BYU Four-Star Signee Cody Hagen is Home from His Mission

Cody Hagen is back. Hagen, a four-star wide receiver who signed with BYU as part of the 2022 signing class, has returned home from his mission. BYU was the first school to offer Hagen a scholarship clear back in April of 2020. Four years later, Hagen is home and ready to become a member of the BYU football program.

Hagen was arguably the biggest recruiting win of the 2022 class. He picked the Cougars over fellow finalists Utah, USC, Stanford, and Michigan. He also received offers from the likes of Oregon, Arizona, and Oregon State during his recruitment.

Hagen is one of the most decorated wide receivers in Utah High School football history.
He had over 1,100 yards receiving in 2020 as a junior. As a senior, Hagen racked up 1,805 receiving yards. That ranked fifth in the country. Listed at 6'1, 175 pounds, Hagen is very well-rounded. He runs good routes, he is lightning fast (like 10.52 100M fast...blazing), he is able to track deep balls in the air, he can get open in the red zone, and he is strong and tough to make contested catches over the middle.

Hagen joins an experienced wide receiver room at BYU. Therefore, he won't be forced into a role before he's ready - he can prepare his body for college football and perhaps redshirt in 2024. Once he's ready to go, he will be hard to keep off the field. Last year, BYU’s offense lacked a true deep threat. Opposing defenses, especially in games against TCU and Arkansas, didn’t respect the speed of BYU’s wide receivers and their ability to get over the top. That led to a lot of stacked boxes and hurt the running game. When BYU couldn’t test defenses downfield and they couldn’t run the ball, they struggled to sustain drives.

Hagen and fellow true freshman Dominique McKenzie will bring a new level of speed to the BYU wide receiver room.

That’s not a knock on BYU’s wide receivers. Chase Robert’s has the potential to be a top 10 receiver in the conference. Darrius Lassiter was dynamic before suffering an injury. Kody Epps, when healthy, can get open against the best of the best. But none of those guys bring the speed that Hagen and McKenzie can provide. Once they shake the mission rust, they will bring a new threat to the offense.