Utah football joins recruiting race for sought-after 2027 prospect

Utes offer on top-45 linebacker prospect in 2027 class

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham walks along the sidelines during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

With its recruiting focus turned toward the 2027 class, the Utah football team joined a lengthy list of schools to show interest in three-star linebacker prospect Bryce Breeden, a product of Bridge City High School (Texas) who recently received an offer from the Utes.

Breeden shared the latest update in his recruitment via a post to social media platform X on Wednesday.

The highly-touted recruit has received offers from several power conference programs, including a handful that reside in the Big 12.

Who is Bryce Breeden?

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Breeden boasts quite a reputation for his play at linebacker, ranking as Rivals' No. 45 prospect at the position in the 2027 class. He's also the recruiting service's No. 84-ranked high school sophomore from the state of Texas.

Breeden possesses exceptional speed and can diagnose plays from his spot at strong side linebacker, making it challenging for opposing offenses to prevent him from getting into their backfield.

In his first three games of the 2025 season, Breeden recorded 22 tackles, including six for loss, plus 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 blocked field goal, helping his Cardinals achieve a 3-0 record heading into district play.

Who else is in the mix?

Breeden shared his offer from the Utes roughly a week after he posted about offers from Kansas State and Pitt. Houston, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU, Arizona State, Arizona and Kansas had previously extended offers, along with Texas State, New Mexico and UTSA, among others.

Breeden was able to see a few of his pursuers go head-to-head recently during his game day visit to Baylor, which took on Arizona State with Breeden in attendance on Sept. 20. That trip out to Waco, Texas, followed an excursion to Fort Worth, Texas, to see TCU take on Arizona on Sept. 13.

Texas State and Purdue also got chances to host Breeden on game day visits.

Though still early in the recruitment process, Houston has the slight edge to land a commitment from Breeden, according to Rivals' projections.

#AGTG Blessed to receive an offer from @Utah_Football @HaydenWisner @MasonYellicoUT @Colton_Swan @DonnieBaggs_ @coachsmalley23 @coachctaylor_ @CoachTheriot @UtahCoachWhitt @RSNBUtes @adamgorney @TFloss32 @BenjaminGolan @CKennedy247 @samspiegs @jackson_dip @247Hudson pic.twitter.com/gpykP6Szcq

— Bryce Breeden c/o27 (@Bryce_Breeden) October 1, 2025

Who is in Utah's 2027 recruiting class?

Three-star quarterback prospect and Arbor View High School (Nevada) product Thaddeus Thatcher is the Utes' lone commitment in their 2027 recruiting class so far, though Kyle Whittingham and company have been busy with game-day visits throughout the 2025 regular season.

Three-star linebacker Sam Ngata and three-star athlete Titus Osterman are among the high school prospects to pay a visit to Salt Lake City in recent weeks.