Utah joins mix for talented 4-star recruit from Texas

Demarco Jenkins is a top-30 defensive lineman recruit in the 2027 class

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham looks on before the game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Utah football program has extended a scholarship offer to 2027 recruit Demarco Jenkins.

A product of Pearland High School (Texas), Jenkins is ranked by 247Sports as a four-star and the No. 27 defensive lineman recruit in the class of 2027. More than a handful of Big 12 schools have already extended an offer to him, including Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Houston, Kansas, TCU and Texas Tech. Jenkins also holds offers from Nebraska, LSU, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

Jenkins is listed at 6-foot-3, 265 pounds. While splitting time between nose guard and defensive end, he finished his sophomore season with 27 tackles, including seven for loss, plus three sacks and eight quarterback hurries.

#TTGOG Extremely blessed to have received an offer from @Utah_Football!!! #GoUtes@UteReef33 @CoachGotte @JasonHinkelman @Coach_Hartwick @philchat45 @justinallen_13 @coachkwag @CoachCarter3 @OilerRecruiting pic.twitter.com/9AOKPr6KUG

— DeMarco Jenkins (@DeMarcoJenkins_) May 9, 2025

Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham and his staff have been busy extending offers and arranging summer visits with some of the top high school prospects in the country. Four-star recruit Sione Tu’amoheloa-Kaho, the No. 20 quarterback prospect in the 2027 class, is slated to visit Utah on Friday. Dominic Harris, a three-star offensive lineman in the class of 2026, is going to visit campus over the weekend as well.

Utah's 2027 recruiting class has one commitment so far from Thaddeus Thatcher, who's a four-star quarterback out of Arbor View High School (Nevada). He's also the younger brother of Utah freshman linebacker Christian Thatcher.

Landing a commitment from Jenkins would help fortify Utah's run defense. He certainly wouldn't be the first highly-touted recruit from Texas to join Whittingham's program either. Time will tell how his recruitment process goes heading into his junior year, but for now, it appears the Utes have joined the mix for a talented defensive lineman recruit.