UCLA Football Recruiting: The Final 2016 Defensive Big Board

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Nov 21, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora during the second half against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. UCLA won 17-9. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /

With 22 of the spots in the 2016 football recruiting class filled and only one more weekend left to host official visitors, UCLA football will be looking to take a select few more players to finish its class off and has a few high-profile targets it is focusing on in the final sprint to National Signing Day on February 3.

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With the Offensive Big Board having come out yesterday, it is now time to see how things are shaping up at the defensive positions in UCLA’s 2016 recruiting class.

DEFENSIVE END

Not too long ago, the 2016 class looked like it was going to be a banner one for UCLA at defensive end, as the Bruins looked to be in fantastic position during the summer to land a number of blue-chip recruits like 5-star Oluwole Betiku (Gardena, CA/Serra), 4-star Bryson Young (Clovis, CA/Buchanan), and 4-star Carlo Kemp (Boulder, CO/Fairview). However, for a multitude of reasons, those recruitments fell apart but UCLA was fortunate to recover late in the cycle thanks to the dogged recruiting efforts of defensive line coach Angus McClure.

UCLA’s first defensive end commit in the 2016 recruiting class was 3-star Marcus Moore (Encino, CA/Crespi). At 6’2″, 240, Moore actually faces many of the same issues with size as current UCLA defensive lineman Ainuu Taua. Moore is currently an undersized but athletic defensive lineman with good agility, balance, strength, and a very high motor.

He still can add weight on his frame, which he will need to do in order to hold up to the rigors of being a defensive lineman in the Pac-12. As a likely redshirt candidate who will need time to fill out his body, he projects as an effective interior pass rusher after a couple of years of work in Sal Alosi‘s strength and conditioning program. If all goes right with Moore, he could be the quick defensive tackle on passing downs who gets after the quarterback in the same way Keenan Graham did for the Bruins’ defense in 2012.

The surprising late addition to the class at defensive end was 3-star Jake Burton (El Cajon, CA/Granite Hills), who came from off the radar to flip from Arizona to UCLA a week ago after being persistently pursued throughout the fall by McClure.

Two things immediately jump off the screen with Burton: his size and his motor. A massive physical specimen at 6-feet-6-inches and 260 pounds, he absolutely towers over the vast majority of his opponents and he plays the game with a relentlessness and tenacity that will endear him to UCLA fans from day one. Burton projects very well on the next level as a run-stuffing defensive end and he adds a needed infusion of size to a position where the Bruins have relied on lighter players like Deon Hollins and Takkarist McKinley in recent years.

Next: Defensive Tackle