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BYU football: Cougars welcome back five RMs for winter semester

By Nathan Cunningham

PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 30: Fans watches a game in Lavell Edwards Stadium against the Toledo Rockets and Brigham Young Cougars on September 30, 2016 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 30: Fans watches a game in Lavell Edwards Stadium against the Toledo Rockets and Brigham Young Cougars on September 30, 2016 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) /
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While BYU football had a number of players sign National Letters of Intent last week, the Cougars will also welcome back five returned missionaries.

BYU football is an interesting beast. Most programs sign a kid, get him on campus, mold him and see him leave in four or five years.

BYU signs a kid, doesn’t see them for two years. Gives him a redshirt. Then he starts playing.

In short, I don’t envy the position Kalani Sitake is in. Balancing all those scholarships and roster spots is probably a nightmare.

However, when those kids return from their missions, it’s a bit like Christmas morning. We finally get to see them make some sort of impact on the field.

Last week, BYU football welcomed in five RMs that will enroll during winter semester. Here they are.

Jeremiah Ieremia, 3-Star Linebacker

Ieremia signed with BYU football in 2015 before departing on an LDS mission. At 6-foot-1, 235 lbs., Ieremia has great size and is a hard-hitting linebacker. Ranked the 34th best linebacker prospect in the nation in 2015, Ieremia posted 101 tackles during his senior year at Hurricane High School (UT). There’s no telling how long it will take for Ieremia to get rid of his mission legs, but once he’s back in shape, he should be a very productive linebacker.

Devin Kaufusi, 3-Star Defensive End

Kaufusi is a legacy kid for BYU football. The younger brother of Bronson and Corbin (and the son of Steve), Devin is a massive defensive end. At 6-foot-6, 220 lbs., he has a great frame to build on. Kaufusi didn’t get a ton of attention from other schools, but that’s because he committed to the Cougars way back in 2013. Make no mistake about it, he’s a solid defensive line prospect.

Hirkley Latu, 3-Star Linebacker

Latu was a tad lanky in high school, but he projects to be an outside linebacker with the Cougars. An explosive athlete, Latu is a good blitzer and excels at getting through blockers. But, based on his high school film, he appears to be decent in pass coverage too. Latu had decommitted from BYU football in 2015, but ended up coming back. He’s a player to be excited about.

David Lui, 3-Star Defensive Tackle

Lui is a talented defensive lineman that got some pretty heavy interest from the likes of UCLA, Utah and Cal. At 6-foot-3, 265 lbs., Lui is a big body in the middle of the field. His high school film shows a high-motor player with a knack for wreaking havoc up front. As a senior at Pittsburg High School (CA), Lui amassed 62 tackles and four sacks.

Skyler Southam, 3-Star Kicker

You know how BYU lines up for a field goal and you groan because you know how it’s going to end up? You know that the odds are the Cougars shank the kick. Get ready, because that’s an era of the past. Southam is a big-time kicker that was ranked as the No. 3 kicking prospect in the nation in 2016. While Southam was at Wasatch High School (UT), he set records for both single season field goals and career field goals. There’s a chance he may even punt for the Cougars.

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