UCLA Football Recruiting: The Final 2016 Defensive Big Board

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.

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.

Related Story: BOOM! 3-Star DL Jake Burton Commits To UCLA

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

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

After the loss of star nose tackle Kenny Clark to the 2016 NFL draft, the Bruins find themselves in desperate need of new talent, especially of the instant impact variety, on the interior defensive line starting in 2016.

UCLA received one of its earliest commitments in the class from Osa Odighizuwa (Portland, OR/Douglas), the younger brother of recent Bruin defensive line star Owa Odighizuwa. Strangely enough, despite his bloodlines, Osa profiles less like his brother, who was a 5-star recruit and one of the most remarkable physical specimens as a recruit in recent memory, and more like a smaller version of the aforementioned Kenny Clark.

Osa lacks an explosive get-off from the snap, but has great strength and plays with good leverage. Like Clark was in high school, Osa is a decorated high school wrestler in Oregon and it shows in his balance and the use of his hands.

Needing tackle depth that was more likely to contribute immediately in 2016, the Bruins went out in October and landed junior college lineman Nick Terry (Elk Grove, CA/American River C.C.). Terry shows the ability to be an instant depth player at the very least in his film, exhibiting the powerful hands, strong base, and surprising agility necessary to be a solid Pac-12 defensive tackle.

Of the uncommitted recruits still remaining for UCLA, there is a very convincing argument to be made that 4-star nose tackle Boss Tagaloa (Concord, CA/De La Salle) is the most important for the Bruins to reel in. With his size, strength, agility, and low center of gravity, Tagaloa can be the multi-year fixture at nose tackle that is the fulcrum of any truly successful 3-4 defense.

Having offered Tagaloa when he was just a high school sophomore, UCLA is Tagaloa’s long-time favorite school and it has seemed likely for a while that Bruin defensive line coach Angus McClure’s persistence in recruiting Tagaloa would lead to a UCLA commitment. Despite hard-charging Michigan‘s best efforts, the smart money currently has the best nose tackle in the West choosing to be a Bruin when Signing Day rolls around.

24/7’s Crystal Ball has the Bruins as a strong favorite to land Tagaloa.

Finally, a defensive tackle target who has recently emerged as a realistic potential commit for UCLA is 4-star Garrett Rand (Chandler, AZ/Hamilton). A long-time Wisconsin commit, Rand has recently given UCLA a long look because of the uncertain direction of Wisconsin’s defense after the departure of ace defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to LSU. Angus McClure, ever the opportunist, seized that opening to create a competition for Rand in January where none previously existed after Rand’s commitment to Wisconsin back in October.

UCLA Bruins

Wisconsin only just replaced Aranda on Wednesday with former USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, but the prolonged state of limbo prompted Rand to take an official visit to UCLA last weekend, and the Bruins are rumored to have moved into a virtual dead-heat with the Badgers in Rand’s estimation. With only one day of in-home visits left before coaches return to their respective campuses to host the final weekend of official visits, Wilcox will likely be in the Rand home today (Thursday, January 28) to sell Garrett on the new Wisconsin defense. But if Rand doesn’t reaffirm his commitment to the Badgers shortly after meeting Wilcox, then a flip to UCLA could very well be on the cards.

Although he is a seemingly a lighter defensive tackle at 270 pounds, Rand may very well be the strongest high school player in America, as he reportedly bench presses an absurd 560 pounds. In addition to his almost superhuman strength, he is freakishly agile and explosive for his size.

Coming from behind to close on one of the best defensive tackles in the West would be a stunning and substantial coup for the Bruins, who will have accomplished their goal of restocking their interior defensive line in a big way should they manage to reel in the dream duo of Tagaloa and Rand on Signing Day next week.

Next: Linebacker

LINEBACKER

Coming off a 2015 class in which the Bruins landed only Joshua Woods as a true linebacker, UCLA linebacker coach Scott White needed to load up with much-needed reinforcements in the 2016 class. And load up he did from the earliest moments of the class, as he went out and secured the Bruins three blue-chip linebacker commitments for 2016 before the ink was even fully dried on letters of intent of the 2015 class.

At inside linebacker, White wrapped up the two best mikes in the state by the end of March. Of course, he had the fortune of landing two players who were a camp circuit tandem and close friends who basically committed one after the other. The first of those two was 4-star Krys Barnes (Bakersfield, CA/Liberty), who had such an instant rapport with Coach White that by the time UCLA offered Barnes a scholarship in mid-March, Barnes instantly committed on the spot to the Bruins. Barnes is a fantastic inside linebacker prospect with outstanding athleticism who can cover sideline-to-sideline.

The thunder to Barnes’s lightning on Team Ground Zero of the 7-on-7 camp circuit was fellow 4-star Bruin commit Lokeni Toailoa (Rialto, CA/Carter), who committed to UCLA a week after Barnes did. Toailoa is a hard-nosed tackling machine and defensive general who plays with a physical edge that sets him apart from nearly every other linebacker in the West in 2016. He plays the linebacker position with a tenacity and violence that make him a tackling machine and an intimidator in the middle of the field.

In addition to the two inside linebackers, UCLA has a commitment from an outside linebacker in 4-star Breland Brandt (Los Angeles, CA/Windward School). Brandt was UCLA’s first commit in the class of 2016 — way back in October 2014 — and deserves a ton of credit for being absolutely steadfast in his commitment, never even slightly wavering or considering other schools since pledging to the Bruins.

Early on in the recruiting process, Brandt was rated as a consensus 5-star recruit based almost solely on his elite size and absurd athleticism, which made him a coveted basketball recruit as well before he decided to stick to football. However, his rating dropped off because he simply wasn’t dominant enough in game action for someone with his pedigree against very low-level high school competition.

Brandt is one of those players who will be as good as he wants to be and hasn’t fully realized yet how limitless his potential really is. He will be joining UCLA as a rush end, which is better known to most UCLA fans as the “Anthony Barr” position. If everything clicks with Brandt, then the Bruin faithful will be reminded of Barr in more ways than one.

As far as uncommitted linebacker recruits go, Scott White has been locked into a singular goal since the spring: reel in the commitment of Mique Juarez (Torrance, CA/North).

Juarez is, without a doubt, the highest-rated overall recruit remaining on the board for UCLA. Following up on an absolutely remarkable junior season in which Juarez basically played every possible position under the sun to a very high level, Juarez elevated himself to a consensus 5-star linebacker prospect who draws constant comparisons to Myles Jack. And his senior season has only amplified the belief that Juarez is destined for superstardom at the college level, as he was a two-way force at quarterback and linebacker for North High School:

And luckily for Bruin fans, it is well known that Juarez comes from an ardently pro-UCLA family. The Bruins will have to hold off the hard charge of Alabama and all the allure that playing for the defending national champions entails, but with a Bruin family in his corner and the Bruin coaches pursuing him with maximum vigor and relentlessness, it’s no surprise that UCLA has been and remains the favorite to land Juarez when it’s all said and done.

If Juarez does in fact pick UCLA, then go ahead and pencil him in as a starter when the Bruins open their 2016 season on September 3, 2016 at Texas A&M and savor the opportunity to watch him put on the true blue and gold for the next three years.

UPDATE (7:30 pm, 1/28/16): Mique Juarez has tweeted out that Friday 1/29 will be his last day of high school, meaning he will be enrolling early at the college he is choosing.

Out of the three schools thought to be in serious contention to land Juarez – Alabama, Ole Miss, and UCLA– only UCLA offers Juarez the opportunity to enroll at a university for a full term during the 2015-16 academic year, as both Alabama and Ole Miss are on semester systems and have begun the Spring Semester, while UCLA will begin a new quarter in March.

UPDATE (8:50 pm, 1/28/16): According to their respective registrars, Juarez would be able to enroll in classes at Ole Miss until Friday, February 5, while the deadline at Alabama passed on January 20. It would be a remarkable shakeup in Juarez’s life to be in Torrance, CA announcing his commitment on Wednesday, February 3 and then moving in and attending classes in Oxford, MS within the next 48 hours after his announcement should he choose Ole Miss.

Next: Defensive Back

DEFENSIVE BACK

Heading into the final days before Signing Day, the Bruins look unlikely to land any cornerbacks in the 2016 recruiting class. Having whiffed on top local corners like recent Michigan 4-star commit David Long (Los Angeles, CA/Loyola) and 3-star Washington commit Kentrell Love (Corona, CA/Centennial), the lone remaining glimmer of hope for the Bruins at corner seems to be 5-star athlete Jack Jones (Long Beach, CA/Poly). But, as Go Joe Bruin has detailed in the past, Jones has long been considered predestined for USC and that looks to be his likely landing spot, despite the never-ending incestuous clown show called the USC coaching staff search.

Unlike the situation at cornerback, the situation at safety looks set to have a really nice yield if all materializes as expected for the Bruins. Of course, UCLA already has a 2016 safety on campus as early enrollee and 3-star Leni Toailoa (Rialto, CA/Carter) joined the team at the beginning of the winter quarter. As we detailed in the initial Defensive Big Board, Leni is the younger brother of the aforementioned middle linebacker and fellow UCLA commit Lokeni Toailoa, but was moved up a class by his father so the brothers could play football and graduate high school together.

Given Leni’s youth, he is a really nice prospect with a nose for the ball and a real physical edge. He’ll have to work on his backpedal in coverage as a safety, but he already has nice skills in run support and closer to the line of scrimmage. It also wouldn’t be a complete shock to see Leni grow into a linebacker down the road as his body fills out.

This past weekend, UCLA added another commit at safety when longtime Bruin lean and 3-star safety Keyon Riley (Anaheim, CA/Servite) committed to the Bruins during his official visit.

Keeping in line with Jim Mora‘s stated goal of adding size to the UCLA defense, Riley is a bigger safety whose strengths as a defender lie in his physicality. His style of play is reminiscent of current Bruin safety Tahaan Goodman, as Riley is at his best getting a head of steam and viciously hitting anyone who crosses his airspace.

UCLA’s remaining target at safety is 4-star two-way athlete Brandon Burton (Gardena, CA/Serra), who has been the top safety on the Bruins’ recruiting board for quite some time. Most recruiting followers know that Burton attends a high school for which no self-respecting Bruin fan has any fondness. However, for most of the summer and fall, UCLA was considered the prohibitive favorite to bring in Burton because he was one of those Serra recruits that USC wasn’t pursuing, thus leaving UCLA to pick up the pieces with a fantastic player in its backyard.

Indeed, Burton was planning to commit to UCLA in early January via an already-filmed viral video, but he held off when rumors surfaced that Jim Mora was potentially seeking to leave UCLA for an NFL job. Those rumors died down, but in that period of confusion, USC actually stepped up with an offer to Burton, thus giving him something to think about in the final days until Signing Day.

A standout wide receiver and safety in high school, Burton is one of those dynamic players who UCLA would be happy to get on campus first and ask questions about his position later. It seems likely, with Bruins defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin as his recruiter, that Burton would get his first crack at safety if he ends up in Westwood. Bruin fans will be happy either way, though, as long Burton throws his 4’s Up when he takes center stage nationally to make his commitment on ESPN’s late night Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt airing the night before Signing Day.

Next: UCLA Football Recruiting: The Final 2016 Offensive Big Board

24/7’s Crystal Ball has the Bruins and Trojans listed as deadlocked in the battle for Burton, but all eight of the Crystal Ball picks on Burton since May 2015 have been for UCLA, so the Bruins are still considered to be the favorite to land him. That position should presumably be solidified when Burton takes his official visit to UCLA this upcoming weekend. But no Bruin fan will be totally comfortable with the idea of a Serra recruit picking UCLA over USC until Burton’s Letter of Intent is sent to the Morgan Center on Signing Day next week.