Wide Receiver Jaylen Dixon Returning To Play For Utah

According to reports and later confirmed by Sports Illustrated, wide receiver Jaylen Dixon has withdrawn his name from the NCAA Transfer Portal and will be staying with Utah, expecting to suit up this upcoming season

Anybody who knows Kyle Whittingham fully understands what type of person he is, both as a coach and a man.

Extremely loyal, Whittingham is willing to give all of himself and everything within the Utah football program to those who are willing to give them same thing to him and the Utes.

So when wide receiver Jaylen Dixon approached Whittingham about leaving the program for personal reasons back in October — and reportedly nothing to do with lack of playing time or perceived role in the offense — his decision to enter the transfer portal was accepted.

“It is never easy leaving a place that has been such an integral part of my development on and off the field. When understanding where I am right now and where I want to be in this process, sometimes decisions have to be made to continue to grow,” Dixon said in a since-deleted tweet. “With that being said, I have officially entered my name in the NCAA transfer portal and will be looking at opportunities at another University. I have the utmost respect for the U of U coaching staff, former teammates and faculty who have been a huge part of my life these past 3 years.”

Fast forward to the present and Dixon is now achieving something only one player in Whittingham's tenure at Utah has ever done; enter the NCAA transfer portal only to withdraw their name and return to the Utes.

Dixon and Utah began communicating with one another regarding his return to the program, something that was not only accepted by Whittingham but by the leadership council as well. Due to the nature of why he was intending to leave the program in the first place, it was part of the reason why he has been allowed to return.

Rumors had been circulating for the past week that Dixon had rejoined the program for the start of January' weightlifting, but nothing was confirmed until Dixon did so himself Tuesday night via Twitter.

Dang...Utes twitter is better than TMZ😅

— JD (Salem Haley) (@jdixon__25) February 3, 2021

pic.twitter.com/5D0Fp7VKiM

— JD (Salem Haley) (@jdixon__25) February 3, 2021

ʸᴱˢ

— JD (Salem Haley) (@jdixon__25) February 3, 2021

Dixon's return is a huge victory for the Utes and much needed considering Utah just lost the services of wide receiver Bryan Thompson, who entered the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon.

He redshirted in 2017, his first season with the program, before breaking out in a big way during the 2018-19 seasons.

In 28 games played over the past those year, Dixon has amassed 56 catches for 932 yards and three touchdowns. He had a breakout freshman season in 2018, his best as a Ute, finishing second on the team with 32 receptions for 589 yards and two scores. 

Dixon's ability to stretch the field was greatly missed during the 2020 campaign as team's weren't afraid of Utah attacking defenses vertically. This clogged up the short parts of the field and made life extremely difficult for tight end Brant Kuithe. But with Dixon's back in the fold and forcing teams to respect his speed, it should open things up for Kuithe and slot receiver Britain Covey to work.

With the return of Dixon, Utah is now expected to have eight scholarship wide receivers on the roster. If Solomon Enis can take the next step forward, the Utes could have a dangerous trio between Enis, Covey and Dixon to ride with the potential all-American in Kuithe.

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Twitter — @UtahUtes_SI and Ryan Kostecka at @Ryan_Kostecka