Utah's secret secondary weapon, meet Zemaiah Vaughn

With the Utes corner room now fully healthy, sophomore Zemaiah Vaughn is poised for a big year.

Another player in Utah's secondary that sustained a season-ending injury in 2021, cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn is back and prepared for a big year in 2022. Having caught the attention of not only his fellow secondary defenders, Vaughn has also gained the respect of Utah's top receivers heading into the season.

In an exclusive podcast interview before fall camp, Utah's top receiver Devaughn Vele spoke very highly of Vaughn, calling him a "dark horse" amongst the defense. According to Vele, Vaughn is the perfect combination of speed, athleticism and length.

"I would say Zemaiah Vaughn [is one of the toughest corners]. I think he is the dark horse that nobody knows about. You gotta realize, tall corners are hard to come by. Usually if you're tall, you play receiver. The thing about Zemaiah, he may be a little undersized in terms of muscle, but he makes up for that in speed. He is the fastest player on our team, easily," Vele said. 

"The fact that he is really good at using his height as well, he's definitely one of those dudes where I've really got to work something because I just can't win like I do with other players...I actually have to stack him and even if I stack him, he's still fast enough to catch up to me...he's definitely a dark horse on the defensive side of the ball," Vele added.

Looking back at last season, Vaughn played in all 13 games and even started in four as the secondary looked to its depth. Before going down in the Pac-12 Championship, Vaughn logged 25 total tackles and four pass break-ups. He also consistently got better as he logged back-to-back career highs against Stanford and Oregon during the regular season.

In addition to earning Vele's respect this offseason, Vaughn was also mentioned by Clark Phillips III as being someone who has made great strides and is on track for a big 2022 campaign.

Zemaiah Vaughn, Utah Utes Fall Camp / Courtesy of Utah Athletics

"He's making strides, he's taken a step, and he's making big plays," Phillips said. "He's got length like no other, speed and all that stuff. He's continuing to hone in on his craft, work on his technique, and I'm excited for that guy this season." 

So when you look out amongst the secondary this year and see No. 16 making plays on defense, remember the name Zemaiah Vaughn. He's not only grabbed the attention of his teammates, but after making technique an emphasis, he's prepared to protect the secondary and create a number of turnovers for the Utes.

"I just want to get a lot of interceptions," Vaughn said. "Interceptions and make a lot of plays. Just help out my team in any way that I can."

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