Back in 2016, a mauler along the offensive line from East HS signed with the University of Utah, and left on a church mission shortly after. Fast forward two years, and Johnny Maea is back, joining an offensive line class which included six new commitments, two graduate transfers, and two returned missionaries. However, just three of those newcomers were able to participate in spring camp this year, and Maea was one of them. Despite being fresh off his mission, Maea has already shown glimpses of why he was such a priority target for Utah a few years back.

During spring camp, Maea was still getting his legs underneath him and was a little light at 285 pounds. Nonetheless, he still received plenty of quality reps, due in part to a slew of injuries that forced second and third-string, and even walk-on players to step up so that the team could continue to install its new offense. Maea performed well, considering the circumstances, and will be one to watch down the road.

Andrew Fronce's take

Maea's high school film was a blast to watch. Not only was he flat out bigger and stronger than everyone else on the field, but he seemed to take joy in putting opponents on their backs. Despite being a little light and barely back from a mission, Maea did some good things in spring camp. The biggest thing to watch with Maea is how much weight he's able to put on before fall camp. If he can get up around 300 pounds by then, he could be a dark horse to earn playing time as a true freshman. Even if he doesn't end up in the two-deep on the offensive line this year, Maea could see the field early on special teams. Maea is one of the freshmen that I'm most excited for, and I fully expect him to develop into a beast of an offensive guard.

Alex remembers Maea's recruitment

Although Maea waited until December of 2015 to commit, it was never really a question that it would be the Utes. The dominant 3-star lineman who played his high school ball just down the street from Rice-Eccles Stadium, also had offers from Utah State, BYU, Nevada, Washington State, and Oregon State.