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LEFT \u2014 Utah Utes’ Thomas Yassmin runs in for a touchdown during a Pac-12 football game against the University of Colorado on Nov. 26, 2022, in Boulder, Colorado. (Cliff Grassmick\/Staff Photographer) RIGHT \u2014 Thomas Yassmin (86) and Nate Adkins (45) of the Denver Broncos during training camp drills at Broncos Park in Englewood, Colorado, on July 25, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n
Somehow, for some reason, no less than six straight years of the Utes TE room was clad in Broncos gear this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never heard of this before,\u201d reflected Whittingham, Utah\u2019s longtime tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. \u201cThree from the same school, being in the same rookie minicamp.\u201d<\/p>\n
A couple of years ago, the Utes staff started noticing their number of program alumni in the NFL climbing \u2014 specifically with the Broncos. Ask anyone in the building today where the most Utah kids have wound up, as defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley noted, and every single person would tell you it\u2019s Denver. In the last few years, a quiet pipeline has been built 500 miles east from Salt Lake City. The Broncos currently carry more players from Utah (five) than from any school outside of Texas, and Fotheringham still floats outside of the 90-man roster on the team\u2019s injured reserve list.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne more from Utah,\u201d Broncos head coach Sean Payton cracked in early June when asked about the prevalence of former Utes on Denver\u2019s roster, \u201cthen one from Utah has got to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t lying. Denver had literally waived Fotheringham two days earlier.<\/p>\n
An exhaustive in-depth investigation by The Post \u2014 okay, fine, a few conversations with staffers in Utah\u2019s program \u2014 didn\u2019t reveal any concrete answers to this particular riddle. When asked about it during minicamp, Payton made it abundantly clear that he never sat in a draft room and specifically targeted one school. Pablo Cano, director of NFL relations at Utah, thought this phenomenon was simply a coincidence. Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham said he had \u201cno good answer\u201d as to why this connection was developing.<\/p>\n
But it\u00a0is\u00a0happening. Everyone acknowledges that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been here 30 years,\u201d Kyle Whittingham said. \u201cI can\u2019t remember a time where we\u2019ve had as many guys on one NFL team as we do with the Broncos.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the surface, the only obvious reason for Denver\u2019s interest in Utah would be proximity. The Utes finished 5-7 last year and didn\u2019t field a particularly dynamic offense. A large percentage of Utah\u2019s roster is made up of in-state recruits, and Utah has some solid talent but typically produces only a small handful of four-star kids in any given recruiting class.<\/p>\n
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Lachlan Cunningham, Getty Images<\/p>\n
Utah Utes’ Garett Bolles (72) and Kyle Lanterman (66) stand with the trophy after a win against the Indiana Hoosiers in the Foster Farms Bowl game at Levi’s Stadium on December 28, 2016. in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The fundamental reason here lies in the Broncos\u2019 scouting preferences, an organizational attitude that bleeds from the top down. Colleagues and players from Payton\u2019s past, and particularly with the New Orleans Saints, are adamant he has an affinity for the underdog. And Payton and general-manager George Paton are \u201ctotally in sync\u201d as far as talent acquisition in the NFL draft goes, new assistant GM Reed Burckhardt said.<\/p>\n
The Broncos are an organization, as O\u2019Connell noted, that likes \u201clunch-pail guys.\u201d And Utah is a program expressively built on lunch-pail guys.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not the school that recruits a class full of four- and five-star players,\u201d Freddie Whittingham said. \u201cWe\u2019re often getting guys that didn\u2019t have a dozen or more offers coming out of high school, developing them, and sometimes moving positions, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
In good years and bad, that philosophy has been consistent, too.<\/p>\n
Kyle Whittingham has been helming Utah for two decades. Brother Freddie and defensive coordinator Scalley have each been there over a decade. There\u2019s little turnover in terminology, or in culture.<\/p>\n
Glance at the careers of Denver\u2019s Utah imports, and there\u2019s rather distinct commonalities. None of the Utes on Denver\u2019s roster, plus Fotheringham and Yassmin, ever transferred. Wide receiver Devaughn Vele, the Broncos\u2019 seventh-round pick in 2024? Played at Utah all five years. Linebacker Karene Reid, an undrafted free agent signing this year, played all four years at Utah. OLB Jonah Elliss, Denver\u2019s third-round pick in 2023? Played at Utah all three years \u2014 and his father, Luther, is both a former Bronco and Utah\u2019s defensive tackles coach.<\/p>\n
![\"Jonah](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/TDP-L-BRONCOS-BROWNSAO1_0441xx.jpg\")
Jonah Elliss (52) of the Denver Broncos tackles Jameis Winston (5) of the Cleveland Browns during the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might not be the best testers, or the fastest guy or the longest guy,\u201d Luther Elliss said of Utah products, \u201cbut they\u2019re going to be consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most all of the Broncos\u2019 scouts who have come through the building, as Luther Elliss said, have told him and Scalley they like Utah\u2019s guys. Denver hasn\u2019t targeted a Ute specifically because they are a Ute. But the trust, certainly, doesn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n
Around midseason, Broncos western national scout Sae Woon Jo, as Scalley remembered, came out to Utah for a practice. He\u2019d identified Reid, who ended up signing in Denver for roughly $250,000 guaranteed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019m gonna get another one,’\u201d Scalley recalled. \u201c\u2018I\u2019m gonna get another Ute. Karene\u2019s going to be my next Ute.’\u201d<\/p>\n