Utah's Elliss Declares For The NFL Draft

The University of Utah football team lost a big part of their defense on Tuesday, as All-American defensive end Jonah Elliss declared for the 2024 NFL Draft.

The son of Utah legend and coach, Luther Elliss, Jonah was bold and confident enough when he stepped on campus to where his father’s storied no. 83 jersey. In doing so, it was big shoes to fill and Jonah lived up to those expectations. He became the twelfth Consensus All-American in program history, joining his father on the list.

The All-American honors included the AFCA All-America team, the AP (2nd Team), FWAA (1st Team), Walter Camp (1st Team), USA Today (2nd Team), CBS Sports (2nd Team) and College Football Network (3rd Team) All-America lists.

In addition to the All-American honors the All-Pac-12 first-team selection was a finalist for the Lombardi Award, the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Ted Hendricks Award. Elliss was a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award.

In ten games before his season was cut short due to injury, he ranked first in the FBS in sacks per game (1.20) with 12.0 total on the season. He also ranked fourth in the FBS in tackles for loss per game (1.6) with 16.0 total. His 12 sacks tied him for seventh all-time in single-season sacks. Pro Football Focus rated him at an 84.8 on 573 snaps with 39 QB pressures.

Along with Luther’s long NFL career, Jonah’s older brothers — Kaden, Christian, and Noah — are all currently in the NFL.

Declaring early was the plan before his injury, but in recent weeks, the expectation was that Elliss would stay. By now declaring, this should indicate that Elliss will be healthy enough to at least participate in Utah’s Pro Day. He’s also sure to get an NFL Combine invite. At 6-foot-2 and 246 pounds, Elliss is said to run 4.5 40. That’s a number that should create plenty of buzz among NFL scouts.