Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham and his staff hauled in five wide receiver transfers between the spring and winter portal cycles. Rob Gray-Imagn Images

What Utah's Kyle Whittingham said after fall practice

Originally posted on Utah Utes on SI | By Cole Forsman | Last updated Aug 8, 2025 8:21 AM ET

Last month, the biggest question for Kyle Whittingham regarding his Utah football team was centered around the lack of a hierarchy at the wide receiver position.

When he addressed the media Thursday, about a week into the Utes' fall camp session, Whittingham admitted he and his coaching staff were still searching for a clear-cut pecking order among the team's pass catchers to establish itself.

"Less so [of a question mark]," Whittingham said in regard to the wide receiver depth chart concerns. "But still not a true pecking order. We're starting to get some semblance of it and some idea, but we need to really see some extensive live work on Saturday to make a decision."

The Utes added five wide receivers via the transfer portal and brought back a pair of notable returners in redshirt sophomore Draiden Zipperer and redshirt senior Luca Caldarella, surrounding junior quarterback Devon Dampier with an array of talented players to throw the ball to in his first year as Utah's signal-caller.

In particular, Whittingham noted "good things" out of Cal transfer Tobias Merriweather, as well as Zipperer and freshman tight end JJ Buchanan, following the team's fall camp practice on Thursday.

"I'd say they've made big strides," Whittingham said. "So that's been a big plus for us."

Here's more of what Whittingham had to say to the media after Thursday's fall camp practice.

On candidates to play cornerback opposite Elijah "Scooby" Davis

"I would say it's down to three or four guys opposite Scooby, but it's going to be a battle for that. We may end up playing by committee and have a rotation. We'll see how it goes. But it's very competitive, and we've got three or four guys that are playing at a very high level.

"It's not waiting for someone to step up and play at that level. We got three or four guys doing a really good job. No one's just really separated themselves out."

On the position battle for backup QB

"That's really a dead heat right now. Isaac [Wilson] is playing really well, and so is Byrd [Ficklin]. We're going to continue that, hopefully not for a lot longer, but it's not the same urgency as if you were battling for QB1. We know who QB1 is, that's the most important thing. But we're going to continue that QB2 battle at least through the scrimmage on Saturday — maybe beyond."