Utah’s top-rated defensive tackle Jackson Cravens commits to Utes

Utah’s top-rated defensive tackle Jackson Cravens played for one of his uncles at Timpview High, and he announced that he’ll spend his collegiate career playing for another at Utah.

The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Cravens announced his commitment to the Utes on Twitter on Saturday afternoon. Cravens, the nephew of Utes coach Kyle Whittingham as well as former Timpview coach Cary Whittingham, was on campus for an official recruiting visit last weekend.

“Pumped to be a Ute!!! Dream come true,” Cravens posted on Twitter.

The commitment comes less than a week before Wednesday’s National Signing Day, the start of the traditional signing period. This winter the NCAA instituted for the first time an early signing period in December.

The website 247Sports ranked Cravens the 11th-best prospect in the state and the top defensive tackle prospect. Both ESPN.com and 247Sports have rated Cravens as a three-star prospect. He reportedly had offers from several Power 5 conference schools such as Michigan State, Georgia and Vanderbilt as well as Pac-12 members Arizona and Oregon, Oregon State and Washington.

Cravens’ family football lineage also includes cousin Su’a Cravens, a former USC standout defensive back who was selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft by Washington.