Utah football's 3 most intriguing newcomers heading into spring practices

Looking at the Utes' most interesting additions ahead of spring ball

Utah Utes head coach Morgan Scalley is set to gather his team on the field for the first time with spring practices right around the corner. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

College basketball has priority right now, but it's only a matter of time before spring practices put college football toward the forefront of the sports calendar once again.

With no spring transfer portal window to monitor and high school recruiting on hiatus until early summer, March and April provide opportune times for fans to get a first-look at the revamped rosters coaches spent all winter assembling. The decline in spring games around the country has, admittedly, limited fans' accessibility to their team to a degree, though practices still garner plenty of attention.

Utah, which hasn't officially announced plans for its annual Spring 22 game, has over 30 newcomers to assimilate in the months leading up to Morgan Scalley's first season as head coach.

Here's a look at the three most intriguing additions to the Utes roster heading into spring ball.

With the Utes losing all five starters from one of the most physically-dominant offensive lines in the country in 2025, the trenches are going to draw a lot of attention over the course of spring practice.

Kelvin Obot, OT

Kelvin Obot, the blue-chip tackle prospect from Fruitland, Idaho, will likely be the center of that attention as the highest-ranked high school signee in the program's history. Not to mention, he's expected to step in and start right away as a freshman, given his raw talent and athleticism.

Needless to say, there's going to be outside pressure for Obot to excel from the get-go. Enrolling early at Utah has given him a head-start in some regard, though adding weight and adjusting to the speed of the college game doesn't happen in the blink of an eye for most freshman.

The good news for Obot and the Utes is, he already has a solid relationship with offensive line coach Jordan Gross from their time together at Fruitland High School. Time will tell just how much having Obot's former high school coach aids in his development at the collegiate level.

Braden Pegan, WR

Utah's receiver corps looks a bit different than it did a year ago, and with a new offensive coordinator calling the shots, the passing game is expected to go through some changes as well.

It might, however, look familiar to anyone who watched a Utah State game last season. Not only is former Aggies offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven taking his schemes and packages with him from Logan, Utah, to Salt Lake City; he's bringing his top receiver, Braden Pegan, with him.

After leading Utah State with 926 receiving yards and six touchdowns, Pegan is poised to make an immediate impact with the Utes in 2026. His budding connection with Devon Dampier will be one to monitor throughout spring ball, as Utah's starting quarterback gets comfortable with the ins and outs of McGiven's offense.

If Utah is as aggressive throwing the ball down the field as Utah State was under McGiven, expect the 6-foot-3 Pegan to be on the receiving end more often than not.

Ethan Day, DL

Ethan Day is undoubtedly one of the biggest additions to the Utes' defensive line for 2026. He's coming off a productive season at North Texas (53 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and a fumble recovery) and signed with Utah as 247Sports' No. 17-ranked defensive lineman available on the open market. And with next season being his fifth in college football, the California native brings a lot of experience with him to Salt Lake City.

How Utah's defensive coaching staff plans on utilizing Day remains to be seen, though. The Utes will have both starting edge rushers from their bowl game — Lance Holtzclaw and Kash Dillon — in the fold once again, and both are in line to take another step forward in 2026. Based on Day's listed size (6-foot-4, 250 pounds), it'd make sense for him to play defensive end for the Utes (that's the position he logged the most snaps with the Mean Green last season).

In that case, what will Utah's pass rush rotation look like next season? That's a question that'll potentially be answered in spring ball, but could also be resolved over the first few weeks of the season.