From the time Utah’s regular season ended in late November to the NFL combine in late February, the former Ute offensive tackle was hard at work in California, training for the various drills players are put through, from the broad jump to the 40-yard dash.
The training paid off. The 6-foot-6, 313-pound left tackle finished in the top 10 among offensive linemen in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, putting tangible numbers to the athleticism that has been visible throughout his college career.
Per NFL.com, Lomu’s combine “production score” was the third-best among offensive tackles and helped him move up some draft boards.
“It was an awesome time at the combine. I got to meet so many great players from all around the country, all these great coaches I got to meet with and teams,” Lomu said. “Leading up to it, I always dreamed of going into the combine since I was a little kid and it was just a dream come true for sure. So the whole feeling and experience was surreal.”
In just a couple days, Lomu will see the results of his combine performance — and his three seasons at Utah — pay off as he is selected in the NFL draft. Most mock drafts have Lomu going in the first round alongside fellow Ute tackle Spencer Fano.
Now all that’s left for Lomu is to see where he lands, and after that, it’s full steam ahead on actual football work in the NFL — not sprints and broad jumps.
“Now I don’t have to worry about the sprints and all the stuff that linemen probably won’t ever do again in the combine. Now I can focus on football, which I’m excited for. I’ve missed actually playing and so I’m happy to get that going again,” Lomu said.
When former Utah offensive line coach Jim Harding, now with Kyle Whittingham at Michigan, turned on Lomu’s high school tape, the offensive tackle’s flexibility and athleticism jumped out at him. Highland High in Gilbert, Arizona, ran a lot of screen plays, and Lomu’s ability to get out and block in space jumped off the screen. His arm length stood out, too.
“He was an easy evaluation in my opinion, and obviously that’s why he is a pretty high recruit as well,” Harding said.
247Sports composite ranked him the No. 13 offensive tackle in the country in 2023, and Harding and Utah had to beat out a number of big-time schools, including Florida, Oregon, USC and Washington, to land the prized prospect.
Even with his heralded high school career, Lomu didn’t instantly start in Salt Lake City. He was a traditional fall semester enrollee, meaning he didn’t participate in spring practices with the team. Lomu played in three games but redshirted his freshman season, allowing him to build more strength alongside getting to ease into college football as a member of the scout team.
Even as a freshman, Lomu’s recovery ability in blocking situations and his pass protection stood out, and after a year with Utah’s strength team and working with Harding, he was ready to start when the 2024 season rolled around.
Aside from his natural gifts, Lomu spent the necessary time in the film room and meeting room with Harding, sitting right in front of his offensive line coach during position group meetings.
“The reason I’m where I am now is because of him,” Lomu said of Harding in 2024. “Just taking his coaching, his experience. He played, he knows so much. His knowledge of the game, his experience of playing and coaching throughout the years. He knows what he’s doing and he knows where we can be as players.”
With a strong spring and fall camp, he worked his way into Utah’s starting lineup at left tackle as Spencer Fano moved from that position to right tackle. His first-ever collegiate start didn’t go as planned — he allowed two pressures and a quarterback hurry, and wasn’t as effective as the Utes wanted him to be in run blocking — but after those first-game jitters, he grew into a dependable force on the edge.
In his redshirt freshman season, he wasn’t perfect, but with his overall athletic profile and the time he spent in the film room, Lomu got better and better each game at one of the hardest positions in sports.
“I just think his ability to recover in pass protection, certainly his technique wasn’t as good as what it is now, but his overall athletic ability allowed him to be able to, if he did make a mistake technique-wise, he was able to recover,” Harding said. “Similar to Spencer, such a high care factor that he wanted to be great.
“And I knew he put the time in that there may be a little bit of inconsistency like there is with any young player, but I knew he would work his way through any of those inconsistencies.”
Lomu earned freshman All-American honors after 2024, which despite Utah’s 5-7 record, was a personal success for him.
In 2025, he helped anchor one of the better offensive lines in football, clearing the way for school records in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He ranked No. 24 in the country, per Pro Football Focus, in pass blocking grade (minimum 100 snaps), and though his run-blocking grade (68.4) could have been better, he was dependable and productive for the Utes and earned a spot on the All-Big 12 first team.