Even with Utah and BYU leading the way, there are fewer Utah ties in the NFL right now. Why is that?

Each summer over the past nine years, the Deseret News has created a master list of Utah ties in the NFL during the offseason. This year, we found 77 Utah ties on an NFL roster. Training camps kick off in full this week.

How does the number of Utah ties on NFL rosters in 2022 compare to past seasons?

The 77 Utah ties on NFL rosters this offseason is down a dozen from last year, when 89 locals dotted rosters.

Prior to that, there were 74 in 2020, 76 in 2019 and 79 in 2018.

During the 2017 offseason, there were 90 Utah ties on NFL rosters during the offseason — the high watermark in recent years.

In 2016, there were 75 Utah ties on rosters during the summer, with 70 in 2015 and 66 in 2014.

The 77 local players on NFL rosters this offseason includes 18 rookies, with three draft picks and 15 undrafted free agents.

Here’s a breakdown of those 77 players (note: they can count towards multiple categories, and a player’s local tie on the FBS/FCS college level is determined by the last Utah school they attended):

• 26 who played at the University of Utah (down from 29 last year).
• 22 who played at BYU (down from 26 last year).
• 13 who played at Utah State (down from 14 last year).
• 4 who played at Weber State (equal to 4 last year).
• 2 who played at Southern Utah (up from 1 last year).
• 2 who played at Snow College (down from 4 last year).
• 33 who played football at Utah high schools (down from 42 last year).

Keep in mind, the total number of Utah ties in the NFL will shrink significantly over the next few weeks, as teams trim their rosters from 90 (the number of players allowed during the offseason) to 53 for the regular season.

Oftentimes, more than a dozen or so players with Utah ties are waived during training camp or preseason competition. Some will end up on a practice squad somewhere else.

Why are there fewer Utah ties in the NFL this offseason?

• Utah and BYU continue to lead the way for Utah ties on NFL rosters, though both schools have seen their representation shrink from a year ago.
• BYU saw fewer rookies enter the NFL this offseason — just four, including draft pick Tyler Allgeier, are on teams right now — and subsequently has four fewer players in the NFL right now compared to last season.
• Utah, meanwhile, has nine rookies in the league — including first-round draft pick Devin Lloyd — but an unusually high amount of former Utes are currently free agents, among them former first-round pick Star Lotulelei. (There’s a full list of free agents at the end of the article.)
• BYU has closed the gap on Utah for representation on NFL rosters — for the second straight year, BYU is within five players of the University of Utah. Back in 2020, Utah had 30 players on NFL offseason rosters, while BYU had just 12. A sizable rookie class in 2021 helped BYU close that gap, and time will tell if BYU can have enough of those players stick around.
• Utah State has seen its NFL representation dip a little in the past couple years, though the school is routinely seeing a number in the early to mid teens of former players on offseason rosters.
• Last year was a strong year for Utah high schoolers entering the NFL — there were seven total Utah high schoolers taken in the 2021 draft and a total of 10 Utah high school rookies overall. This year, only seven players who played at Utah high schools are entering the league as rookies.

Who are the 77 Utah ties on NFL rosters this offseason?

Here’s a look at each Utah tie in the NFL, listed by school in alphabetical order:

John Munson, Associated Press

Gail Burton, Associated Press

Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press

Jeffrey T. Barnes, Associated Press

Seth Wenig, Associated Press

Gary McCullough, Associated Press