Jaylen Dixon Providing Big Boost To Utah’s Offense After Returning From Portal

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – University of Utah wide receiver Jaylen Dixon is giving a big boost to the offense in spring ball after returning from the transfer portal.

On October 12, during Utah’s fall camp leading up to the shortened 2020 season, Dixon entered the transfer portal. Then on February 2, 2021, Dixon casually announced that he returned to the team and was no longer in the transfer portal.

Head coach Kyle Whittingham spoke to the media on Saturday, following Utah’s second scrimmage of spring football, and was asked about how Dixon returned to the program.

“I had to understand why and what the scenario was,” Whittingham said. “He was a heck of a football player, he adds a dimension to our receiving corps and he gives us a lot of speed at that position. He takes the top off the coverages, but my first inclination was, ‘Okay, listen to what he has to say and it all made sense and then obviously very excited after that, that he was coming back for the right reasons because he’s a heck of a football player and made a lot of plays for us over the course of the last few years. Typically when you go in the portal, you’re going elsewhere. But I had a very thoughtful conversation with him. He gave me some some good background and feedback on what was going on in his life. It was a no brainer for me, took it to the Leadership Council, they felt the same way. So he has been reinstated, obviously.”

How Jaylen Dixon Announced He Was Returning To Utah

Jaylen Dixon had a casual announcement of his return to the Utah football team, by just responding to a fan on Twitter. It started with Dixon simply tweeting, “dang…Utes twitter is better than TMZ 😂.”

ʸᴱˢ

— JD (Samuelson Haleston) (@jdixon__25) February 3, 2021

A response from @UteEastCoast said “come back.” Dixon answered with “rumor has it.”

What led to Dixon casually announcing his return to the Utes was when @bonesjohnsen11 said:

“You can tell me, no one else can see this tweet, are you coming back for 2021 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏”

Dixon responded with a simple “yes.”

Getting Dixon Back Was Huge For Wide Receiver Room

When Utah got Dixon back on the team, it was a huge addition to the wide receiver room before. Now, it’s massive after Bryan Thompson and Samson Nacua entered the transfer portal and are now with other programs. Thompson joined Arizona State, while Nacua went to BYU.

Whittingham was asked how Dixon is performing during spring football.

“His best practice today (Saturday), when you add everything up, the scrimmages, the practices, he made an impact today. Caught some balls, did some really good things and so I would say that he’s officially shaking all the rust off. He’ll have a role for us this fall, no question about it. He’s going to be in that rotation.”

"Jaylen Dixon had his best practice/scrimmage of spring ball today." – Kyle Whittingham#GoUtes @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) April 10, 2021

During his time with the University of Utah, Dixon started nine games. Dixon owns careers stats of 56 receptions for 932 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the ground, he had 19 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

Dixon’s speed has made him a deep ball threat within Utah’s offense. It’s also allowed offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig to use him in the run game as well via the jet sweep.

The addition of Dixon adds depth to a talented position group. Dixon joins Britain Covey, Solomon Enis, Devaughn Vele, Money Parks, Connor O’Toole and incoming freshman Makai Cope as targets for the quarterback to throw to in 2021.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.

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