players to have. What is impossible to predict, however, is injuries.
Who could foresee Riley Nelson breaking his back and completely altering the course of the 2012 BYU Football season? I don't remember anyone predicting that Michael Alisa would break his arm against Hawaii. Injuries are impossible to anticipate and can devastate a program.
With that in mind, I believe the three players that BYU can least afford to lose to injury this upcoming season are cornerback Jordan Johnson, linebacker Kyle Van Noy and receiver Cody Hoffman.
Jordan Johnson
The junior cornerback has been a playmaker at BYU since he arrived on campus. After redshirting his first season in Provo, Johnson played in 13 games as a freshman and started all 12 of BYU's games as a sophomore. He finished last season with 48 tackles and 15 pass breakups with 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception and one fumble recovery.
Beyond just his stats, Johnson has turned into a very good cover-corner. His speed and athleticism are things BYU typically has not had at that position. Beyond that, he has dominated the field corner position for so long that nobody else has really been able to get playing time there. For me, that's why the BYU defense can't afford to lose him. His backup (according to the post-spring depth chart) is Adam Hogan. Adam saw action in only four games last year (all blowouts), with no stats. That's not a slam on Hogan, just pointing out that Johnson's backup has seen limited action. Combine that with the loss of Jacob Hannemann to Major League Baseball and the ACL injury to JC transfer Trenton Trammel, the Cougars will be relying heavily on Johnson for stability at the corner position.
When all is said and done, Johnson has simply made himself invaluable. His opportunity to play meaningful minutes from the beginning of his Cougar career has paid off for the BYU defense. He is immensely talented and has proven his worth on the field.
Kyle Van Noy
I'm not sure how much I need to sell this one. Van Noy's importance to the BYU defense is pretty obvious; after all, we are talking about a future first-round NFL Draft pick. Van Noy's dominance has grown year after year. From starting two games as a freshman in 2010, to being one of the best defensive players in the country as a junior, Van Noy has lived up to and surpassed all expectations at BYU.
BYU has always had success with linebackers; you can look back to guys like Bryan Kehl, Cameron Jensen, Rob Morris and Shay Muirbrook. Van Noy may be the best of all of them. His combination of speed, size and power is impressive to watch. Not only is KVN a playmaker, because he demands so much attention, it allows others on the defense to make plays.
When you talk about replacing a player, you look at the intangibles and the production on the field. Last year alone, Van Noy Led the team with 22 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, eight quarterback hurries and six forced fumbles. Besides that, Kyle added 53 tackles, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and two blocked kicks. If that's not impressive enough, for the second year in a row, KVN recorded a stat in the following categories: tackle, tackle for loss, sack, interception, pass breakup, quarterback hurry, fumble recovery, forced fumble, blocked kick and touchdown -- good luck trying to make up that kind of production.
The BYU defense has a lot of good players at the linebacker position; Van Noy has set himself apart as thee guy at that position and on the defense. Losing his leadership and production would be devastating to the Cougars.
Cody Hoffman
I mentioned at the beginning of this article that it's impossible to foresee or predict when an injury is going to take place. It's also difficult to predict that an unassuming wide receiver with hardly any recruiting buzz prior to committing to BYU would turn into one of the Cougars' best receivers ever.
Cody Hoffman has been the workhorse of the BYU offense for the past two seasons. In terms of production, Hoffman was the BYU offense. There's no question that he benefited from Riley Nelson looking his way the majority of the time, but hey, with the numbers Cody put up, wouldn't you target him too?
If Hoffman, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, were to be lost during the season due to injury, it would be difficult to replicate what he's done on the field. Just last year, Cody led BYU in all receiving categories with 100 receptions, 1,248 yards and 11 touchdowns. To put in perspective how heavily Hoffman was relied upon, the next nearest BYU receiver was JD Falslev with 37 receptions. If Cody were to suffer an injury, the Cougars aren't hurting for talent; however, it would be almost impossible for just one receiver to make up for the loss of Hoffman.
I think we all expect a much bigger year from Ross Apo; and with JD Falslev being healthy and the tight ends carrying more of the load, Taysom Hill will have plenty of target options. But losing Hoffman would take BYU's best offensive weapon out of the equation, and for a team looking to regain its offensive prowess, fingers are crossed that Cody stays healthy and productive in 2013.
Because I'm sure some of you think I'm crazy for not including Taysom Hill in my Top 3, I feel compelled to explain myself. I'm not downplaying Taysom's significance at all; we know how important he is to this team moving forward. His skill-set and athletic ability are exactly what BYU's offense needs. The reason I don't put him in my Top 3 is because of the play of Ammon Olsen. Heaven forbid something happens to Taysom, I believe Ammon proved during spring ball that he is more than capable of stepping in and leading this offense. I walked away from spring practices feeling like the BYU coaches would be very comfortable if Ammon had to play.
With that said, let's all hope Taysom stays healthy and has the fantastic season we all expect him to have -- that goes for all of the 2013 BYU Cougars!
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Photos: Courtesy of BYU Photo
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