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Utah football recruiting: scouting take on Johnny Capra

The Utes have lost some recruits lately but got a flip of their own with former Cal offensive line commit Johnny Capra

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

It's a weird feeling to have if you're a Cal fan when other programs are trying to poach your recruits. On one hand, it speaks to the coaching staff's abilities at evaluating talent early in the process. On the other hand, it's pretty scary to think that these players who have been committed to the Bears for awhile may not eventually end up in Berkeley.

This happened to be the case with offensive lineman Johnny Capra who was committed to Cal since June, but has now flipped his decision to Utah. What exactly are the Utes getting, and the Bears losing, with Capra?

Johnny Capra - 3 star offensive lineman

It's always strange to say this about someone who is 6'6" and 280 pounds, but Capra has a kid body. He needs to do some reshaping and developing in a strength program at the next level. When he does that, he should be a player that gets to over 300 on the scales.

I always love when I see an o-lineman that likes to finish and Capra has that inside of him. He is so much physically bigger and stronger than the majority of kids he is asked to block that he can, and does, put them on their back and keeps them there. A lot of it is because he understands leverage, both with pad level and with putting his body in the correct position to use his opponents momentum against them, specifically when downblocking. Capra also moves well getting to the second level and maintains that desire to finish to go along with a nasty attitude. As a run blocker, he is a fundamentally sound player.

Mostly due to the offense his high school runs, he is extremely raw in his pass pro technique. He shows some good feet, but pretty much needs to be built from scratch in this area from everything to his kickslide to his punch.

Because of his lack of experience pass blocking, he's likely going to need some time to develop and shouldn't be a candidate for immediate playing time. I do think he has the chance to be a nasty player, especially as a run blocker, that can eventually become a starter for the Utes.