Utah football signs returned missionary OL Jaren Kump

We’ve been sitting on this since 2017, so here’s what we had to say about Kump back then, plus some more information from today’s release.

O-block added a big body today with the signing of Jaren Kump, a 6’6”, 261 pound three-star lineman out of Herriman. Kump had interest from many Pac-12 schools, including much of the Pac-12 South as well as Oregon and Cal. Back in July Kump was a BYU commit, and he switched to the Utes back in October.

Here’s the highlight reel for the newest Ute:

Kump has the height you love to see from a lineman, but he’s got to put on some weight, which is not uncommon for a new freshman. I’d image Jim Harding and the offensive staff would throw the red shirt on the young man and allow him to develop for a season. Fortunately, the Utes have built up a nice line of o-linemen that has a nice development system, so it’ll likely be a couple of years until we see Kump get meaningful reps.

Info per UtahUtes.com:

Served an LDS church mission before enrolling in school … first-team all-state as a senior at Herriman HS (Utah) … two-time all-region earning first-team honors in 2017 … 2017 All-Salt Lake Tribune team … 2017 first-team All-USA Utah Football team … three-star recruit by 247sports and Rivals … rated the No. 9 recruit in the state by 247sports and No. 10 by Rivals … averaged five pancake blocks a game as a senior … also played defense for Herriman and had 33 tackles with 4.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks and two passes defended in 2017 … 22 tackles (2.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks) and one fumble recovery as a junior … played as a sophomore on Herriman’s 2015 5A state championship team … also competes in track … won the shot put at the 2017 Utah State Championships and the discus state title in 2018 … also played basketball.