The 2 biggest things Wayshawn Parker has improved ahead of 2026 season

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Last season, Utah running back Wayshawn Parker fell just short of a personal goal.

The Washington State transfer was one of the most effective running backs in the nation in his debut season for Utah, tallying 6.58 yards per carry, but came up just short of his goal of notching 1,000 rushing yards after gaining 981 yards and six scores on just 149 carries. He never got more than 19 carries in any game last season.

If Parker was anointed RB1 earlier in the season, he would have certainly been in that 1,000-yard club, a number just 42 Division I ball carries eclipsed in 2025, but it took until late October for Kyle Whittingham to fully hand the reins to Parker.

“I would say his work ethic has been what has improved the most. He understands that now he’s in a position where if you want to have the influence on others, you got to be living the culture. You got to own your 20 square feet and that’s what he’s doing.”

Utah coach Morgan Scalley on running back Wayshawn Parker

Prior to his breakout game against Colorado, where he rushed for 145 yards and a score, Parker had been splitting carries with NaQuari Rogers. Quarterbacks Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin also had plenty of touches in Utah’s record-setting season on the ground.

After stampeding over the Buffaloes, there was no doubt who the Utes’ RB1 was.

Parker’s Colorado performance started a streak of four games with 100 or more yards, and he came just 5 yards short of extending that streak to five games with a 95-yard outing against Kansas.

This season, there’s no doubt that Parker is entering the season as RB1, and he’s gunning for the 1,000-yard mark again.

“What really set that fire was I didn’t touch that thousand yards last year like I promised some of my fans. It really hurt me deep down inside that I let myself down,” Parker said. “This year, I want to go all gas, no brakes. So anybody that I can take with me, I’m going to take with me on that journey. That’s going to be the whole Utah football team. We’re going to do it as a team.”

Throughout winter workouts and continuing through spring practices, the biggest change in Parker’s game as he enters his third season of college football hasn’t necessarily been on the field.

Coach Morgan Scalley said that Parker’s work ethic has been the biggest improvement he’s seen.

“I would say his work ethic has been what has improved the most,” Scalley said. “He understands that now he’s in a position where if you want to have the influence on others, you got to be living the culture. You got to own your 20 square feet and that’s what he’s doing.”

Parker has brought the intensity in every aspect of Utah’s offseason training program, culminating in a fiery spring ball.

“When your best players are jumping in there in spring ball in a live session and they’re not afraid of competition, they’re not afraid to throw it in there — that’s what was fun to see from Wayshawn,” Scalley said. “It’s almost like you had to tone him down a little bit. Hey dude, sit this one out, relax a little bit. But he was really hurt last year that we didn’t get him to a thousand yards and that’s a big goal for him this year.”

The man that hands him the ball, quarterback Devon Dampier, has seen Parker grow on the leadership front. Parker was named to the 15-person leadership council for the 2026 season.

“Leadership for sure. Way last year was the guy that we knew would always play well, going into every game we knew he could produce, but we wanted him to be the guy where you’re also bringing your teammates along,” Dampier said.

“You want to be the running back where your O-line wants to block for you, you know what I mean? And that’s what Way’s developing this year. I could definitely see him starting to talk to more than just his running back group. There’s more than football than just your position and he’s learning that fast as I can see it.

“He’s earned the leadership council. He’s got voted as a leader, so the team definitely respects him.”

As Parker learns from his third offense coordinator in three years, he’s being put in new positions on the field with new OC Kevin McGiven involving Parker more in the pass game during spring practices.

Last season, Parker caught 13 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns; could that number go up this season?

“He’s putting me out in the receiver spot. He put me out in the slot. It’s just a blessing that I ran into a coach like that, that can really make me better and do everything,” Parker said.

Perhaps the biggest variable in Parker’s quest for 1,000 yards this season will be the performance of Utah’s offensive line.

The Utes, who replaced all five starters this season, had one of the best offensive lines in the country last season — certainly a factor in Parker’s performance last year. This year, the Utes will have all new starters, but those new starters have experience.

Four of Utah’s five projected starters in Keith Olson, Alex Harrison, Zereoue Williams and Roger Alderman all played at least 130 snaps last season, and all are upperclassmen. Senior Solatoa Moea’i (336 snaps last season) and five-star freshman Kelvin Obot will battle for a guard spot.

In all likelihood, this group won’t live up to the lofty standard of the front five before them, but Scalley called the offensive line the biggest surprise of the spring.

“This is a whole new line, but I got to tell them that I got confidence in them and I really do,” Parker said. “So just to build their heads up and tell them that business is going to be handled and it starts with those guys. Oh yeah, they got the confidence for sure.”

Parker has been building a rapport with the group, taking care of the bill when they go out to eat.

With offensive linemen, that can get expensive.

“It might be, but I got to take care of them. They take care of me, so I got to take care of them,” Parker said.

Part of a running back’s job is to help that line block at times, and that’s an aspect of Parker’s game that he has improved.

“My passion in Year 3 is to go out there and make sure (Dampier) is perfectly fine. He got injured last year, don’t want to see that again. I want to see him go to the next level and I’m going to do whatever it takes for him to get to that next level. That is my QB and I’m going to sit there and protect him no matter what,” Parker said.

As Utah’s undisputed RB1, Parker is carrying a lot of expectations, but he feels like he will live up to them.

“If I want to accomplish my dream, I got to have that mind set of I got to do better than last year, and this year I feel like I’m going to do better,” Parker said.

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