Utah Newcomers Capable Of Making A Positive Impact In 2025

Feb 11, 2025, 1:19 PM | Updated: 4:17 pm

Utah Insider

SALT LAKE CITY—Utah football is back to work in its offseason regimen. The program has many new faces, and many will be counted on to make an impact next season.

Utah signed over 40 new players in their 2025 class and has already welcomed 29 of them to campus.

With the changes Utah has made and will be undergoing this offseason, there will be a lot of open competition. Plenty of wiggle room exists for players to emerge and secure roles for the fall.

Here’s a rundown of the newcomers currently expected to make an impact for Utah in 2025.

Utah Football’s Newcomers From The 2025 Transfer Portal Haul

Devon Dampier, QB

New Mexico transfer

It all starts at the quarterback position, as Utah is undergoing a major change of guard. Utah’s quarterback room needed a reset, and landing Dampier was a significant transfer portal win.

Thanks to his experience and relationship with new offensive coordinator Jason Beck, Dampier will hit the ground running regarding his grasp of the X’s and O’s. The acclimation process at Utah will center on building chemistry with the players around him.

Dampier’s athleticism is the defining characteristic of his game. He has great potential as a passer, though he needs to become more consistent. He has an uncanny ability to make truly impressive throws in and out of the pocket, but make an erratic one almost as often.

He led a very successful offensive unit at New Mexico due to his ability to simply keep the offense marching down the field. Given that ability alone, Dampier will make the biggest impact on Utah’s 2025 season.

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— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) February 10, 2025

Wayshawn Parker, RB

Washington State transfer

The Washington State transfer running back is the next player from this 2025 signing class who will have the biggest impact on Utah. He followed Utah’s new running backs coach, Mark Atuaia, to Salt Lake City and gives the Utes a promising ball carrier.

After a true freshman season in which he handled roughly 150 carries and produced 750 yards and four touchdowns, Parker was highly valued and sought after in the portal market. To land him was yet another big portal win.

Utah also welcomed NaQuari Rogers and Devin Green from the portal, as well as early enrollee Daniel Bray from the high school ranks. Raycine Guillory is reclassifying from the 2026 class and will join the program this summer. Utah is expected to add another running back in the spring portal.

All in all, the battle for carries will be fierce, but Parker is expected to lead a completely overhauled running back room.

Donovan Saunders, CB

Texas A&M transfer

The battle in the defensive secondary will be one of the bigger and more important storylines this offseason. Utah has a CB1 in Smith Snowden, but they’ve brought in three transfer cornerbacks who add athleticism, experience, size, and length to the group.

The 6-foot-4 Saunders comes to Utah via Texas A&M, but he was a priority target for the program the previous year when he transferred from Cal Poly. Over two seasons with the Mustangs, he played a very stingy brand of coverage and showed promising ball skills. He allowed a 42.3% completion rate, while hauling in five interceptions and breaking up 12 other passes.

Although he could not crack the rotation with the Aggies, his ability and potential remain. At the very least, Saunders should be included in the rotation, but whoever emerges as the top option should make a big impact in Utah’s secondary.

Blake Cotton, CB

UC Davis transfer

The 6-foot-2 Cotton transferred to Utah after three productive seasons at UC Davis. Over three seasons, he allowed a 48% completion rate in coverage and broke up nine passes. The ball skills aren’t reflected in his production, but they also weren’t obvious with Kenan Johnson at Georgia Tech.

As a senior with three seasons of experience, he’s played a lot of ball and could be best equipped to emerge as an impact player for Utah. Cotton could benefit tremendously from the tutelage he’ll receive under Sharrieff Shah and make a leap in his game.

Lance Holtzclaw, DE

Washington transfer

Utah needed to bolster the pass rush after losing a key piece to their future. With the addition of Lance Holtzclaw, the Utes have added some juice to the edge room.

Holtzclaw is an athletic pass rusher who comes to Utah with 16 pressures in 118 pass rush snaps, which means he generated a pressure every 7.3 snaps. For comparison, Fano averaged a pressure every 10.1 snaps (33 pressures in 333 pass rush snaps), Van Fillinger every 9.7 (30 in 293), and Conor O’Toole every 6.7 (20 in 135).

Utah needs Paul Fitzgerald, Kash Dillon, and John Henry Daley to take a good step forward. However, Utah adding Holtzclaw gives them another athletic option off the edge and someone with playing experience. Though he didn’t play at Oregon, Jaxson Jones could also emerge as a promising pass rush option.

Ryan Davis, WR

New Mexico transfer

Outside of running back, there is not a more wide-open position group than receiver. In fact given Wayshawn Parker’s presence, receiver is probably more unsettled.

Utah brings back some components of last season’s room, including Zacharyus Williams and Daidren Zipperer. Those two should be the room’s building blocks. However, under the new staff, they also have to earn their roles all over again.

Utah has brought in four transfers- Creed Whittemore, Otto Tia, Justin Stevenson, and Ryan Davis. They’ve also brought in Mana Carvalho from the high school ranks.

Tia is an athletic, big-body receiver who improved dramatically this past season at Utah State. Despite quarterback issues, Stevenson was productive and played an important role for Wyoming, akin to Money Parks at Utah. Whittemore and Carvalho are both dynamic slot receivers who may quickly develop into primary targets for Dampier in the passing attack.

Utes are RUNNIN' into 2025 👟💨

Your 2025 Utah Football Schedule⬇️#Big12FB | @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/99M4y9IhbX

— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) February 4, 2025

Needless to say, the competition for roles and opportunities will be fierce. Each addition has an opportunity to emerge as an impact player.

However, to play it safe, Davis seems the surest option to emerge from the group, given his experience in the offense and familiarity with Dampier. Davis was pretty productive at New Mexico. On 54 receptions, he finished with 747 yards and three touchdowns. His drop rate was impressive: 5.3%, nearly half of leading receiver Luke Wysong’s 10.4%.

There is intriguing potential with the new crop of pass catchers. Utah will certainly need a handful of players to step up at receiver, but Davis currently has a leg up on everyone else.

Utah Football’s 2025 High School Newcomers

Karson Kaufusi, DT

Skyline High School

The first freshman mentioned in the article is the athletic, big man Karson Kaufusi. The 6-foot-6, 286-pound Kaufusi has already joined the program, and the defensive tackle room is in need of help.

Utah has always been willing to play young defensive linemen, and Kaufusi could be the next one in line. His early enrollment gives him valuable time in the strength and conditioning program, which will help him adjust to this level.

If Kaufusi can come in and prove worthy of early playing time, that will mean a lot for Utah’s defensive tackle rotation next season. Frankly, there may not be a more important role for someone to emerge as an impact freshman than Kaufusi at defensive tackle.

Nathan Tilmon, S

Mansfield Timberview

Tilmon is a promising safety prospect with a fantastic blend of athleticism, size, and skill. He checks in at 6-foot-1, 186 pounds as an early enrollee and has the potential to play either safety position. He appears to have the range to play free safety rather effectively.

However, his tackling is the single most important quality of Tilmon’s game that gives him the potential to be an impact player next season. He rarely missed tackles in high school, and that’s a big internal focus of his.

Christian Thatcher/Cryus Polu, LB

Arbor View (Las Vegas)/ Desert Hills (St. George)

These two linebackers are both dynamic but play complementary styles of linebacker to each other. Though the depth at linebacker is pretty strong, these two have the ability to play early, mostly as special teams contributors, but that is still significant.

Both Thatcher and Polu are already with the program and will be involved in the offseason, which gives them a head start in their collegiate careers.