Each season, different players step up and become essential to the success of the team, whether that be Cam Rising at quarterback or Clark Phillips III at cornerback in recent years for the Utah Utes.
In 2025, there are some returning faces, like cornerback Smith Snowden and offensive tackle Spencer Fano, but some of the most important players for Utah’s success this season come from the transfer portal, like quarterback Devon Dampier and running back Wayshawn Parker.
Here are the five most important players to Utah’s success in 2025.
Devon Dampier, QB
This one is obvious. Ute fans are hoping that Devon Dampier is the answer at quarterback after two seasons of middling play at the position in Cam Rising’s absence.
Though it remains to be seen how Dampier will adjust to life in the Big 12 after coming from New Mexico, there’s a lot to be excited about based upon his sophomore season in Albuquerque and how spring ball went in Salt Lake City.
Having Jason Beck, his offensive coordinator from New Mexico, in the same post at Utah is a tremendous help, allowing him to more easily transition into a new place since a lot of the plays and offense are similar to what he’s used to.
Dampier’s upside, which he showed in spades last season, is a productive dual-threat leader with good command of a versatile offense. Beck and Dampier worked well together in 2024, as the sophomore threw for 2,768 yards and 12 touchdowns and ran for 1,166 yards and 19 scores.
Combine all of that, and it resulted in Dampier ranking as one of the most productive quarterbacks in the nation, and Utah is hoping for a repeat this season.
Along the way, he helped guide New Mexico to five wins, the Lobos’ best mark since 2016, despite New Mexico having one of the worst defenses in college football, and was available for all 12 games.
It’s not all sunshine — Dampier had 12 interceptions and completed just 57.9% of his passes — but if he can improve in those phases, Utah will be in a much better position at quarterback if he can stay healthy.
Spencer Fano, OT
Offensive tackle Spencer Fano enters the season with a lot of national hype, and there’s a reason for it.
Pro Football Focus, which has analysts that watch every snap of every game for a player and provide a grade on a scale of 0-100, gave Fano a season-long grade of 92.7, which put him atop its offensive tackle leaderboard for all of Division I college football.
As way-too-early mock drafts have trickled out, Fano’s name has been a constant, with the All-American being projected as high as No. 3 overall.
Combine Fano with Caleb Lomu, Utah’s other tackle who has also been projected to be drafted in the first round, and three other returning starters in guard Tanoa Togiai, center Jaren Kump and guard Michael Mokofisi, the Utes’ O line should be one of the best in the Big 12. If they are able to live up to their reputation, it will go a long way toward helping two people on this list — Dampier and Parker — and the Utes offense as a whole.
Wayshawn Parker, RB
Utah has a strong history of having an excellent run game. In 2024, running back Micah Bernard surpassed the 1,000-yard mark, and players like Jamal Anderson, Zack Moss and Devontae Booker shined in Salt Lake City before heading on to the NFL.
Following the 2024 season, however, the RBs room was bare. Bernard ran out of eligibility, along with Charlie Vincent, and Jaylon Glover (12 carries for 60 yards), Mike Mitchell (47 carries for 158 yards and one touchdown), Anthony Woods (didn’t play last season due to injury but was productive at Idaho with 1,131 yards and 16 touchdowns) and Dijon Stanley (66 rushing yards, 166 receiving yards and two touchdowns) all entered the transfer portal.
Virtually every player that had production from last season was gone, so Utah had to turn to the transfer portal to find its RB1.
It did so in picking up Washington State’s Wayshawn Parker, who arrives in Salt Lake City after an impressive freshman season that resulted in 735 rushing yards and four scores on 137 carries.
Parker follows his WSU running backs coach Mark Atuaia, to Utah, and that relationship instantly helped Parker feel comfortable.
While Utah has other options at the position in senior New Mexico transfer NaQuari Rogers (382 yards and five touchdowns on 74 carries), UNLV transfer Devin Green (123 yards and a score on 29 carries) and freshman Daniel Bray, Parker leveling up his game from his freshman year is going to be key in Beck’s offense.
Smith Snowden, CB
How important is Smith Snowden to Utah’s defense?
Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley said in January that the junior cornerback will rarely come off the field, and there’s good reason for that.
Snowden should start the season at nickel back, where he started last season, but will play on the outside as well when the situation calls for it.
Last year, Snowden had eight tackles (four for loss), two interceptions, eight pass breakups and a forced fumble. He was the No. 7-ranked player on Utah’s defense, according to Pro Football Focus, and with another jump in his game this season, could hear his name called in the 2026 NFL draft if all goes right.
Aliki Vimahi, DT
The defensive tackle position group had to rebuild after losing Junior Tafuna (ran of out of eligibility) and Keanu Tanuvasa (transferred to BYU). The Utes have two players with starting experience in Vimahi and Dallas Vakalahi to fill the vacant positions, and will be counting on Vimahi especially this season.
Vimahi has been at Utah since 2020, seeing starting time in 2021 and growing into a starting role in 2022. Last season, he was hampered by injuries, playing in just four games (starting two of them), but set a career-high against Iowa State near the end of the season with seven tackles and two tackles for loss.
The Utes will need Vimahi to be a true leader and difference-maker in the trenches this season.
