FanPost

UCLA Football Recruiting Analysis 2017 Update Nov 2016

Now that our season is finally over, no bowl game has a "silver lining" (Coach Jim Mora press conference).

On offense, the theme is good news, bad news.

At quarterback, Josh Rosen should be back next year but shoulder injuries are notoriously problematic AND although we have 2 redshirt QBs, we don't have an experienced backup. We have a 3 star commit for 2017.

At offensive line, everyone but Conor McDermott is back but ... nuff said. Redshirts Paco Perez and Michael Alves are supposed to be the road grading type blockers we sorely need. We have 3 Offensive Linemen committed and have targeted another for 2017. None of our recruits or targets are centers.

We have depth and quality at running back including the two true freshmen that showed promise but without a quality offensive line ....

At wide receiver, everyone returns except Nate Iese and Ishmael Adams but.... Hopefully, whatever was keeping Theo Howard off the field and our receivers from catching the ball gets resolved in the offseason. 3 redshirt receivers will also compete for playing time. Tight ends Caleb Wilson and Austin Roberts will be joined by Jordan Wilson and commit Jimmy Jaggers maybe the new offensive coordinator will game plan for the tight ends.

On defense, we go from a senior laden, experienced starting team to a team with lots of potential.

Two defensive line anchors will depart after 2016 but starter Matt Dickerson and backups Boss Tagaloa, Jacob Tuioti-Mariner and Rick Wade will be joined by Marcus Moore, Osa Odighizuwa and swing man Breland Brandt. If we maintain our commits Jaelan Phillips and Greg Rogers our defensive line should be the strength of the defense in 2017.

Injuries to Isaako Savaiinaea severely hurt our run defense this year. If redshirts Lokeni Toailoa and Krystopher Barnes live up to their potential we should be strong on the inside. If Mique Juarez appears out of the mist and 2017 target Baron Browning join Kenny Young and Josh Woods on the outside the linebacking corps will return to its former glory (2013/14).

Defensive backs will be the biggest questionmark for the 2017 defense. At safety returning starter Jaleel Wadood will be joined by backup Adarius Pickett and redshirt Brandon Burton. Which cornerback will join late year starter Nate Meadors? Scouting reports had Demetric Felton as a better cornerback than receiver and he may pull a reverse -€” Ish. Two top rated corners leaning towards UCLA have been targeted for 2017.

Using our prioritization schema the remaining 2017 recruiting priorities (assuming we don't lose any current commits) are:

1) Center (Depth, Future Gap)

2) Offensive Line (Quality upgrades, Future Depth)

3) Cornerback (Future Gap)

UCLA has issued 152 offers, but only 53 remain uncommitted. We have 4-6 remaining scholarships. At least two will probably go to a cornerback and another defensive tackle. The rest should be committed to finding at least one quality center and some JC transfer linemen who have the size and strength to run block.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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