Utah’s college football scene will feature a lot of familiar faces this fall.
Bill Connelly of ESPN released his annual returning production rankings Monday, ordering every FBS squad by the percentage of statistical production retained from last season.
According to Connelly’s data, Utah, Utah State and BYU rank No. 16, No. 38 and No. 49, respectively, in returning production percentage among the 134 FBS squads nationally.
While there are many other factors — such as the transfer portal, coaching changes and recruiting — that help determine how a program improves or regresses from one year to the next, looking at the returning production percentages can still be rather telling.
“High or low returning production percentages correlate well with improvement and regression,” wrote Connelly.
Utah’s returning corps is headlined by a pair of All Pac-12 talents in quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe, both of whom missed the entire 2023 campaign due to injuries.
The Utes also bring back cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn, running back Micah Bernard and a number of other notable performers to help lessen the loss of NFL-bound Sione Vaki and Jonah Elliss.
Overall, Utah will bring back 72% of its total pre-2024 production, with 75% coming on the offensive side and 70% on defense.
“... the Utes could be loaded in their first season in the Big 12,” Connelly wrote of Utah.
Utah State is set to return 63% of its offense and 71% of its defense. Key defenders coming back include safety Ike Larsen and defensive end Blaine Spires, while receiver Jalen Royals, quarterback Cooper Legas and a stable of running backs are committed for 2024 on the offensive side of the ball.
BYU will bring back the least production of its in-state counterparts, with 68% returning on offense and 63% on defense.
The Cougars will miss left tackle Kingsley Suamataia, quarterback Kedon Slovis and tight end Isaac Rex, but return most of the offensive core.
Defensive end Tyler Batty and linebacker Ben Bywater sticking around for another year in Provo will also be quite the luxury for Kalani Sitake’s crew.