Utah football battling Big 12 schools for 3-star recruit's commitment

Braiden Graves, a consensus three-star recruit in the class of 2027, has included Utah among the schools he's strongly considering ahead of his senior year.

In a post to X on Wednesday, Graves revealed that moving forward, he'll consider SMU, Iowa State, TCU, Houston, Kansas and Utah.

Several other power conference programs had shown interest in Graves, the No. 76-ranked safety in the country according to 247Sports, including Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Pitt and Texas Tech. He's tabbed by On3/Rivals as the No. 82 recruit from the state of Texas. Both recruiting services have him down as a three-star prospect.

Graves will have an opportunity to check out a few of his finalists over the summer as he goes on his official visit tour. The Bridgeland High School (Cypress, Texas) standout will start out close to home with a trip to Dallas to see SMU (May 1-3), before going on three visits in consecutive weeks to Houston (June 4-6), Kansas (June 12-14) and Utah (June 19-21). He hasn't announced visits to Iowa State or TCU on his X account, though it's worth noting that he got to meet with the Horned Frogs staff on a visit to Fort Worth earlier in the year and spoke highly of the Cyclones' offer in late February.

With seemingly every one of his finalists having an equal shot to land his signature, Graves will have much to ponder over in the coming months as he continues to build relationships with coaches from each of the six schools in contention.

Graves is listed as a safety on the mainstream recruiting services, though a closer look at his junior year tape would indicate he can be more than just the last line of defense. His speed, motor and play recognition serve him well when he's lined up in the nickel, where he can provide run support as well as solid man-to-man coverage when matched up with a slot receiver. And given Utah has a tendency to utilize its safeties in a similar manner (Jackson Bennee being the most recent example), Graves could be a nice fit in the Utes' secondary room down the line if he were to chose Utah over his other finalists.

For Morgan Scalley and company, they're looking to build a solid foundation for the team's future through the 2027 recruiting class. However, they only have one commit at the moment from three-star wide receiver recruit, Kingston Parks. Not to mention, Utah didn't sign a true safety in its 2026 class and will lose a couple of key players at the position after this upcoming season in Rabbit Evans and Nate Ritchie (Bennee will be a senior in 2027).

Graves has not announced when he plans on committing to a school.

I appreciate all of the interest and love I’ve received from many football programs across the country. 🙏🏾After careful thought, I’ve decided to announce my top 6!!!@247recruiting @On3 @fbcoachmadison @BridgelandFB @footwork_king1 @Coach_Bergman pic.twitter.com/FQX2P3nFYe
— Braiden Graves (@GravesBraiden) April 2, 2026