Utah defensive back Kenan Johnson enters transfer portal

[Hoban Washburne]

Utah defensive back Kenan Johnson enters transfer portal

Ouch. Anyone have any insight into this loss?

[RoboUte]

Total guess. A db with a knee injury who probably sees that he won’t be ready to overtake anyone before the next season goes somewhere that isn’t basically building a roster as if he doesn’t exist. Also doesn’t want to wear UA cleats and tear it again. Wants to play in ’26 somewhere that doesn’t have the competition to keep him out of the lineup so he can get drafted, rather than waiting to maybe feebly replace somebody injured for half of ’25 and burn the last of his eligibility.

[Ute Dub]

He was going to have a hard time making it back this year. Best of luck.

[//r00t4Utes]

Was going to ask how, since the window closed, but guessing since he’s going into his 5th season, he’d be a graduate transfer.

[UteButters]

Best for both him and Utah.

[Red Rhino]

This is a big deal! He was going to start and was highly spoken of by the Staff.

I feel like I’m at a restaurant, I choose a steak that looks delicious to me, I get excited to eat that mouth watering meal, and then the waiter tells me they are out of that. I then find a hamburger that I’m not as excited about but it still looks delicious, only to be told by the waiter that they are also out of hamburgers. I ask the waiter what they do have and he says peanut butter and jelly.

Pretty soon people will stop going to the expensive restaurant that serves peanut butter and jelly.

We have to find more NIL money!

[Tednab]

Taken more losses in the offseason than the regular season.. We’ll be a true G5 team by fall

[UteButters]

You think Kenan was going to be counted on to contribute for us this upcoming season?

The kid won’t be ready to play until HOPEFULLY the beginning of the actual season … even then, it’s not guaranteed he would be healthy or ready to play.

This is a smart move by the coaches to move on and use the extra scholarship on a body who can actually contribute and play during fall camp and this upcoming season.

Fans have complained the last two years about mismanagement of injuries and relying too much on injured guys returning and making an impact. I’m happy the coaches have learned from their mistakes and moved on from a kid who may never even play a down of football again.

Him leaving is not a loss.

[Red Rhino]

You don’t think it is significant that Utah lost both its starting corners to the portal? It is being reported that Michigan or Oregon are potential landing spots for Johnson. Obviously they think he is significant. Calhoun got almost twice the money we were offering. Snowden is also being pursued. To me, this is disappointment and very frustrating.

[D T]

Reported where?

[krindor]

lost both its starting corners to the portal?

This is Scooby Davis erasure

To open last season, the starting corners were Zemaiah Vaughn and Kenan Johnson with Snowden as the nickelback.

After Johnson went down with the injury, it was Vaughn on one side with Scooby Davis and Cam Calhoun alternating on the other side. But more starts for Davis. And then Snowden as the nickelback.

End of last season, the thought process was the Davis and Calhoun would be the starters this season, with Snowden as the nickelback.

After Calhoun transferred, that shifted to Davis and a newbie (maybe Cotton) with Snowden as the nickelback. Or possible Snowden on the outside and Shemwell on the inside

But at no point has Utah had Johnson and Calhoun as the two starters

[UteButters]

I understand the frustrations with the NIL/Transfer Portal era cause I feel it myself. It’s definitely a hard landscape to be a fan in.

Losing Calhoun was absolutely a loss. He most likely would’ve been penciled in as a starter for Utah this next season. So yes, he’s a loss. (Utahs done a good job to fill his loss).

Losing a “healthy” Kenan would also be a loss. But, fortunately we’re not losing a healthy Kenan. We’re losing a kid who had a severe leg injury that is going to require a lot of time to heal. Time that is valuable, and doesn’t guarantee a return at any point next season.

Kenan checked in for spring ball last year (2024) at around 185 lbs … this year when he checked in, he weighed in the low 160s. He’s lost a lot of muscle and will miss the whole off season which is valuable for weight gain and getting ready to play football.

The coaches were never relying on him to contribute next year. We now have an extra scholarship to use post spring ball for another DB who can actually contribute if the coaches feel like they need another corner. If they like what they have after spring they can fill another position of need.

I know the coaches love the guys they’ve brought in and feel like this secondary has the potential to be very good!

[Utah5410]

Kenyan wasn’t going to ready until mod season next year. By that point his spot is taken. He’s better off finding a new spot and rehabbing. I agree it’s a big loss but not for 2025. This has CR writing all over it. We don’t need that. It would have been a huge loss if he was for sure going tk be ready to play on 8/30/25. But that wasn’t going to be the case.

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