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  "path": "/sports/2026/04/17/nfl-mock-draft-roundup-spencer-fano-caleb-lomu-utah-football/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-17T17:45:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.deseret.com",
  "tags": [
    "The Athletic, Dane Brugler (7 rounds)",
    "NFL.com, Chad Reuter (7 rounds)",
    "USA Today, Ayrton Ostly (7 rounds)",
    "CBS Sports, Josh Edwards (7 rounds)",
    "Mel Kiper, ESPN (2 rounds)",
    "Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports (1 round)",
    "Fox Sports, Geoff Schwartz (1 round)",
    "NFL.com, Mike Band (1 round)",
    "Sporting News, Vinnie Iyer (3 rounds)"
  ],
  "textContent": "In next week’s NFL draft, there’s a clear consensus on the top two draft prospects from the state of Utah — Utes offensive tackles Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu.\n\nThere is also a high likelihood that both Fano and Lomu will be first-round draft picks, and most recent mock drafts back that up.\n\nIf both are taken in the first round, it would be a historic moment for the University of Utah — the school has never had two first-round picks in the same draft.\n\nThe Deseret News compiled a roundup of nine recent NFL mock drafts — four that span all seven rounds, and five others that go anywhere from one to three rounds — and found that as many as five to six players who finished their college play at a Utah school are being projected as draft picks.\n\nOf those six Utah ties mentioned in at least one mock draft, five attended Utah high schools.\n\nThat list includes Fano (Timpview High), BYU linebacker Jack Kelly (Kearns High), Utah tight end Dallen Bentley (Taylorsville High), Utah defensive end Logan Fano (Timpview High) and Utah linebacker Lander Barton (Brighton High).\n\nLomu is the only one who didn’t attend high school in Utah — he’s from Arizona.\n\nThree of the six Utah ties mentioned in these mock drafts also attended multiple Utah colleges — Kelly also played at Weber State, Logan Fano first enrolled at BYU before transferring to Utah and Bentley starred at Snow College before moving on to Utah.\n\nThe draft will run April 23 through April 25.\n\nHere’s where each of these nine mock drafts predict Utah ties will get drafted.\n\n### The Athletic, Dane Brugler (7 rounds)\n\n**First round**\n\n12. Cleveland Browns — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n27. San Francisco 49ers — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n**Fourth round**\n\n135. Pittsburgh Steelers — Jack Kelly, BYU LB\n\n**Fifth round**\n\n178. Philadelphia Eagles — Logan Fano, Utah DE\n\n181. Detroit Lions — Dallen Bentley, Utah TE\n\n### NFL.com, Chad Reuter (7 rounds)\n\n**First round**\n\n13. Detroit Lions — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n27. San Francisco 49ers — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n**Third round**\n\n95. New England Patriots — Jack Kelly, BYU LB\n\n**Fourth round**\n\n111. Denver Broncos — Logan Fano, Utah DE\n\n**Fifth round**\n\n172. New Orleans Saints — Dallen Bentley, Utah TE\n\n**Seventh round**\n\n225. Tennessee Titans — Lander Barton, Utah LB\n\n### USA Today, Ayrton Ostly (7 rounds)\n\n**First round**\n\n6. Cleveland Browns — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n27. San Francisco 49ers — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n**Sixth round**\n\n216. New Orleans Saints — Jack Kelly, BYU LB\n\n**Seventh round**\n\n218. Dallas Cowboys — Logan Fano, Utah DE\n\n225. Tennessee Titans — Dallen Bentley, Utah TE\n\n### CBS Sports, Josh Edwards (7 rounds)\n\n**First round**\n\n13. Los Angeles Rams — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n24. Cleveland Browns — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n**Fifth round**\n\n166. Jacksonville Jaguars — Dallen Bentley, Utah TE\n\n**Sixth round**\n\n186. New York Giants — Lander Barton, Utah LB\n\n196. Minnesota Vikings — Jack Kelly, BYU LB\n\n### Mel Kiper, ESPN (2 rounds)\n\n**First round**\n\n14. Baltimore Ravens — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n**Second round**\n\n51. Carolina Panthers — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n### Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports (1 round)\n\n**First round**\n\n16. Houston Texans — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n24. Cleveland Browns — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n### Fox Sports, Geoff Schwartz (1 round)\n\n**First round**\n\n11. Miami Dolphins — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n27. San Francisco 49ers — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n### NFL.com, Mike Band (1 round)\n\n**First round**\n\n11. Miami Dolphins — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n27. San Francisco 49ers — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n### Sporting News, Vinnie Iyer (3 rounds)\n\n**First round**\n\n13. Los Angeles Rams — Spencer Fano, Utah OT\n\n24. Cleveland Browns — Caleb Lomu, Utah OT\n\n### A few observations from the mock drafts\n\n  * Of the nine mock drafts, only one had Spencer Fano as a top-10 draft pick, though all but one had him being selected in the first 15 selections.\n  * Three NFL teams — the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams and Miami Dolphins — showed up more than once as potential landing spots for Fano.\n  * Five mock drafts had Lomu going to the San Francisco 49ers with the 27th overall selection, and the Browns were also a destination for him on three projections.\n  * Only one projection — coming from ESPN’s Mel Kiper — had Lomu sliding out of the first round into the second.\n  * Kelly is projected anywhere from a late third-round pick to a sixth-rounder.\n  * Three of the four seven-round mock drafts have Bentley as a fifth-round selection.\n  * One other Utah tie does appear in a mock draft — former Utah State and Snow College running back Rahsul Faison, who spent his final year at South Carolina, was a seventh-round selection in NFL.com Chad Reuter’s mock draft.\n\n",
  "title": "NFL mock drafts: Where are Utah’s Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu projected to be taken?"
}