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This former Ute is projected to be one of college football’s most impactful transfers in 2025

A lot of attention — and online angst — this offseason has been paid to a pair of former Utah football players, Keanu Tanuvasa and Carsen Ryan, who transferred down the road to BYU.

There’s another former Ute who’s also garnering attention in another part of the country — more specifically, SEC country.

That is cornerback Cameron Calhoun, who started his college days at Michigan in 2023, joined Utah as a redshirt freshman in 2024 and now is on to his third team in as many seasons.

Earlier this month, Pro Football Focus’ Max Chadwick listed Calhoun as one of 10 impact transfers to know for the upcoming season.

“Calhoun joins the Crimson Tide after playing for Utah last year. He earned an impressive 82.8 PFF grade as a redshirt freshman, placing 10th among Power Four cornerbacks. Calhoun allowed just 48.8% of his targets to be caught while finishing as one of the 30 most valuable corners in the nation despite only playing the fourth-most snaps among the Utes’ corners,” Chadwick wrote.

What did Cameron Calhoun do at Utah?

The 6-foot, 177-pound cornerback made his first appearance for Utah in Week 2 of the 2024 season against Baylor and played in each of the next 10 games, logging at least 25 snaps per contest.

Calhoun ended the season with 21 tackles, a team-high nine breakups — which tied him for fourth in the Big 12 — and one interception. He held receivers to a 48.8% completion percentage when targeted.

Pro Football Focus rated Calhoun as Utah’s fourth-highest rated defensive player, with an overall grade of 76.3, and he was expected to step into a larger role had he stayed at Utah.

Instead, the Cincinnati native entered the transfer portal in December 2024 and signed with Alabama.

Will Cameron Calhoun make major contributions for Alabama in 2025?

“He needs to add weight as he’s just 6-feet, 177 pounds, but he has excellent make-up speed and should be a major reason why Alabama has one of the best defenses in college football next season,” Chadwick wrote.

Chadwick rated Alabama’s secondary the second-best in the country, behind only Texas, in another article released last week.

The Crimson Tide return safeties Bray Hubbard and Keon Sabb — “the Crimson Tide may have the best safety duo in college football,” Chadwick wrote — and also bring back both of their starting outside corners in Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown.

Given his skills, though, there’s belief that Calhoun will play a considerable role in the Crimson Tide’s secondary plans this season. Chadwick rates him as the No. 10 returning cornerback in the country.

“He’s got a little — he’s from Cincinnati, and those Cincinnati guys, if you’ve ever recruited that area, they’ve got a little something to them, you know what I mean?” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said during spring ball of Calhoun, according to AL.com.

“He plays with a good energy. He plays with a mindset of attacking the ball and brings some juice to our group. We’re a relatively quiet secondary, for the most part, so it’s kind of nice to have another guy out there that plays up in people’s face.”