John Henry Daley bided his time before making a splash — and is already drawing comparisons to Ute greats

John Henry Daley had to bide his time for a year after transferring to Utah, but the wait has been well worth it.

The Ute sophomore has been filling up the stat sheet this season after winning the starting job, leading the nation in sacks with six and contributing 7.5 tackles for loss (tops in the Big 12 and second in the nation), 18 total tackles, a pass breakup and two forced fumbles.

He’s not only been Utah’s most consistent defensive player — he leads the team with a 89 Pro Football Focus grade — but he’s provided plenty of game-changing plays through the first four games of the season.

In the season-opener against UCLA — Daley’s first start ever — the Alpine, Utah native sacked quarterback Nico Iamaleava twice. A week later against Cal Poly, Daley registered a sack and 2.5 tackles