BYU Football Makes Top Schools Cut For Idaho Player Of The Year
Apr 17, 2025, 12:09 AM
No. 23 BYU prepares to host West Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday, October 3, 2025. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah – BYU football is in the mix for coveted Idaho offensive lineman Jax Tanner.
Tanner announced on his social media feeds his Top Ten schools list. BYU is one of the schools that made the cut.
Jax Tanner released his Top Ten schools
Tanner wrote, “Where’s HOME??”
Where’s HOME?? 🏡@gorockyfootball @208ITTA @BrandonHuffman @SWiltfong_ @adamgorney @334_Designs pic.twitter.com/naeHcgagLf
— Jax Tanner (@JaxTanner0) April 17, 2025
It’s a Power Four-heavy list for Tanner, a class of 2026 lineman who was the Gatorade Player of the Year in the Gem State last season.
Tanner’s top ten schools are BYU, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Group of Five programs Boise State and USF.
The 6-foot-4, 275-pound prospect has film at guard and tackle during his prep career at Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho.
Tanner has dominated on the prep scene in Idaho since his freshman season. He hasn’t given up a sack in the past two years, and last season, he recorded 115 “pancake blocks.”
Tanner trimming down his list to 10 schools is notable, as he had a reported 28 offers. Nineteen of the 28 were from Power Four programs.
Tanner is a three-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings and the 503rd prospect in the country. He’s the 30th-ranked interior offensive lineman prospect nationally in 247Sports’ rankings for the 2026 class.
Connections to BYU football
Tanner does have connections to BYU. His father is former BYU linebacker Mike Tanner, who played for the Cougars from 2000 to 2003. He emerged as the starter at middle linebacker near the end of the 2002 season. That starter status carried over into 2003 as he was the middle backer in the first year of Bronco Mendenhall’s 3-3-5 scheme.
The elder Tanner is currently the linebackers coach on the Rocky Mountain High School staff.
Thank you Coach Woods and @kalanifsitake for coming to see me today!! Great to see you, and catch up!! @BYUfootball @BYUFBRecruiting @Bbradley_BYU @BYU_CoachJustin @mikeympo2 @CoachKipp_BK pic.twitter.com/TzgsT6KSnF
— Jax Tanner (@JaxTanner0) January 24, 2025
Tanner is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In an interview with Tyler Harden Sports last month, he said that he plans to serve a two-year mission after graduating from Rocky Mountain High School this December.
Regardless of the connections to BYU, the Cougars must contend with some of the country’s top programs to land Tanner in their 2026 recruiting class.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
