Go Joe Bruin begins to preview the 2019 UCLA football team as we look at every position group. We start with the all-important quarterback spot.
Back in spring, the UCLA football team was only utilizing three quarterbacks. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Austin Burton and Chase Griffin. Since the start of the 2018 season, the Bruins have lost or repositioned three other players. Devon Modster transferred to Cal, Wilton Speight used up all of his eligibility, and Matt Lynch moved over to tight end.
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Though it was not ideal to only have three QBs in spring, the Bruins got more backup as they were able to bring in three more QBs, one via transfer and two walk-ons. This has stabilized the QB depth quite a bit, but will also bring some substantial competition come fall camp. Still, this should not affect the potential depth chart, which we will go into now.
1. Dorian Thompson-Robinson (So), 6’2, 195
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Unless something significant happens, DTR will be QB1. The dual-threat had quite the intertesting first year with UCLA as he was thrust into the starting spot two quarters into the 2018 season after starting QB Speight went down with an injury. For a true freshman, he held the offense together pretty well. Though it took a few games, Thompson-Robinson was finally able to get things together ands give UCLA their first win of the Chip Kelly era in a dominating performance against Cal.
DTR, unfortunately, got hurt in the next game against Arizona and relinquished the start back to Speight. That might not have been a bad thing as DTR was able to learn from a veteran, which will help him grow into a complete QB this year. In spring, Thompson-Robinson looked like he has improved on several things, especially his accuracy. If he can fine tune that aspect of his game, then he will be tough to stop, especially when he adds in the “running quarterback” element of his game.
2. Austin Burton (R-So), 6’3, 195
Burton was a question mark going into spring, simply because we have not seen a lot of him. He shined during the 2018 spring game, but he was nowhere to be found once the 2018 season started. He did re-emerge this past spring, simply by deduction of QBs, but that also gave him an opportunity to show the coaching staff what he can do and he did not disappoint.
Though he doesn’t have the arm strength of DTR, he has the accuracy and is reliable when slinging the ball around in the short passing game. It also seems that he has been given the green light to tuck the ball and run, which he was surprisingly good at. He will definitely push DTR for the starting spot, but right now, he looks to be the backup.
3. Chase Griffin (Fr), 5’10, 186
Griffin enrolled at UCLA early, meaning he was able to participate in spring practice, but he did not participate fully. Though he was dressed and engaging in drills, he never threw the ball. But if you looked closely, he was hustling to every drill and putting in as much effort as possible without throwing.
It was later announced that he had hurt his wrist heading into camp, but during the second half of spring, he was slinging the ball around. He was used sparingly, but it was still evident that he was putting in the work. Though he is of smaller stature, he is very energetic and willing to improve, which will help the QB group overall.
The rest of the field: Colson Yankoff, Chase Artopoeus, Blake Kirshner
Yankoff recently transferred to UCLA from Washington and because of that, has to sit out a year. There have been rumblings that UCLA is trying to get the NCAA to waive that, seeing as he already burned his redshirt year, which would help out the overall depth, but that would create a serious QB competition.
Chase Artopeous and Blake Kirshner were recently added to the roster as walk-ons. This fall, we will see how and where they will be able to contribute.