made Utah a compelling landing spot. Especially considering recent success with RBs, a winning program and great talent coming back.

Utah felt confident the program could be competitive for the best backs available in the portal. Better than the ones transferring out.

The sense is that Pledger is a marked upgrade over those 2 and an ideal 1-2 punch with Micah Bernard.

So I'm not sure the coaches were interested in those guys coming back...until they landed a top tier back. Seems like the coaches would still like to add another RB for depth. Wouldn't be surprised if they are still seeking out another transfer.