Spring Ball Review: Utah Football’s Running Back Room
May 27, 2025, 2:59 PM | Updated: May 28, 2025, 2:43 pm
SALT LAKE CITY—With spring ball in the rearview, it’s a good time to start reviewing each position group for Utah football. Kyle Whittingham’s program had a lot of work to do and made progress throughout the five weeks of work.
Utah’s running back position has undergone a drastic makeover, but there is reason to be optimistic about the current room.
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Utah Football’s Running Back Room
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- Starter: Wayshawn Parker
- Backup Battle: NaQari Rogers, Devin Green
- Depth: Daniel Bray
Utah’s entirely new room of running backs took care of business during spring ball. Given the new offense and the room of ball carriers coming from a variety of places, it was a unique situation. However, coach Mark Atuaia liked his group’s desire and work ethic.
“It went well, “well” in the sense that all of the room was new except for a few walk-ons here previously,” Mark Atuaia said in the final week of spring ball. “I think everyone has the ‘want to’ and the desire to get better, so having their work ethic and desire to be a really good offense, they put in a lot of extra time to learn. We accomplished what we needed to, which’ll propel us into the summer.”
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Wayshawn Parker’s progression towards the 2025 season
After following Atuaia to Salt Lake City and putting together a solid spring camp, Parker is expected to be the lead back next season. Parker had a minor surgery earlier in the offseason, which led to a slow start in camp, but Parker seemed to have hit his stride by the end of spring ball.
“Wayshawn had a few things he had to work on coming back; it was a little bit of a slow start,” Atuaia shared. “He’s trending in the right direction, though. I think this camp has facilitated a nice progression towards an impressive summer, and he’ll hit the ground running big time when the season starts.”
Parker’s good size—5-foot-10, 206 pounds—and athleticism make him a dynamic playmaker. He finished last season as a very productive true freshman, with 735 yards and four touchdowns on 135 carries.
Given his progression, the combination of Devon Dampier and the offensive line in front of him, Parker is set up nicely for a productive 2025 season as Utah’s lead back.
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NaQuari Rogers’ emergence as a leader
Thanks to his time with Dampier and Beck, Rogers is a solid athlete who can produce chunk plays and run tough for hard yardage. He makes a lot of sense as the primary backup.
Rogers finished 2024 with 382 rushing yards and five touchdowns for New Mexico, while he also had three catches for 14 yards and a touchdown. Perhaps more importantly, Rogers has emerged as a leader in the room, which is always an essential dynamic with so much change.
“With NaQuari, him being the elder statesman of the room, I lean a lot on him,” Atuaia shared. “He just has a good feel for what to say and what to do, especially when adversity hits. I think NaQuari, as the older guy, has a lot of respect in that room.”
The experience Rogers has in the offense is significant to his role and outlook. He will not only be relied on throughout the year to spell Parker, but he’ll likely be a guy Beck goes to in key situations.
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Daniel Bray and Devin Green provide depth and versatility
Devin Green is an intriguing option in the backfield. The 5-foot-11, 202-pounder transferred from UNLV and came to Utah, where he’s reunited with Parker, a former high school teammate.
Green provided flashes and glimpses of his potential throughout spring ball. Becoming more consistent will be the key for him, but he showed the ability to run tough between the tackles and generate explosive runs.
As a true freshman, Bray provided a lot of exciting moments. His athleticism and skill were quite apparent, fueling a promising outlook as a scatback-type option.
The flashes of potential are exciting, but as a true freshman, he is still adjusting to the mental and physical level of college football. Bray should be able to see the field this fall; he just may not be ready for a significant role yet.
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Utah will welcome two more backs to the room
Whittingham, Atuaia, and the running back room will welcome a couple more to the program this summer.
The Utes will bring in freshman Raycine Guillory, a talented back out of Texas, who is reclassifying from the 2026 class. They also added former Old Dominion running back Bryce Duke, a 6-foot 210 210-pounder, who they landed in the spring portal window.
Their roles this season will be determined in fall camp, but these two solidify Utah’s running back depth while improving the group’s future outlook.
