Spring Ball Preview: Utah Football’s Running Back Room
Feb 20, 2025, 1:08 PM | Updated: 2:43 pm
SALT LAKE CITY—With spring ball just around the corner, it’s a good time to start previewing each position group for Utah football.
These five weeks of spring camp will allow Kyle Whittingham’s staff to integrate all the newcomers into Utah football’s culture.
Not only that but there are many new faces—five, to be exact—which means there is plenty to sort out within the group. The good news, Utah does have a good idea of who its starting quarterback will be under Jason Beck.
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Utah’s Running Back Room
- Who Left: Micah Bernard, Charlie Vincent, Jaylon Glover, Mike Mitchell, Dijon Stanley
- Who’s Back: NA
- Who’s New: Wayshawn Parker, NaQuari Rogers, Devin Green, Daniel Bray
After a difficult ’24 campaign, Utah’s running back room looks drastically different in 2025. Bernard and Vincent both graduated, moving into the next phase of their careers. Meanwhile, Glover, Mitchell, and Stanley each entered the portal and landed at various locations.
Utah has an entirely new crop of backs and coach in Mark Atuaia. Four players joined the program at the mid-year point. One more, Raycine Guillory, is set to get to Utah this summer, while another addition is likely to be made in the spring portal window.
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Spring ball is where it all begins for Utah’s projected starter
Wayshawn Parker
After following Utah’s new running backs coach, Mark Atuaia, to Salt Lake City, Parker is expected to be the lead back next season. Parker enjoyed a very productive true freshman season with 735 yards and four touchdowns on 135 carries.
Parker’s good size—5 foot-10, 206 pounds—and athleticism make him a dynamic playmaker. Finding the chemistry between him and quarterback Devon Dampier will also be important. Progressing as a pass catcher out of the backfield would also do much for his game.
As he gets to work at Utah, developing a feel for the offensive line in front of him will be important. At Washington State, he played behind an offensive line that struggled to generate significant movement in the run game. The encouraging thing is that it forced him to develop his vision, feel, and reactionary skills at the line of scrimmage.
Ultimately, it’s all about Parker getting comfortable in his new environment. There should be a lot of optimism about the combination of his skills while running behind a better offensive line.
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Figuring out the RB rotation during spring ball
Na’Quari Rogers, Devin Green, Daniel Bray
Utah also brought in NaQuari Rogers from New Mexico, Devin Green from UNLV, and Daniel Bray out of North Crowley High School at the mid-year point. Those three provide depth and options for Atuaia and Beck in the backfield. The hierarchy of the running back room will be determined by how these three perform this spring.
Given his experience in the offense, more specifically, his role in it, Rogers feels like a very capable backup option behind Parker. He’s a solid athlete who can produce chunk plays every so often. More than anything, he’s tough between the tackles and fights for every single yard available.
Just something poetic about winter workouts 🙌 pic.twitter.com/pjFIRv41m2
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) February 20, 2025
Devin Green is an intriguing option in the backfield. The 5-foot-11, 202-pounder hit the portal and elected to join his former high school teammate (Parker) at Utah. Green is similar to Rogers, in the sense that he’s a tough runner but does have the ability to create chunk yardage.
Meanwhile, Daniel Bray brings dynamic athleticism to the room. As a senior at North Crowley, he averaged 8.7 yards per carry and scored 13 touchdowns. His athleticism allowed him to produce explosive yardage on a minimal workload. Beck’s offense utilized multiple backs, including a more dynamic option to complement the other backs. Bray has the sort of athleticism that can serve as a (faster) change of pace to the other backs in the room. With him enrolling early, that should give him the time to acclimate to this level and maybe, carve out opportunities in that role.
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