Has Utah widened its gap on BYU in the NFL? Here’s the offseason status of players with Utah ties

Mandatory minicamps have wrapped up around the NFL, meaning teams won’t be back for official workouts again until mid-to-late July.

With a few weeks until teams return to the practice field for training camp, there are 82 players with Utah ties currently on NFL rosters.

There are another 17 Utah ties who are free agents right now that were on a regular-season roster in 2024 or a 90-man roster at some point this offseason.

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The University of Utah has a noticeable lead on all other schools for representation in the league, with 32 former Utes dotting NFL rosters right now.

BYU is next with 21 — that doesn’t count Caleb Lohner, the one-year Utah tight end who was drafted and played basketball (but not football) for two seasons in Provo.

Utah State follows with eight former players on an active league roster, while Weber State has five, Southern Utah has three and Utah Tech has one.

There are also 40 players who prepped at Utah high schools, making up nearly half of the players with Utah ties currently in the NFL.

Of the 82 players with Utah ties on rosters right now, 20 are rookies. That includes five draft picks — headlined by former Corner Canyon High and Roy High quarterback Jaxson Dart, a first-round selection — and 15 who signed as undrafted rookie free agents.

There are 10 former Utes who are rookies on NFL rosters this summer — including wide receiver Kyrese White, who played at both Utah and Utah State — while BYU has four.

That helps explain how the Utes have an 11-player edge over the Cougars for the highest number of Utah ties in the NFL right now.

Last year, in May 2024, Utah held a 31 to 26 advantage over BYU.

A little over a year later, the Utes have maintained their number in the low 30s, while BYU has seen a decrease with a smaller incoming rookie class.

The Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints have the most players with Utah ties league-wide on their rosters — each team currently has six Utah ties.

How many of the current 82 NFL players with Utah ties — and even those 17 free agents with local ties — will make an initial 53-man roster ahead of the 2025 season?

The number of Utah ties on NFL rosters will be cut down considerably just before the start of the 2025 regular season, when league teams — which are allowed to carry up to 90 players on their active roster during the offseason — must trim the active roster to 53 players before Week 1.

Last season, 54 players with Utah ties made an initial 53-man NFL roster after final cutdowns. That was up from 51 in 2023 and 46 in 2022.

We’ll find out come the end of August.

For now, here’s a look at all 82 players with Utah ties currently on an NFL roster.

Note: Players can count toward more than one school, whether college or high school, as long as they played one season at a given school. Players with multiple Utah ties are categorized by the in-state team they most recently played for.

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