A couple of UCLA Football players made a who’s who list from Sports Illustrated as they name their Top 100 College Football players for 2017.
The UCLA Football team may be rebuilding, but they still have a few talented players on their roster, two of who made the list of College Football’s Top 100 Players of 2017.
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The Bruins have both an offensive and defensive player named on this list. One you know, one you might not. One you expect and one that will open your eyes to that fact that he is ranked higher than the player you expect.
Coming in at #84, junior quarterback Josh Rosen comes in surprisingly low, though missing half of last season due to a shoulder injury might have something to do with that. Though in the six games Rosen played, he was pretty dynamic given the inconsistencies with parts of the offense.
In only half a season, Rosen threw for 1,915 yards, a QB rating of 138.9, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
The surprise with this list is that there is a Bruin that was rated higher than Rosen, one that has not even played a minute in blue and gold. That honor goes to freshman defensive end Jaelan Phillips.
Phillips was a five-star rated player coming out of high school. Sports Illustrated stated, “Phillips has the physical tools (6’5”, 255 pounds) and athleticism to terrorize opposing quarterbacks right away, and he shouldn’t have any trouble getting up to speed this fall after enrolling early and participating in spring workouts.”
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From what we saw in the spring, Phillips looks like he is going to fit onto the defense as an effective pass rusher in Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley’s defense. Could he seamlessly take over for the explosive Takkarist McKinley. It seems likely.