The Utah Utes landed a massive commitment last night to their 2021 recruiting class in Oaks Christian (Calif.) four-star linebacker Ethan Calvert. He is the No. 3 rated inside linebacker in the 2021 class and the No. 80 overall player according to the 247Sports Composite ranking. Calvert had his choice of schools all over the country, and he narrowed his list down to Utah, hometown schools USC and UCLA, and Washington. Calvert has older brothers on UCLA (Bo) and UW (Josh), both were also four-star linebacker recruits, with Ethan being the highest-ranked of the three. Both of his brothers had Utah among their final choices, which was a factor in why Ethan made the choice to commit to Utah, he knew the Utah coaches for many years.
Calvert is the second-highest rated high school recruit to ever commit to Utah behind 2020 signee cornerback Clark Phillips III. Calvert is one of three current four-star commits to Utah’s 2021 class along with quarterback Peter Costelli, a fellow Californian, and fellow linebacker Mason Tufaga. Utah has put together a fantastic linebacker class in 2021.
Calvert is the type of athlete that top colleges and NFL teams are looking for now at linebacker. With offenses switching to more spread offenses, linebackers need to be more versatile and athletic than ever before. Calvert plays both offense and defense in high school and switched from safety to linebacker last year. He is fantastic in coverage. He is not just an athlete that covers well though. He comes downhill really well and hits like a mack truck. At 6-3, 230, he has perfect size for a modern linebacker. He is going to be a terror for opposing Pac-12 offenses for years to come. The future is bright for the Utah defense, with six four-star recruits either enrolled or committed to Utah from the 2020 and 2021 classes on that side of the ball. Utah has two four-star defensive linemen enrolled in Van Fillinger and Xavier Carlton, two four-star linebackers in Calvert and Tufaga both committed, and two four-star defensive backs in Phillips and safety Nate Richie. Utah is in a good place with several other four-star recruits as well.