Utes QB Jason Shelley Transferring to Utah State, Henry Colombi Enters Transfer Portal

Earlier this week, it was announced that Jason Shelley would be transferring to Utah State after spending the first three seasons of his career with the Utes. In response to the news, quarterback Henry Colombi has entered his name into the transfer portal as Shelley was granted immediate eligibility and is projected to be the Aggies next leading signal-caller.

Utah had recently brought on South Carolina’s Jake Bentley which severely hindered Shelley’s odds of becoming the Utes’ next starter under center. Due to this, Shelley had been considering a position change to safety in order to see more playing time. After further consideration, he put his name into the transfer portal as he wanted one last chance at proving his ability as a passer. Gary Anderson and crew decided he would be a good fit on the roster and would add talent to a QB room that recently lost Jordan Love to the NFL draft.

Shelley received his only starts in the last five games of 2018, leading the Utes to a 3-2 record. He finished the year with 98 completions on 168 attempts for 1,162 yards and 5 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. Jason also added 60 carries, picking up 192 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. He helped lead Utah to an epic comeback from a 20-point deficit against BYU that year despite missing star running back Zack Moss.

He was the 12th highest-rated dual-threat quarterback by 247Sports coming out of high school and had scholarship offers from various Power Five programs including Virginia, Nebraska, and Southern Miss before ultimately choosing Utah. He has all the physical traits to a problem for Mountain West defenses and will look to prove his ability in 2020.

On the other side of things, Henry Colombi was seen as the frontrunner for the next leader of the offense just one week ago. Many expected, as did I, that he could be a solid quarterback for the Aggies entering his redshirt junior season. He flashed potential in limited action since 2018, throwing for 460 yards and 2 touchdowns to 1 interception, while completing an impressive 53 of 59 passes. He also ran for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 27 attempts, proving he is not only a pocket passer.

Henry possesses the accuracy and arm strength to compete for a starting position and still has two years of eligibility left. Although we would have loved to see both Shelley and Colombi battle it out for the reigns of the Aggies offense, we wish him nothing but success at his next stop and hope he is given the opportunity to showcase exactly what he can bring to an offense.