UCLA Football: Grading the 2018 recruiting class in June

While the early signing period won’t take effect until December, what if National Signing Day was today? How would this UCLA Football recruiting class grade out?

While the NFL draft has plenty of draw and character to it, there is something special about the recruitment process. For the UCLA Football program, there has been an undeniable improvement in the talent that has come to Westwood under the Jim Mora tenure.

Taking a look at the 2018 UCLA Football recruiting class the Bruins have grabbed a few high profile players, a few players who fill some needs and a couple guys who have the tools but are a little raw. If signing day were to happen today how would this class stack up? Did they players who are ready to contribute from day one? Or are these players that will sit for a few seasons before they’re ready?

Disclaimer: It is June. While all the current players committed to the UCLA Football program might decide to stay committed, the likeliest outcome is that some will decide on other schools. The Bruins will also certainly add more players by signing day.

Related Story: UCLA Football commit Dorian Thompson-Robinson is the next breakout star

Also since it is June we aren’t going to concern ourselves with a smaller class size right now nor will I be grading this purely on star rankings.

With all that said let’s get started.

The Current Class

The crown jewel of this class is QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and we all know it. His legs, his arm, his brains are all first class. Despite their being other QBs on the current UCLA Football DTR is already seen as the QB of the future for UCLA.

Defensive backs Stephan Blaylock and Cam Jones continue the recent UCLA Football tradition of landing early impact defensive backs. Defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin has made a killing on the road recruiting these kinds of guys to UCLA.

Isaiah Johnson is being recruited as a LB but played plenty of WR in 2016. He will need time to add the weight necessary to play OLB but my concern is he might be about 15 pounds away from maxing out his frame. If that is the case I would keep him at WR. He consistently catches the ball away from his body and boxes out smaller DBs.

On the defensive line the Bruins have commitments from Niti Liu and Aaron Maldonado. Both of these guys have strong bases to eat up double teams and can stone guys one on one. Maldonado offers more in the pass rush department and I really like what I’ve seen in terms of play diagnosis. Liu is a space eating nose tackle that will make running the ball inside hell.

Back to the offensive side of the ball, Kyle Phillips is the only WR recruit on the board. Phillips is smaller (listed about six feet and 180 pounds). He’s shifty but not a jitterbug. Most of the moves he makes are subtle but he’s able to make those moves at full speed which is very impressive. He doesn’t have long, break-away speed but he separates well enough. His hands are sticky and he’s a security blanket for a young QB.

Our other offensive weapon to discuss is AJ Carter the RB out of Louisiana. Well built, six-foot-two and 210 pounds, Carter is put together like current UCLA RB Soso Jamabo. That’s where the comparison ends. Their running styles are completely different with Carter displaying much more power. While he seems to run with more power, he doesn’t have the explosion or acceleration that Jamabo has. I’m not sure what his hands are like either but they almost certainly are not as good as Jamabo’s.

The last guy on the list is offensive tackle Blake McDonald. While McDonald has played plenty of left tackle, I think his best position will be on the right side or actually even inside at guard. He’s a road grader in the run game that likes to drive guys into the ground. He tracks linebackers really well and is able to hit them on the move which isn’t easily done. My only concern is his pass protection. We don’t get to see a lot of it and when he went to camps he looked raw.

The Analysis

As a whole I would give this class a C plus grade if this were the official 2018 UCLA Football signing class. While there are some nice pieces, a few of these guys wouldn’t be able to contribute right away and some might even have to move positions. The offense line is a major area that needs to be focused on and right now the only OL commit might need to move to guard. The Bruins must address the OT positions with high quality players.

Next: UCLA Football: An Early Preview of the Washington Huskies

I would also like to see a few more receivers especially a couple bigger ones given the smurf nature of the current underclassmen WRs on the UCLA roster. I’d also like to see another RB recruited.