Don't sleep on Moss
When UCLA initially offered Thaddeus Moss, son of future NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss, many thought the Bruins didn't have much of a chance.
But in talking to a source this week, there's actually been some chatter that UCLA may just be right in the thick of things for the 6-foot-4, 240-pound North Carolina tight end.
Randy apparently spends a lot of time in Los Angeles, living in the city for most of the year, and he has a solid relationship with Noel Mazzone. Thaddeus is expected to visit either this summer for an unofficial visit or in the fall on an official, and the Bruins' staff has recruited him arguably the hardest so far early on.
Receiver updates
We gathered up a lot of notes on some of UCLA's top wide receiver targets this week. We learned UCLA is still looking at only taking one or two more wideouts in this class, and no exploding offers have been given, despite some buzz around Dymond Lee / Steffon McKnight's offers. We also learned there aren't any big-name receivers the Bruins' don't like on the West Coast this year. So here are the notables:
-Four-star WR Damian Alloway - Prior to picking up a Notre Dame offer this week, the buzz for Alloway was actually all Wisconsin. Now, after the ND offer, most have him heading there. Either way, we've heard after this evaluation period this month that if he didn't pick UCLA, there wouldn't be too many sad faces in Westwood.
-Four-star WR Tyler Vaughns - We've heard from multiple people these past few weeks and months that USC actually was considering not taking Vaughns, which would open up a big door for UCLA here. One excuse many have given is his academics, which we've heard really aren't great (but not at all too bad for USC's admissions standards). Another source close to USC's staff told us it's because he's overrated, saying, "I'll bet you $100 they don't take him." Yet in talking with Vaughns this week, he sure doesn't feel like USC has cooled on him at all, and with a commitment date likely coming in August, he looks to be USC-bound despite all the outside noise.
-Four-star WR Dymond Lee - At this point, it's clear to most that Lee is heavily favoring UCLA, but he wants to see if he can get some offers at quarterback before making that pledge. But we've heard he's considering visiting UCLA next week, and that really can't hurt the Bruins' chances at locking him up.
-Four-star WR Steffon McKnight - We actually heard this week that McKnight may be UCLA's highest-rated priority left on the receiver board. While very skinny, we've heard he's by far the most explosive receiver UCLA saw on the West Coast this past May. Right now, he has the Bruins as his leader too.
-Three-star WR Renard Bell - A new name that popped up this week, we heard UCLA is very intrigued by the new Washington State commitment. If some of the bigger names out West go elsewhere, don't be surprised if he's a UCLA offeree down the line.
-Four-star WR Dylan Crawford - He showed up to the Dana Hills passing tournament wearing a UCLA sweatshirt and said he prefers UCLA over USC. Yet he's practically begging for an Oregon offer, and seems content to head to Stanford if the Ducks don't come through.
-Four-star WR Theo Howard - Want to hear something crazy about Howard? When asked this week who was his No. 2 school behind Oregon, the Westlake wideout said TCU. He's 100 percent committed to Oregon, and despite some chatter that his parents would rather see him at UCLA or USC, he's pretty locked in with the Ducks right now.
Kelley creating a lot of buzz
We heard from two additional sources this week that UCLA is absolutely in love with 2017 Arizona quarterback Ryan Kelley. One coach at Calabasas actually told us the Bruins don't want to offer 2017 QB Tristan Gebbia (who landed an Alabama offer this week) just yet because of their infatuation with Kelley.
If something should fall through with Kelley, however, we continue to hear UCLA is doing very well with 2017 Colorado QB Dylan McCaffrey. There's a vibe that he wants to go to a different school than his older brothers, who play at Duke and Stanford, and that the academics and everything else about UCLA really intrigues him. The Bruins are considered to be way up there on his early short list.
Take a look at these Moore quotes
New UCLA commit Marcus Moore grew up a USC fan, but in the last year or so, he switched his fanhood to the Bruins and publicly named them his dream school.
When asked why, here's what Moore had to say:
"I actually went down to the USC camp last year and man, I didn’t like it. I'm not going to lie. I didn’t like it. I was trying to play defensive end, and coach forced me to, like he just told me to, go play defensive tackle, so I was already in a situation where I was upset. So it was just a bad day for me. It was just bad. I was really upset…But I still looked at it like I would probably go there, but then I just started to look at the team, and the coaching staff, and I've been told some things about the coaching staff and that's when I started to feel UCLA."
Short Shots
-There have been a lot of questions surrounding Michael Pittman's future position at UCLA, but one of his former coaches at Oaks Christian told us this week he sees the next Anthony Barr in Pittman.
-In a bit of a surprise, we're starting to hear some buzz UCLA is looking to take a second quarterback in this class. Don't expect it to be Patrick O'Brien, who just committed to Nebraska. We're hearing UCLA is looking for more athleticism and more intangibles if / when it takes a second guy.
-UCLA offered 2018 Alabama quarterback Jack West, and we heard this week he may sit atop the Bruins' '18 QB board for now. He's looking to visit either this summer or in the fall.
-Last week, St. John Bosco sources told us they believed Sean McGrew picked Washington over UCLA because there was a perceived divide among the Bruins' staff of how much they actually wanted the four-star RB. A source closer to the UCLA side of things said that wouldn't be a surprise if that's actually what happened.
-Two of UCLA's top defensive targets, DE Wole Betiku and LB Camilo Eifler, narrowed their lists to six this week. Betiku: UCLA, Penn State, Florida, Notre Dame, TAMU and FSU. Eifler: UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Cal, Michigan and TAMU.
You can read the archives of The Bruin Bite over on The Bruin Bite premium board. Feel free to ask questions or comment here.
When UCLA initially offered Thaddeus Moss, son of future NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss, many thought the Bruins didn't have much of a chance.
But in talking to a source this week, there's actually been some chatter that UCLA may just be right in the thick of things for the 6-foot-4, 240-pound North Carolina tight end.
Randy apparently spends a lot of time in Los Angeles, living in the city for most of the year, and he has a solid relationship with Noel Mazzone. Thaddeus is expected to visit either this summer for an unofficial visit or in the fall on an official, and the Bruins' staff has recruited him arguably the hardest so far early on.
Receiver updates
We gathered up a lot of notes on some of UCLA's top wide receiver targets this week. We learned UCLA is still looking at only taking one or two more wideouts in this class, and no exploding offers have been given, despite some buzz around Dymond Lee / Steffon McKnight's offers. We also learned there aren't any big-name receivers the Bruins' don't like on the West Coast this year. So here are the notables:
-Four-star WR Damian Alloway - Prior to picking up a Notre Dame offer this week, the buzz for Alloway was actually all Wisconsin. Now, after the ND offer, most have him heading there. Either way, we've heard after this evaluation period this month that if he didn't pick UCLA, there wouldn't be too many sad faces in Westwood.
-Four-star WR Tyler Vaughns - We've heard from multiple people these past few weeks and months that USC actually was considering not taking Vaughns, which would open up a big door for UCLA here. One excuse many have given is his academics, which we've heard really aren't great (but not at all too bad for USC's admissions standards). Another source close to USC's staff told us it's because he's overrated, saying, "I'll bet you $100 they don't take him." Yet in talking with Vaughns this week, he sure doesn't feel like USC has cooled on him at all, and with a commitment date likely coming in August, he looks to be USC-bound despite all the outside noise.
-Four-star WR Dymond Lee - At this point, it's clear to most that Lee is heavily favoring UCLA, but he wants to see if he can get some offers at quarterback before making that pledge. But we've heard he's considering visiting UCLA next week, and that really can't hurt the Bruins' chances at locking him up.
-Four-star WR Steffon McKnight - We actually heard this week that McKnight may be UCLA's highest-rated priority left on the receiver board. While very skinny, we've heard he's by far the most explosive receiver UCLA saw on the West Coast this past May. Right now, he has the Bruins as his leader too.
-Three-star WR Renard Bell - A new name that popped up this week, we heard UCLA is very intrigued by the new Washington State commitment. If some of the bigger names out West go elsewhere, don't be surprised if he's a UCLA offeree down the line.
-Four-star WR Dylan Crawford - He showed up to the Dana Hills passing tournament wearing a UCLA sweatshirt and said he prefers UCLA over USC. Yet he's practically begging for an Oregon offer, and seems content to head to Stanford if the Ducks don't come through.
-Four-star WR Theo Howard - Want to hear something crazy about Howard? When asked this week who was his No. 2 school behind Oregon, the Westlake wideout said TCU. He's 100 percent committed to Oregon, and despite some chatter that his parents would rather see him at UCLA or USC, he's pretty locked in with the Ducks right now.
Kelley creating a lot of buzz
We heard from two additional sources this week that UCLA is absolutely in love with 2017 Arizona quarterback Ryan Kelley. One coach at Calabasas actually told us the Bruins don't want to offer 2017 QB Tristan Gebbia (who landed an Alabama offer this week) just yet because of their infatuation with Kelley.
If something should fall through with Kelley, however, we continue to hear UCLA is doing very well with 2017 Colorado QB Dylan McCaffrey. There's a vibe that he wants to go to a different school than his older brothers, who play at Duke and Stanford, and that the academics and everything else about UCLA really intrigues him. The Bruins are considered to be way up there on his early short list.
Take a look at these Moore quotes
New UCLA commit Marcus Moore grew up a USC fan, but in the last year or so, he switched his fanhood to the Bruins and publicly named them his dream school.
When asked why, here's what Moore had to say:
"I actually went down to the USC camp last year and man, I didn’t like it. I'm not going to lie. I didn’t like it. I was trying to play defensive end, and coach forced me to, like he just told me to, go play defensive tackle, so I was already in a situation where I was upset. So it was just a bad day for me. It was just bad. I was really upset…But I still looked at it like I would probably go there, but then I just started to look at the team, and the coaching staff, and I've been told some things about the coaching staff and that's when I started to feel UCLA."
Short Shots
-There have been a lot of questions surrounding Michael Pittman's future position at UCLA, but one of his former coaches at Oaks Christian told us this week he sees the next Anthony Barr in Pittman.
-In a bit of a surprise, we're starting to hear some buzz UCLA is looking to take a second quarterback in this class. Don't expect it to be Patrick O'Brien, who just committed to Nebraska. We're hearing UCLA is looking for more athleticism and more intangibles if / when it takes a second guy.
-UCLA offered 2018 Alabama quarterback Jack West, and we heard this week he may sit atop the Bruins' '18 QB board for now. He's looking to visit either this summer or in the fall.
-Last week, St. John Bosco sources told us they believed Sean McGrew picked Washington over UCLA because there was a perceived divide among the Bruins' staff of how much they actually wanted the four-star RB. A source closer to the UCLA side of things said that wouldn't be a surprise if that's actually what happened.
-Two of UCLA's top defensive targets, DE Wole Betiku and LB Camilo Eifler, narrowed their lists to six this week. Betiku: UCLA, Penn State, Florida, Notre Dame, TAMU and FSU. Eifler: UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Cal, Michigan and TAMU.
You can read the archives of The Bruin Bite over on The Bruin Bite premium board. Feel free to ask questions or comment here.
