2022 Fall Camp: Practice 13 Gallery and Tight Ends/Fullbacks Preview

PROVO, Utah — No. 25 BYU football completed its 13th practice of fall camp on Monday while national honors continued to roll in for quarterback Jaren Hall and offensive linemen Clark Barrington and Blake Freeland.

Hall (No. 38), Freeland (No. 51) and Barrington (No. 55) were featured in Pro Football Network's Top 100 College Football Players in 2022.

Hall was ranked No. 7 among quarterbacks, ahead of 2022 BYU opponents KJ Jefferson (Arkansas) and Hank Bachmeier (Boise State). Freeland was ranked No. 4 among offensive tackles, ahead of Darnell Wright (Tennessee) and Dawand Jones (Ohio State). Barrington came in second among offensive guards, ahead of USC's Andrew Vorhees and Layden Robinson of Texas A&M.

View images from Monday’s practice below or by selecting the following link.

Fall Camp Exposure Gallery

The team will wrap-up fall camp with a closed scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Tuesday prior to beginning preparations for its season opener at USF on Sept. 3.

Tight ends/Fullbacks Preview

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Tight ends and fullbacks continue to provide the BYU offense with several versatile options, including the sure-handed Isaac Rex, speedy Dallin Holker and hurdling fullback Masen Wake.

Rex, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound sophomore, played in 12 games a season ago, hauling in 18 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-sealing score in BYU’s 27-17 win over No. 19 Arizona State. Rex’s season went on to end prematurely due to an injury he sustained in the Cougars’ 35-31 win at USC on Nov. 27, 2021.

“My main focus is just getting as healthy as possible and being able to go out there and help my team,” Rex said at BYU Football Media Day on June 22. “I’m not worried about the individual stats as much as I am proving that I can get back to playing.”

Tight ends coach Steve Clark is optimistic about Rex’s recovery ahead of the 2022 season.

“He’s been amazing and is ahead of schedule,” Clark said at Media Day. “He's beaten every marker (the training staff) has given him.”

While a freshman in 2020, Rex was a prime target for quarterback Zach Wilson as he compiled 37 receptions for 429 yards and 12 touchdowns at 11.6 yards per grab. The Athletic and Phil Steele each awarded Rex Freshman All-American honors following his 2020 campaign.

The San Clemente, California, native has garnered further national recognition this offseason with a spot on the Phil Steele 2022 Preseason All-Independent First Team and John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List.

Rex is a second-generation tight end for the Cougars. His father, Byron, was a 1992 All-American and two-time All-WAC honoree (1991, 1992) at BYU. The junior Rex is BYU’s active career leader in touchdown receptions with 15 through two seasons.

Junior Dallin Holker provides a powerful one-two punch for the Cougars at tight end. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound native of Lehi, Utah played in all 13 games last season, recording 14 grabs for 200 yards and a touchdown at 14.3 yards per catch. All of this came just months after Holker’s return from a two-year full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Vina del Mar, Chile.

Prior to his mission, Holker also played in all 13 games of the 2018 season as a true freshman out of Lehi High School.

“Dallin is one of the hardest working players on the team,” Clark said. “He’s always lifting weights, running routes or catching balls off the JUGS machine.”

Holker’s speed and route running gives BYU’s offense another option to stretch the field alongside its wide receivers.

“I really like running routes,” Holker said at Media Day. “I like the creativity that comes with it and the challenge of having to see what the defense is doing and just beating a guy one-on-one.”

Carter Wheat, Lane Lunt, Ethan Erickson and Anthony Olsen are also tight ends the Cougars can look to in 2022.

Clark also coaches BYU’s fullbacks and has a dynamic playmaker in Wake and a proven leader in Stanford transfer Houston Heimuli.

Clark remembers his introduction to a freshman Wake in 2019.

“Masen came back on a crush block in practice,” Clark said at Media Day. “He came to cut the backside and just drilled somebody, and I knew we had someone special.”

A 6-foot-1, 260-pound native of Cedar Hills, Utah, recorded 14 receptions for 148 yards and one touchdown last season while wowing fans with his signature hurdles. The junior also has a tendency for leaving missed tackles in his wake with physical running after the catch.

Heimuli, a 5-foot-11, 265-pound senior from Bountiful, Utah appeared in 42 games at Stanford as a blocking back and was named a team captain for the Cardinal in 2021. Heimuli’s father, Lakei, led BYU in rushing for three consecutive seasons (1984-86) and was the starting fullback on its 1984 National Championship team. The senior Heimuli went on to become a two-time Honorable Mention All-American (1985, 1986) and a two-time All-WAC selection (1985, 1986).