This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It appears that BYU's football program will sign a high school quarterback on Wednesday after all.

Well, sort of.

Cedar High's Mason Fakahua became the latest prep player to commit to BYU on Sunday, pledging to coaches after a visit over the weekend.

Fakahua played quarterback at Cedar, but was recruited as an athlete and could end up playing defense or at another skill position. Also, he will go on an LDS mission before enrolling, so there's plenty of time for coach Kalani Sitake and his staff to figure out how to use the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Fakahua.

You can read more about BYU's 2017 signing class, and view the list of prospects who have committed and/or were signed as mid-year transfers, in this piece published in Monday's Salt Lake Tribune.

Signing day is Wednesday.

Meanwhile, here are a few more tidbits on BYU football recruiting from a teleconference with BYU associate head coach Ed Lamb last Friday:

* Lamb said that social media continues to play a major role in both recruiting and judging which way a particular player is leaning. He said coaches often learn about a commitment, or lack thereof, via a prospect's Twitter or Facebook page.

* He said a couple guys BYU is waiting on — presumably Chaz Ah You, Jay Tufele, Alden Tofa and Jordan Lolohea — will likely wait until Signing Day to make their choices known. The Cougars are also in the picture for Seleti Fevaleaki, Mo Unutoa, Oliver Martin and Tyler Asemota, among others. Lamb acknowledged there will probably be more surprises/disappointments and all-around drama on Signing Day than BYU fans were accustomed to under the old regime.

* Although it gets tricky with mid-year transfers, returned missionaries and guys who will leave on missions before ever enrolling, Lamb said the final list Wednesday will include around 25 names.

"But getting the right 15 guys, or even the right 20 guys, is more important than scrambling to try and get 25," he said.

* Lamb said there is always the need at BYU to focus on both guys who will fit in at BYU as opposed to what the program needs to succeed.

"365 days a year we are constantly trying to parse the difference between what we need, and what we can get — who are the best available 25 players to us," he said. "…I would say 50 percent of our efforts are going toward getting the best players that we can. Then 50 percent of our efforts have to be trying to figure out what we need."

* Lamb said a year on the recruiting trail has taught BYU coaches that they can find plenty of Utah and/or LDS players to stock the front seven on offense and defense, "in terms of the line of scrimmage and tight ends, running backs and linebackers. … There are a wealth of those positions right here in the state of Utah."

However, he acknowledged that "a lot of effort after that is secured is rounding out the skill class — tailbacks, wide receivers, cornerbacks" and that those often have to be "outside the state, or outside the LDS population."

"Those are the guys that we end up working on a lot," he said. "That would be kind of an annual picture, at least the way we see it and talk about it as a staff."

* Lamb said the staff won't rule out signing junior college players to fill an immediate need, but in general "we feel like our strength as a coaching staff, and a program, is in player development. … If we have a choice, we would rather develop a guy over 4-5 year period than 2 year period."

Lamb said that while acknowledging that he was a junior college transfer to BYU.

"Over time, we will have an emphasis on high school recruiting, though," he said.

* Lamb said he loves the fact that Signing Day has become such a big deal on the college football calendar. He likes how fans are knowledgeable about recruiting now and how much attention the recruits receive that day. Yeah, that's a far cry from former coach Bronco Mendenhall's attitude about recruiting and his disdain for the sense of entitlement that many prospects developed.

* Lamb said he's in favor of an early signing period for football (like basketball has), perhaps in November or early December.

"I think this early signing period [that has been proposed] can really protect the prospects and yet still allow those prospects who develop later get some attention and still go with the later signing date," he said.