How has Utah football fared in the transfer portal? – Desert News

On the heels of a 5-7 season and an offseason offensive renovation with the hiring of new offensive coordinator Jason Beck, the University of Utah had an extremely busy December in the transfer portal.

The fall transfer portal window officially closed Saturday night for Utah players, ending a 20-day college football free agency blitz, at least until the spring.

The results, Monday morning? Twenty-four players entered the transfer portal from Utah, with the Utes picking up 15 players. That’s absolutely correct, as coach Kyle Whittingham said in November, that the Utes expected to add about 10 to 15 players through the portal, although the Utes may not have yet finished.

Although the transfer portal is closed for most teams – teams playing in the postseason are given a five-day extension for their players to participate after their season ends – programs can still pick up those from the portal at at any time (the deadline is just for players to enter their names), so Utah can still add players to its team as the calendar approaches January.

That said, the majority of the transfer portal action is complete, so here’s a look at how the Utes fared.

Strategist

This was by far the biggest need in Utah’s transfer portal after two seasons of dismal play at the position. Shortly after the school hired Beck from New Mexico as the school’s offensive coordinator, its quarterback announced he would be coming with us.

New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier, a sophomore, was the perfect fit for Beck’s offensive scheme, helping the Lobos generate 484.2 yards per game and become the nation’s fourth-most productive offense. last season.

Dampier was one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country, totaling 3,934 yards of offense in 2024 (2,768 passing and 1,166 rushing). While he’ll have to address some accuracy issues in his move to the Big 12 — he threw 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and completed just 57.9 percent of his passes — there’s one thing that’s almost guaranteed: Utah’s offense is doing well. be much more exciting to watch than the last couple of years.

Dampier has a lot of upside and raises the ceiling of Utah’s offense. As long as he can be more accurate in 2025, the Utes will be in a much better position at center.

Behind Dampier, the presumptive 2025 starter, the Utes have freshman transfer from Oklahoma Brendan Zurbrugg, a 6-foot-2, 207-pound freshman who redshirted last season, and Isaac Wilson, who removed his name from the portal and returned to Utah.

Run back

If quarterback was the No. 1 priority, running back was definitely the Utes’ No. 2 priority in the transfer portal. All scholarship holders – Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover, Mike Mitchell, Anthony Woods, Dijon Stanley and John Randle Jr. – lacked eligibility or entered the transfer portal.

A complete overhaul of the room was needed, and it started with the addition of Washington State’s Mark Atuaia, who was recruited by Beck to become Utah’s new running backs coach.

Washington State freshman Wayshawn Parker, who rushed for 735 yards and four touchdowns on 137 carries in his true freshman season in Pullman, was perhaps the biggest transfer in the Utah transfer portal . The 6-foot, 199-pound running back was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 2 running back, and 40th overall player, in this year’s transfer portal.

Behind Parker are New Mexico junior NaQuari Rogers (74 carries for 382 yards and five touchdowns) and UNLV freshman Devin Green (29 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown). Utah had a commitment from New Mexico State’s Mike Washington (725 yards and eight scores on 157 carries), but he flipped to Arkansas.

Overall, Utah met its needs here, although keeping Mitchell, who played injured most of the year and was a candidate for a better 2025 season, would have been nice.

Wide receiver

Utah initially landed a coveted wide receiver transfer in Tulsa’s Joseph Williams, who was named an American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. Williams, who had 30 receptions for 588 yards and five touchdowns, received offers from numerous Power Four teams, including Michigan, USC and Colorado.

However, Williams never signed with Utah after committing, and a visit to Colorado sealed the deal for the Buffaloes. Williams’ flip was a major blow to Utah’s transfer portal receiving class, as the Utes lost their top pick.

Utah still brought in three receivers: Mississippi State’s Creed Whittemore, who opted to redshirt after four games (four receptions for 65 yards, 41 yards rushing); New Mexico’s Ryan Davis (54 receptions for 747 yards and three touchdowns) and Utah State’s Otto Tia (44 receptions for 434 yards and seven touchdowns).

Whittemore could see time in the slot for Utah, while Davis brings chemistry and time with Dampier. Tia is perhaps the most intriguing player, bringing her size (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) and experience as a senior to the room.

Having Joseph Williams would have really completed the room, but Utah got some promising pieces back.

It remains to be seen if one of these transfers will prove to be a WR1 for the Utes, or if it will be one of the returning players like Zacharyus Williams (who has been strong in the last four games and finished with 10 catches for 101 yards). ) and Dadrien Zipperer (eight catches for 122 yards).

Cornerback

One of the more surprising portal entries this cycle was that of Ute cornerback Cameron Calhoun, who couldn’t turn down an offer from Alabama and transferred to Tuscaloosa.

With the transfer of Calhoun, along with transfers CJ Blocker and Randle Jr., who spent time at cornerback this season, and the graduation of Zemaiah Vaughn, Utah tackled three players in the portal to fill the room.

Utah is an easy sell on a cornerback transfer and, as a result, the Utes grabbed Blake Cotton, a UC Davis junior who was ranked as the 20th cornerback in the transfer portal by 247Sports, and Jeremiah Caldwell, a Garden City Community College product who is ranked No. 5 among junior college cornerbacks by 247Sports.

The Utes also added Texas A&M junior Donovan Saunders, who played 33 snaps in two games with the Aggies.

Elijah Davis returns and could be slotted into a starting spot, Smith Snowden returns at nickel and Kenan Johnson was leaning toward a return to Utah, Whittingham said in November. This is a solid starting group, although the loss of Calhoun, who looked poised to be a starter next year, definitely hurts.

Overall, despite the loss of Calhoun, the Utes did a great job regrouping and strengthening the cornerback position.

Defensive tackle

Utah knew it was already going to have to replace a starter at defensive tackle after Junior Tafuna graduated, but the Utes didn’t expect to have to replace another one.

Keanu Tanuvasa threw his name into the transfer portal in a very surprising portal entry that came weeks after he seemingly reaffirmed his commitment to the Utes on social media. On Monday morning, he reportedly transferred to rival BYU, dealing a major blow to Utah’s defense.

Add in the transfer of Simote Pepa and the graduation of Tevita Fotu, and the defensive tackle room will look very different in 2025.

Aliki Vimahi and Dallas Vakalahi both started in 2024 when Tafuna and Tanuvasa were injured, and should compete for starting roles, but a transfer portal addition to the room is needed.