How did Utah fare in the transfer portal?

On the heels of a 5-7 season and an offseason offensive renovation with the hire 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 on late Saturday night for Utah players, bringing a 20-day college football free agency blitz to an end, at least until the spring.

The tally, as of Monday morning? Twenty-four players entered the transfer portal from Utah, with the Utes picking up 15 players. That’s right on target, as coach Kyle Whittingham said in November that the Utes were expecting to add around 10-15 players through the portal, though the Utes might not be done yet.

Though the transfer portal has closed for most teams — teams playing in the postseason get a five-day extension for their players to enter following the conclusion of their seasons — programs can still pick up those in the portal at any time (the deadline is only for players to enter their names), so Utah can still add players to their team as the calendar turns to January.

That said, the majority of transfer portal action has concluded, so here’s an overview of how the Utes fared.

Quarterback

This was by far the biggest need in the transfer portal for Utah after two seasons of dismal play at the position. Shortly after the school hired New Mexico’s Beck as the schools offensive coordinator, his quarterback announced that he was coming along for the ride.

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

Dampier was one of the most productive quarterbacks in the nation, accounting for 3,934 yards of offense in 2024 (2,768 passing and 1,166 rushing). While there are some accuracy issues he’ll need to clean up as he makes the move to the Big 12 — he threw 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and competed just 57.9% of his passes — there’s one thing that’s almost guaranteed: Utah’s offense is going to be a lot more exciting to watch than the last two 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 under center.

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

Running back

If quarterback was priority No. 1, running back was definitely priority No. 2 for the Utes in the transfer portal. Every scholarship running back — Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover, Mike Mitchell, Anthony Woods, Dijon Stanley and John Randle Jr. — either ran out of eligibility or entered the transfer portal.

A complete revamp of the room was necessary, and that started with the addition of Washington State’s Mark Atuaia, who was brought in by Beck to be 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 Utah’s biggest transfer portal pickup. 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 is New Mexico junior NaQuari Rogers (74 carries for 382 yards and five touchdowns) and UNLV freshman Devin Green (29 carries for 123 yards and one 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, though 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 the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. Williams, who had 30 receptions for 588 yards and five touchdowns, had offers from numerous Power Four teams, including Michigan, USC and Colorado.

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

Utah still brought in three receivers — Mississippi State’s Creed Whittemore, who chose to redshirt after four games (four receptions for 65 yards, 41 rushing yards); 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 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 picked up some promising pieces.

It remains to be seen if one of these transfers breaks out as a WR1 for the Utes, or if it will be one of the returning players like Zacharyus Williams (who came on strong during 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 from Ute cornerback Cameron Calhoun, who couldn’t turn down an offer from Alabama and transferred to Tuscaloosa.

With Calhoun’s transfer, plus the transfers of CJ Blocker and Randle Jr., who spent time at cornerback this season, and the graduation of Zemaiah Vaughn, Utah went after three players in the portal to fill the room back up.

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

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

Elijah Davis returns and could be slotted in a starting spot, Smith Snowden returns at nickel and Kenan Johnson was trending toward a return to Utah, Whittingham said in November. That’s a solid starting group, though the loss of Calhoun, who seemed to be poised to be a starter next year, definitely hurts.

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

Defensive tackle

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

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 blow to Utah’s defense.

Throw in the transfer of Simote Pepa and the graduation of Tevita Fotu, and the defensive tackles room is going to look a lot different in 2025.

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