Utah
NFL mock draft roundup: Where experts think Utah, BYU and local players will be selected
Last year, nine Utah ties were taken during the 2023 NFL draft.
That included three former Utes, three former Cougars and three others who played high school ball in Utah but played college outside the state.
If national experts are to be believed, there could be a similar number of Utah ties taken in the 2024 NFL draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday in Detroit.
The University of Utah has the highest amount of draftable prospects in this year’s class, while BYU has one likely high draft pick and a couple other potential late-rounders. There are also a couple of former Utah prep stars who are expected to hear their name called.
Here’s where five recent seven-round mock drafts have predicted for Utah ties to get drafted:
Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Corner Canyon High
Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU and Orem High
Cole Bishop, S, Utah
Jonah Elliss, Edge, Utah
Sataoa Laumea, G, Utah
Sione Vaki, S, Utah
Dallin Holker, TE, BYU and Lehi High
Ryan Rehkow, P, BYU
Other Utah ties projected as draft picks
Three other Utah ties received one projection as a draft pick:
- Keaton Bills, G, Utah and Corner Canyon High: Round 5, No. 165 overall to Baltimore Ravens by Josh Edwards, CBS Sports.
- Winston Reid, LB, Weber State and Copper Hills High: Round 7, No. 251 overall to San Francisco 49ers by Chad Reuter, NFL.com.
- Kedon Slovis, QB, BYU: Round 7, No. 255 overall to Green Bay Packers by Chad Reuter, NFL.com.
SALT LAKE CITY — A California man in Utah, as part of his duties with the National Guard, is accused of trying to solicit sex from a young teenager.
Joshua Ruben Rodriguez, 29, of Fresno, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with attempted rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and enticement of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began when an agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation posed as a 13-year-old girl on a “popular social media site … in an attempt to locate and apprehend adults attempting to have sexual contact with children,” according to charging documents.
On April 16, Rodriguez sent the agent a message — believing he was talking to a teen girl — that stated, “I’ll be direct with you, I would like to get to know you and (have sex with) your mind into a daze to where you feel like a woman,” according to charging documents.
When the “girl” asked if he had a problem with her age, Rodriguez replied, “I don’t have a problem with your age,” the charges state.
The agent told Rodriguez to meet at an apartment complex in Salt Lake County where the girl lived, claiming her mother would be gone. When Rodriguez arrived, he was taken into custody, the charges state.
“(Rodriguez) does not have ties to Utah. He is a resident of Fresno, California. (He) was in town as part of his military service with the California National Guard,” prosecutors stated in charging documents while requesting he be held without bail pending trial.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
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