Utah football misses out on signing 3-star wide receiver transfer

Top-100 wide receiver in the portal chose a Big Ten school over the Utes

Utah Utes head coach Morgan Scalley and the program missed out on a signing a top-100 wide receiver prospect in the transfer portal | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Utah football program acquired depth at several key positions of need through the first week of the transfer portal being open; from offensive line to the secondary of the defense.

Not every swing the Utes took on a player in the transfer portal connected, though.

Bisi Owens, a top-100 wide receiver in the portal, served as the latest example of that sentiment on Monday when he decided to commit to Purdue. Owens shared his pledge to the Boilermakers roughly four days after receiving an offer from Utah.

The 6-foot-4 Owens would've been a nice addition to the Utes' wide receiver corps, with his size giving him a clear height advantage over the average-sized defensive back. He showed some solid route-running abilities at Penn as well, giving the Quakers offense a versatile pass-catcher who could keep the chains moving in a variety of ways.

Owens finished the 2025 season with 66 catches for 696 yards and five touchdowns. At the time of his Purdue commitment, 247Sports had him ranked as a three-star and the No. 99 wide receiver available on the open market.

Fortunately for the Utes, they'd already gone out and acquired a couple of talented wideouts by the time Owens made his decision. Braden Pegan, a top-25 player at the position in the portal, highlighted the Utes' additions through the first week of the portal being open. Pegan was the No. 1 receiving option for a Utah State team that ranked No. 2 in the Mountain West in scoring (31.8 points per game) and No. 3 in total offense (422.4 yards per game), as he led the Aggies with 60 receptions for 926 yards and five touchdowns, including three games with 100-plus receiving yards.

Shortly after Pegan's decision was made public, Utah snagged another productive wide receiver in San José State transfer Kyri Shoels. Like Pegan, Shoels gained an understaning of Utah offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven's system during his time at his previous school. Shoels and McGiven were both at San José State during Shoels the 2024 season.

Shoels wasn't featured in the passing game in his first season with the Spartans, though he quickly asserted himself as one of the team's top receiving threats in 2025. Playing in all 12 games, he recorded 59 catches for 768 yards and two touchdowns, earning his keep as San José State's No. 2 option in the passing game behind Danny Scudero, who led all Football Bowl Subdivision players with 1,291 receiving yards on the season.

Landing both Pegan and Shoels were big moves for the Utes considering considering their top three pass-catchers from 2025 — Ryan Davis (graduation), Dallen Bentley (graduation) and JJ Buchanan (portal) — were set to leave the program in the offseason.

Committed. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/AMfHhC16YA

— Bisi Owens (@BisiOwens) January 12, 2026