Four days left in the UteNation countdown to kickoff and we go to the defensive perimeter of the field to discuss no. 4 JaTravis Broughton. Broughton began to develop into a dependable corner for position coach Sharrieff almost immediately as he stepped onto campus. However, after an impressive 2020 debut season as a starter — one in which he was named Pac-12 honorable mention — Broughton began to struggle due to injury.

He’s currently listed as a senior, but that’s likely a typo - the Covid season didn’t count and he only played in two games the following season.

UteNation Take

After spending most of 2021 recovering from a season-ending injury just a couple games into the season, Broughton bounced back to play in every game in 2022. Back at full strength, the Tulsa, OK-native is slated to start on the outside at cornerback opposite Zemaiah Vaughn. Broughton has played in 35 games as a Ute — amongst the most for the entire team — so his experience and leadership will be crucial in pursuit of a third straight conference title.

An underrated piece of Broughton’s presence this season will be his impact on the development of Utah’s young and talented corners Tao Johnson, CJ Blocker, and Smith Snowden. Broughton was able to see the work ethic of Clark Phillips III, and hopefully that will be passed along to the next group of Utah cornerbacks.

Now fully healthy and back in the groove, Broughton seems to be flying under the radar

Remembering Broughton's Recruitment

Broughton was a 5.6 Rivals rated 3-star cornerback out of Tulsa, OK, a rare recruiting ground for the University of Utah. He held eight offers, most notably from Army, Oregon, and Texas Tech. With the lack of a lot of big offers, Broughton chose to wait until the February signing date to make his decision. After committing to Utah Broughton, who went by McCloud at the time, skyrocketed up the Oklahoma state player rankings, from unranked to no. 10.