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SALT LAKE CITY — Hours before the first NHL playoff game in the Delta Center, Utah Mammoth fans were lined up outside — holding Vegas Golden Knights jerseys.

Hundreds waited, then tossed their Vegas jerseys into a wheeled laundry bin in exchange for a brand new Mammoth sweater. It was the latest marketing move by Mammoth owner Ryan Smith, who offered former Vegas fans the chance to swap gold-and-grey for blue-and-white ahead of Game 3.

They quickly ran out of jerseys.

The promotion offered a glimpse into a complex regional rivalry between two of the NHL’s three newest teams.

On the ice, this series has been emotional, physical and bloody. On Friday night, the Mammoth impressed in their first home playoff game, securing a convincing 4-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead. In the stands, competing fanbases have taken turns chanting taunts at each other.

Though these remain just the early signs of a burgeoning rivalry, the battle to win hockey fans across the state has been raging much longer. Of course, that’s why there were so many who had Golden Knights jerseys to trade on Friday. The Golden Knights were here first.

“My goal is to make our team the team of the Rockies,” Golden Knights owner Bill Foley said back in 2017.

The Golden Knights’ television broadcast map initially encompassed all of Utah, as well as Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. In their early years, the Golden Knights drove a motorcade through the Rocky Mountains before every season, making stops at Coeur d’Alene in Idaho, at Whitefish and Bozeman in Montana, and, notably, at Salt Lake City.

Players would hop off a logo-wrapped bus to play street hockey with kids. The team played preseason games against the Los Angeles Kings at the Delta Center in 2021 and 2022. Foley went as far as saying his team would be called the Vegas Golden Knights, but “we’re really going to be the Rocky Mountain Golden Knights.”

The team was relatively successful in its venture north. That is, until the Mammoth arrived.

“This was also kind of part of their market as they launched,” Smith said Friday. “That was part of the territory that we took. I mean, Vegas hockey was on TV here. I think you can see that with the jersey exchange today. As much as everyone thinks I’m just trolling them. It’s, you know, 50 percent (trolling), but it’s way more of a respect for how they’ve grown.”

Smith is familiar with Las Vegas. His wife and team co-owner, Ashley Smith, grew up there. The cities are a scenic, six-hour drive apart.

“I think the national landscape doesn’t understand the proximity, in so many different ways, of Utah and Las Vegas,” Smith said. “Growing up, Las Vegas is where our kids went for youth sports, and it’s where we went on the weekends. We’re just close.”

Smith said the Golden Knights’ success gave him confidence that NHL hockey would work in Utah.

“I understand the soul that hockey has brought to Vegas, in a really creative way,” he said. “Watching it succeed there gave me a ton of confidence that it would work here, given my background and the landscape and the way I think culturally, we’re way more similar than different, and that’s the part that most people don’t understand.”

While Smith admires how the Golden Knights have built their franchise and a fanbase in Las Vegas, he hopes to convert remaining Vegas fans in Utah.

“That’s part of their responsibility, is kind of sliding over and letting the new group come in, in a weird way, similar to the way someone slid over for them to come in,” he said. “I have nothing but respect.”

Friday’s playoff debut at the Delta Center was a big step. The buzz in and around the building was palpable. In the hours between the jersey swap and puck drop, fans partied around the rink. Faces were painted, woolly mammoth trunks were swinging as fans danced around the Zammoth. Military helicopters flew overhead.

The event marked the second anniversary of the day the franchise first welcomed then-Arizona Coyotes players and coaches to the city. They were greeted by children at the airport hangar, shown the city, and then visited a packed Delta Center.

“I don’t want to let repetition spoil the prayer, but that was a pretty amazing moment,” Smith said, recalling the welcome. “It was the greatest moment I’ve been to in sports, because it was literally a bet. I don’t think we had (documents) signed at that point. It was literally, ‘Hey, let’s see if Utah can show up for hockey,’ and Utah hasn’t not shown up every night since then.”

“This is a happy night,” he continued. “Let’s go make it special.”

The fans and the Mammoth players did just that.

The vibes from outside spilled into the arena. The sold-out crowd waved rally towels and roared as the players took the ice.

“Right when we came out, it was electric in the building,” Utah defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. “It was loud, and I saw the towels going, introducing the starting lineups, and felt it after that. The first five minutes give you goosebumps. That’s sort of what it’s about. You know, feeling it with the fans and the players. Both sides appreciate each other so much. But we really felt that.”

“It was amazing,” added Utah captain Clayton Keller, who hadn’t played in a playoff game in six years. “We were so jacked up to play tonight. I think even just in warm-ups, it was an amazing feeling. You could tell that they were invested, and we’re super excited as well.”

The Mammoth may have been too excited in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Golden Knights jumped all over them, controlling the puck and firing a barrage of shots on net. Vegas held a commanding 10-1 edge in shots at one point, but Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka stood on his head to keep it scoreless.

Then Weegar opened the scoring with a slap shot that nearly blew the roof off the building.

“I was looking up in the stands after the first goal,” Lawson Crouse said. “Just seeing all of the rally towels going, and just feeling the energy and the passion from them …  the fans have been incredible ever since Day 1 when we showed up here, but it seemed like they took it to a whole new level tonight.”

Utah poured in three more consecutive goals, two by Crouse, and the building seemed to get louder each time. Players said they couldn’t hear Utah coach André Tourigny barking out the lines at certain points.

“That will be an adjustment,” Tourigny said, “Seriously, we had some confusion on the bench. The guys didn’t know what was up. For the people who know me, I can be pretty loud, but the crowd beat me.”

The Mammoth held on for the win, becoming the sixth team since 1990 to win its first home playoff game. It was a roaring success on a monumental night, and one of many since moving to Salt Lake City.

“What Ryan and Ashley have done, in terms of building a fanbase, making adjustments to this building, having a training facility, getting involved in the community with the assistance of fans, and figuring out Tusky and the Zammoth — everything they’ve done has exceeded our highest expectations,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday. “If you want to know how to write a textbook on how to start a franchise and a community from scratch, nobody is better than what Ryan and Ashley have been able to accomplish.”

The Mammoth are selling out the Delta Center on a nightly basis. They’ll be hosting the Colorado Avalanche for the 2026 Winter Classic at Rice Eccles Stadium on New Year’s Eve. They recently finished construction on their two-sheet Mammoth Ice Center, which will help grow the youth hockey scene.

“If you want to be inspired, just go at three o’clock on any day, and just sit outside our practice facility and watch parents come in with these kids,” Smith said. “(With) their hockey gear, and their hockey stick, and each one stops and almost has a moment with you, saying, ‘You do not understand what this has done for my family. Our kid being able to come in and say he’s found a tribe, or she’s found a tribe.’ It’s a real cool moment.”

In one sense, Utah is just continuing the Golden Knights’ push to prove the sport can thrive in non-traditional hockey markets. In another, there’s a clear rivalry developing.

“Part of the beauty of this series is that rivalries really get intense by playoff series,” Bettman said, “and so this worked out nicely.”

SALT LAKE CITY — There was quite a scene outside of the Delta Center prior to the first playoff hockey game in the building’s history on Friday. Military helicopters flew overhead and music blasted while Utah Mammoth fans danced and chanted, their faces painted blue and woolly mammoth hats draped over their heads.

Inside the building, the fans had an even better time.

The Mammoth used their speed and skill to fly past the Las Vegas Golden Knights in their 4-2 win, taking a 2-1 series lead.

The Golden Knights stormed out of the gates, outshooting Utah 10-1 early in the game, but Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka stood on his head until his team found its rhythm.

Mammoth defender MacKenzie Weegar opened the scoring with a slap shot that rung off Carter Hart’s mask, flew between his legs and into the Vegas net, sending the sold-out Utah crowd to its feet.

Utah rode the momentum from that goal, pressuring in the Golden Knights’ zone for several minutes until Logan Cooley drew a high-sticking penalty on Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb in front of the net. The Mammoth took advantage when Dylan Guenther lazered a one-timer past Hart for his second goal of the playoffs to make it 2-0.

“There are some guys in the league who have that kind of a shot, but it’s not every team that has the privilege to have a guy who can shoot the puck like that,” Utah coach André Tourigny said of Guenther. “What I like about Dylan’s game right now is that it is one element of his game. That’s not his game. It’s one element of his game.”

The second period was a similar story to the first, with Vegas controlling possession early on but generating little offense with it, then Utah striking quickly on the other end. Lawson Crouse scored twice in less than five minutes to extend Utah’s lead to four before Jack Eichel scored on a rebound in front of the Mammoth crease to cut the deficit to 4-1 entering the third period.

Nic Dowd scored his second goal of the series in the third period to make it 4-2, but it was too late to spark a comeback.

Utah impressed all season with its speed in transition, and after a rough start to the series, it has shone through over the last two games. The Golden Knights still control territory for the majority of games, but struggle to generate much from that time spent with the puck. Meanwhile, the Mammoth have needed very little opportunity to generate goals.

“We used our speed a lot tonight,” Utah captain Clayton Keller said. “We stuck with it. They’re a great team and they make you work for everything.”

It will be interesting to see how coach John Tortorella, who is still relatively new behind the Vegas bench, tries to counteract what looks like a major speed disadvantage in the neutral zone for the Golden Knights.

Vegas allowed a franchise-low 12 shots on goal, and yet Utah still managed to score enough to win.

“Over the years, we’ve been a team that’s been able to generate in different ways, and sometimes we’re going to have more shots than other nights,” Keller said. “Quality over quantity, sometimes.”

Vejmelka weathered an early storm

You could feel the energy in the building for the Mammoth’s first playoff game. You could also see the nerves on the ice for the Mammoth players as the Golden Knights dominated the first 10 minutes of the game. Vegas lived in the Utah zone early on, outshooting the Mammoth and generating several grade-A scoring chances.

However, the Golden Knights came away with nothing to show for it thanks to Vejmelka’s heroics in net.

Mitch Marner found Brett Howden for a one-timer from right in front of the net on the second shift of the game, and Vejmelka slid across for a pad save. Minutes later, Vegas fourth-line center Dowd fired a low shot through a horde of bodies in front, and Vejmelka somehow tracked the puck through the traffic to get his left pad on it. Vejmelka stopped all 13 of Vegas’ shots in the opening period, and eventually the skaters in front of him found their game to give the Mammoth an early 2-0 lead.

Utah’s top line found something

The first two games of the series were not good for Utah’s top line of Nick Schmaltz, Keller and Crouse. The trio — which features two of the Mammoth’s top scorers during the regular season — didn’t score a goal in Las Vegas, and was on the ice for multiple goals against.

That all changed in Game 3, with Crouse scoring two key goals in the second period to extend Utah’s lead.

“We talked about it as a line,” Keller said. “We just want to be better each game. It’s the playoffs. You have to work for every single inch, and just a little execution or details go a long way. We’ve had times throughout the regular season where we struggled a bit, and had to reset, and we were still confident and still had a lot of chemistry.”

Early in the middle frame, Crouse dished the puck to Schmaltz at the offensive blue line and crashed the net. Schmaltz passed it back to Crouse with speed, and he tipped it past Hart’s blocker to make it 3-0. Less than five minutes later, Keller won the puck on the forecheck and found Crouse at the top of the circles, and Crouse ripped a wrist shot past Hart’s blocker again to extend it to 4-0.

It could be that three of the Mammoth’s best players simply found their rhythm. It could also be that they’re getting a more preferable matchup now that coach Tourigny has the second change. Over the first two games, Schmaltz’s line saw a lot of Vegas’ fourth line of Dowd, Colton Sissons and Cole Smith. That bruising trio forechecked Utah’s top line successfully, grinded out shifts, and even scored twice in Game 1.

In Game 3, Schmaltz’s line scored both of its goals against Vegas’ top line of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev.

Vegas needs more from its stars

Last year, the Golden Knights’ season ended on a 127-minute scoreless drought against the Edmonton Oilers, and the biggest question entering the offseason was how to add more scoring to the top of the lineup. Vegas’ answer to that question was signing Toronto Maple Leafs star Marner to an eight-year, $96 million contract.

It hasn’t worked through the first three games of this series, as Marner has yet to record his first playoff goal, and the Golden Knights’ issues converting offensive zone time into goals have looked very similar to a year ago.

It’s certainly not all on Marner. Eichel hasn’t been his usual, impactful self. He scored his first goal of the series on Friday by finding on a loose puck in front of the Utah net, but has not been the dynamic player carrying the puck up the ice that Vegas has grown used to over the last few years.

Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas’ leading scorer in the regular season, has yet to record a point in the series and was demoted down the lineup by Tortorella on Friday. Tomas Hertl’s scoreless drought has now reached 23 games dating back to the regular season. His last goal came against the Detroit Red Wings on March 4.

This story will be updated.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lawson Crouse scored twice in a 5:42 span in the second period and the Utah Mammoth won the first NHL playoff game in the state, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Friday night for a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Monday night in Salt Lake City. Utah evened the series in Las Vegas on Tuesday after winning 3-2. Vegas won the series opener 4-2 on its home ice on Sunday.

The Mammoth are in their second season in Utah after leaving Arizona.

Crouse’s goals capped an early flurry that saw the Mammoth score four times over the first 30 minutes while being limited to only eight shots on goal during that stretch.

“Over the years, we’ve been a team that’s been able to generate in different ways,” Utah captain Clayton Keller said. “Sometimes we’re going to have more shots than other nights. Quality over quantity sometimes and just bearing down on the looks that you do get. I think that’s the most important thing.”

MacKenzie Weegar and Dylan Guenther scored for Utah in the first period, with Guenther striking on a power play. Crouse followed in the second. He tipped in the puck at the 4:06 mark and then struck on a long shot between the circles at 9:48 to make it 4-0.

Carter Hart stayed on the ice for the Golden Knights through all three periods despite giving up four goals by the midway point of the second.

“I have full faith in him. He wants to work through it,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “He has an attitude and a mental toughness about him at that position. He’ll be fine.”

Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for the Mammoth, who had only 12 shots on goal against Hart. Keller had two assists for the first multi-point game of his playoff career.

Jack Eichel got Vegas on the board with 6:40 left in the second. Nic Dowd made it 4-2 with 3:08 left in the third.

Vegas went 0 of 4 on the power play while Utah converted its lone opportunity.

“I think (Vejmelka) was rock solid and made keys saves at key moments on the PK,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “We had a great performance from our special teams.”

Weegar opened the scoring with 7:01 left in the first, tracking down a feed from Liam O’Brien and blasting the puck between the circles.

Guenther converted on a power play with 2:14 to go in the period on a slap shot from the top of the left circle.

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A K-9 who served with the Utah Highway Patrol and helped find hundreds of pounds of illegal narcotics has died.

In a Facebook post, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office announced the death of K-9 Leo.

“Our hearts go out to his handler, Tyler West, during this difficult time,” the post read.

A K-9 who served with the Utah Highway Patrol and helped find hundreds of pounds of illegal narcotics has died. (Photo: Grand County Sheriff’s Office)

The sheriff’s office said that while Leo was not assigned to its office, he worked alongside its deputies and had a lasting impact on the community. Photos documented the hundreds of pounds of illegal narcotics the K-9 helped find in Grand County. He later transferred to Iron County, where he continued working to get dangerous drugs off the streets.

The sheriff’s office said Leo served with loyalty, dedication and courage, and his legacy would not be forgotten.

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A female Utah lawmaker running for US Congress allegedly made aggressive and unwanted sexual advances on four women — with one accuser claiming she was choked and another saying an “incredibly embarrassing” incident left them in tears.

Salt Lake City Councilwoman Eva Lopez Chavez allegedly accosted the women between 2019 and 2022, with her accusers describing her as relentless and refusing to take no for an answer, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday.

The four accusers include a state senator, a state representative, a fellow councilwoman and a former political aide. The alleged encounters all occurred before Chavez Lopez assumed her current office, according to the Tribune.

Lopez Chavez — a Democratic Gen Z-er seeking to represent Utah’s 1st District in Washington DC — has denied the claims outright, saying they “never occurred” and that she was “shocked by the allegations,” and even offering to undergo a lie detector test to demonstrate her innocence.

“She stands ready to submit to a polygraph test regarding these various allegations if requested,” her attorney, Greg Skordas, told the Tribune. “She is prepared to address them in any forum.”

One of the claims allegedly occurred in Sept. 2022, when Lopez Chavez went to a wedding afterparty with members of the city council — including Councilwoman Victoria Petro.

Petro claimed Lopez Chavez grabbed her throat at the party, and then “pushed me back against a pillar so that my back was against the wall and told me, ‘The only reason I still f–k men is because a woman hasn’t shown me what I really want.’”

“If a man had done that to me, would there be a question if it was assault or not?” Petro told the Tribune.

Petro allegedly reported the incident after the party to Council Chair Alejandro Puy, who recalled her being “shocked at what had happened.”

Lopez Chavez allegedly told Petro to stop telling people about the incident after she won her city council election in 2023.

Her attorney claimed photos and video from the wedding afterparty refuted Petros’ allegations — explaining the two seemed to be getting along fine in the images — and that “nothing inappropriate happened and no one ever expressed any concern about Eva’s conduct.”

The other alleged incident happened two months later in Nov. 2022 at a birthday party, where State Sen. Jen Plumb (D-Salt Lake City) claimed Lopez Chavez shoved her into a wall and groped her.

“It absolutely was a sexual advance. She leaned into me, grabbed onto my a–, got up in my face and said in my ear, ‘You’re sure you’re straight?’” Plumb claimed. “I just pushed her away. Come on. Knock it off.”

“I would not be comfortable with someone doing that to my daughter, to my mom, my best friends,” she added. “I’m not comfortable with it being brushed away anymore.”

The same year, Democratic State Rep. Hoang Nguyen claimed she was driving Lopez Chavez home from an event when the councilwoman asked to pull over.

“Next thing I know she has leaned over and she’s on top of me, holding my shoulders down,” Nguyen told the Tribune. “I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And she said, ‘Kiss me,’” Nguyen said. “She said, ‘I’m not going to get off you until you kiss me.’ I gave her a peck and she got off.”

Lopez Chavez’s attorney also refuted that story, explaining she and Nguyen have had numerous friendly text messages with each other since the supposed incident.

The first alleged incident happened in 2019, when former mayoral campaign aide Maggie Regier said Lopez Chavez was being extremely “flirty” at a fundraising event.

Regier tried to politely get out of the situation, but Lopez Chavez allegedly took Regier “into a literal corner in the hallway,” pinned them to a wall and wouldn’t let them leave. It supposedly took a friend to step in and pull Lopez Chavez away, the Tribune reported.

But the advances allegedly continued on the dance floor, with another friend ultimately stepping between Lopez Chavez and Regier and saying ‘Leave Maggie alone,’” Regier claimed.

Regier allegedly reported the incident to the campaign supervisor, Corey Cronin, who recalled the aide being brought to tears recounting it. Regier then posted about the incident on social media in 2023 as Lopez Chavez was running for City Council, calling it “harassment.”

“It made me feel incredibly unsafe,” Regier wrote, according to the Tribune.

Lopez Chavez’s attorney denied that she ever had to be pulled away from Regier, explaining a friend merely told her Regier wanted to be left alone and that the councilwoman complied.

The allegations emerged publicly after Lopez Chavez spoke out against misogynistic comments one of her congressional race opponents, Nate Blouin, made online about women and sexual assault about 10 years ago.

Lopez Chavez called for Blouin to drop out of the race after the posts emerged earlier in April, and called herself a sexual assault survivor.

That statement is part of what spurned her accusers to come forward, according to the Tribune.

It remains unclear how the Salt Lake City Council will address the allegations, but Chairman Puy told the Tribune that in February he ordered a review of the council’s internal policies because of claims he’d heard about Lopez Chavez’s behavior.

Lopez Chavez’s attorney could not be reached for comment by The Post by the time of publication.

Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano was picked by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday.

Fano, a consensus All-American and Outland Trophy recipient who played in 37 games across three seasons with the Utes, became the 11th player in program history to be picked in the first round of the draft, and the third tackle overall since 2003. He was the first tackle off the draft board and the fifth Utah player to ever be drafted by Cleveland.

In many ways, Fano’s draft outcome had been expected by many for the past year or so. The 6-foot-6 Spanish Fork native began receiving draft buzz heading into his junior season, and his prolific play as Utah’s starting right tackle only solidified his profile as one of the top prospects in the 2026 class. Fano didn’t allow a single in over 350 pass blocking opportunities and helped pave the way for the most-potent rushing attack at the Power 5 level last season.

That being said, Fano’s draft declaration in December only confirmed Utah would have to slot in someone new at his spot on the O-line for the 2026 campaign. The Utes did retain a few lineman with a lot of snaps under their belts, but didn’t return a single starter from the 2025 group and as such, had to plug some holes via the transfer portal.

Utah also snagged one of the top high school tackle recruits in the 2025 class in Kelvin Obot. However, we’re predicting that he’s going to fill Caleb Lomu’s vacancy at the left tackle spot.

As for the Utes’ right tackle spot: Here’s a few names to get familiar with as we predict the position’s depth chart

Predicting Utah’s right tackle depth chart

Cedric Jefferson

After starting all 16 games for Montana State’s Football Championship Subdivision title squad in 2025, the 6-foot-5, 300 pound junior from Temecula, California, is our pick to start at right tackle for Utah in 2026.

While it remains to be seen just how ready Jefferson is to compete at the power conference level, there’s little to question about his fit with the Utes. He’s coming from an offensive scheme that, like Utah, was very much oriented on the run game. The Bobcats were No. 2 in the FCS in rush attempts (635) and No. 5 in rush yards per game (226.1) during their championship-winning season.

Under first-year offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven, Utah might not lean on the run as heavily as it did in 2025, when it posted a program-record 3,462 rush yards and recorded 41 rushing yards in 13 games. If the run game is going to be dominant in its own right again, Jefferson will likely be a major reason why.

Keith Olson

Olson, a redshirt senior with 25 career games under his belt, isn’t our pick to start at right tackle, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if Utah went with the 6-foot-6 Washington native instead of Jefferson given his experience and versatility.

That being said, it also wouldn’t be shocking if Olson slotted in at one of the guard spots instead of tackle. He spent time at both right and left guard, as well as right tackle, at various points of the 2025 season, making one start as an extra lineman during Utah’s regular season finale at Kansas. In totality, Olson allowed just two pressures and no sacks in 98 pass blocking opportunities, with most of his snaps coming in run blocking situations.

Olson could end up playing at guard, though because he’s listed at 6-foot-6 and 307 pounds, we’re picking him to play tackle with a legitmate chance to start.

Other potential right tackles

• Kelvin Obot (6-foot-5, 295 pound freshman): Four-star prospect and the No. 7-ranked tackle in the 2026 class
• Mataalii Benjamin (6-foot-7, 315 pound freshman): Four-star recruit and the No. 21-ranked tackle in the 2026 class
• Soren Shinofield (6-foot-6, 304 pound sophomore): Three-star recruit in 2025 class who didn’t play as a freshman
• Isaiah Garcia (6-foot-5, 310 pound redshirt sophomore): Four-star prospect in 2024 class who didn’t see the field in 2025 after playing two games in 2024

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A few Utah football stars will have their dreams of playing in the pros come one step closer to realization over the next 72 hours as the 2026 NFL Draft plays out from the North Shore near Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The first round of the draft kicked off Thursday at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN. The second and third rounds will be televised Friday at 5 p.m., with the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds wrapping up the draft on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Follow along below as we track each Utah draftee and where they’re headed to start their pro careers.

Refresh this page for the latest draft update.

Utah Players Selected in the 2026 NFL Draft

• Spencer Fano (OL): Drafted No. 9 overall by the Cleveland Browns
• Caleb Lomu (OL): Selected No. 28 overall by the New England Patriots

Spencer Fano is first offensive lineman off the board

Utah’s star right tackle is headed to Cleveland after capping off a decorated three-year collegiate career as a consensus All-American, the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year and the Outland Trophy recipient. He became the second-highest Utah tackle drafted behind Jordan Gross (No. 8 overall in 2003).

Fano racked up multiple accolades at the end of his junior season with the Utes following a highly-efficient 2025 campaign, in which he allowed just five pressures and five hurries across 357 pass blocking opportunities, according to Pro Football Focus. In addition to not allowing a sack, the 6-foot-6 Fano helped pave the way for one of the best ground attacks in the country, with Utah recording a program-record 3,462 rushing yards across 13 games (266.3 per game, No. 1 among Power 5 teams).

Fano continued to impress scouts and other NFL personnel during the scouting combine in Indianapolis, where he checked out holding the highest athleticism score (93), the highest production score (85) and the best total score (89) of any offensive tackle prospect who participated in the drills and testing. He recorded a time of 4.91 seconds in the 40-yard dash, a 32-inch vertical jump and a 10-yard split of 1.72 seconds.

Fano and Lomu Make Utah Draft History

Caleb Lomu going No. 28 overall to New England marked the first time ever that two Utah players were selected in the same first round of the NFL draft.

Lomu, an All-Big 12 selection and two-year starting left tackle with the Utes, was the seventh offensive tackle off the board, following his teammate Fano (No. 9), Miami’s Francis Mauigoa (No. 10), Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor (No. 12), Clemson’s Blake Miller (No. 17), Georgia’s Monroe Freeling (No. 19), and Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor (No. 21).

How many Utah players have been drafted into the NFL?

Entering Thursday, Utah had churned out 189 draft picks in school history, including 10 first-round selections, 16 second-rounders and 15 third-rounders.

At least one Utes players has been drafted in 16 of the past 17 drafts, with the 2017 class standing out as the most voluminous (eight players selected, including All-Pro tackle Garett Bolles at No. 20 overall).

Who were the most recent Utah players to be drafted?

Last year, former college basketball standout and Utes tight end, Caleb Lohner, was the program’s lone representative in the draft, going No. 241 overall to the Denver Broncos.

Five Utah players heard their names called during the 2024 draft, including standout defensive back Cole Bishop (No. 60 overall to the Buffalo Bills) and stud defensive end Jonah Elliss (No. 76 overall to the Denver Broncos).

Has Utah ever produced a No. 1 overall pick?

All-American quarterback Alex Smith is the only Utes player to ever be selected with the top pick in the NFL draft.

Smith went on to play 14 seasons professionally, including including seven with the San Francisco 49ers, five with the Kansas City Chiefs and two with Washington, after being drafted No. 1 overall by San Francisco in 2005. He finished his career as a three-time Pro Bowler and recipient of the 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award following a gruesome leg injury he suffered while with Washington.

Who is the most recent Utah player to be drafted in the first round?

Entering Thursday, Dalton Kincaid was the most recent first-rounder Utah churned out. The standout tight end was taken No. 25 overall by the Buffalo Bills in the 2023 draft.

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