Which Utah Utes could be drafted next year?

Utah had a successful April, with five former players selected in the 2024 NFL draft.

Saftey Cole Bishop (No. 60 overall pick, Buffalo Bills), defensive end Jonah Elliss (No. 76, Denver Broncos), safety/running back Sione Vaki (No. 132, Detroit Lions), offensive lineman Sataoa Laumea (No. 179, Seattle Seahawks) and receiver Devaughn Vele (No. 235, Denver Broncos) all had their NFL dreams come true.

It was the most players drafted out of Utah since 2020, when Kyle Whittingham’s program had seven players picked.

Looking ahead to the 2025 draft — nearly a year away — here are five Utes that have a chance to be selected.

Cam Rising, QB

After missing the 2023 season following knee surgery, Rising is back for 2024, eager to prove that he’s back to full health and back to his old self.

Rising has thrown for 5,572 yards and 46 touchdowns over his Utes career, and in 2022, he threw 3,034 yards and 26 touchdowns while leading the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 championships.

Anyone in doubt of the importance of Rising only has to look back to last season, when Utah’s offense ranked 98th in Division I football in points per game (23.2), 92nd in total yards per game (348.4) and 117th in passing yards per game (165.8) in the veteran quarterback’s absence.

Utah has, on paper, the most talented receiver room since Rising has been at Utah — it includes Money Parks, Dorian Singer, Damian Alford, Mycah Pittman, Daidren Zipperer and Munir McClain. Helping matters for Rising is a tight end room that features the return of key target Brant Kuithe and emerging talent Landen King, plus UCLA transfer Carsen Ryan.

If Rising leads Utah to a Big 12 championship and a College Football Playoff berth while throwing 3,000-plus yards this season, he could get some NFL draft buzz. Factors working against him are his injury history and his age — he’ll be nearly 26 years old ahead of next April’s draft.

Dorian Singer, WR

Like every single player on this list, Singer’s draft chances will depend on what year he has in 2024. At Arizona in 2022, the former walk-on burst onto the scene and became of the the Pac-12′s best receivers with 66 receptions for 1,105 yards and six touchdowns.

After transferring to USC last season, Singer didn’t see the same success he had experienced in Tucson and was on the field for 405 fewer snaps in 2023 compared to 2022. The 6-foot, 180-pound receiver had 24 catches for 289 yards with the Trojans last year, but coming out of spring football in Salt Lake City, is the leading candidate to be WR1 for Rising this season.

He made a handful of impressive grabs during spring practice, and his chemistry with Rising was on display during Utah’s spring game. Singer caught Rising’s first pass of the afternoon, and the veteran quarterback kept looking his way. Singer finished with 92 yards on five reception to lead all receivers, including a 40-yard deep ball and a 25-yard reception. Singer ran crisp routes and had good hands in his first action in front of Utah’s fans.

“We can do a lot of stuff. We got a pretty good connection. A lot of it’s because we meet outside of football, we always hang out, just building our relationship up so we can have good chemistry on the field,” Singer said of his connection with Rising.

If Singer can get back to his 2022 production, he stands to have a chance to be the second Utah receiver taken in the NFL draft in as many years.

Brant Kuithe, TE

Kuithe hasn’t seen the field since Sept. 24, 2022, when he suffered a torn ACL and meniscus. The recovery from the surgery — and another surgery for a cyclops lesion — kept him off the field for the entire 2023 season, so by the time Utah’s opener against Southern Utah on Aug. 29 rolls around, it will have been nearly two seasons since he has played in a game.

In practice and the spring game, Kuithe looked good and moved well.

“It’s awesome. It’s great having him and you’re reminded of everything that he did going back to 2021,” tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham said of Kuithe this spring.

With great hands, big-play ability, smooth route-running and speed after the catch, Kuithe has proven to be invaluable in Andy Ludwig’s offense. In his last fully healthy season, 2021, he had a team-high 611 yards receiving and six scores on 50 receptions.

A productive season would help prove to NFL scouts that the injuries are behind him and he’s ready to make the next step, and if he can put up numbers like he did in 2021, he could hear his name called.

Like Rising, age could be a factor — Kuithe will be 25 ahead of the 2025 NFL draft — and Kuithe is undersized compared to the prototypical NFL tight end.

Zemaiah Vaughn, CB

Vaughn had some NFL scouts looking at him last season, but chose to return to Utah for one more season.

Last year, he was Utah’s second-highest-rated defensive player among those who played more than 100 snaps, per Pro Football Focus. He started every game and had 53 tackles (five for loss), 0.5 sacks, an interception and seven pass breakups, and his 58.3% reception percentage when targeted was one of the best on the team

His length and speed — at 6-foot-2 and 187 pounds, Vaughn has above-average size for an NFL cornerback— combined with his knowledge of the game (he was a quarterback in high school), makes him an intriguing NFL prospect.

“To be 6-2-and-a-half, 185, to legitimately run 4.37, 4.39 (40-yard dash time) and be really smart. His level of erudition is really impressive. Zemaiah (is) the kind of ball player that sits in the meeting, having been a former quarterback, he’s asking me such in-depth questions,” cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah said last fall.

“… Zemaiah does everything that you want. He not only looks the part for an NFL cornerback, but then he’s starting to play like one.”

Lander Barton, LB

Barton is still young in his football life.

Though he played all 14 games in his true freshman season in 2022, he started only three, and in 2023, he started the first seven games before suffering a season-ending injury against USC in late October.

What Barton did show in those seven games was impressive — he contributed 34 tackles, two interceptions (including a pick-six), two pass breakups and a forced fumble.

Barton made a big leap from his freshman to his sophomore season, flying all over the field and making some game-changing plays. Continued improvement from his sophomore to junior season — and playing a full season — could move him up draft boards.

With an NFL family pedigree (brothers Jackson and Cody are in the league), great size for the position (6-foot-4, 236 pounds) and ability to play linebacker at a high level, it would not be surprising to see Barton declare for the draft if he has a good season.