The most anticipated commit of the 2018 Bruins class made it official, when quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson signed with UCLA today.
DTR, as he is more easily known in social media circles, is the #3 dual threat quarterback prospect in the country. At 6-4, 195 pounds, the four-star recruit from Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas had a handful of scholarship offers before he had even started a game.
As a junior, he was behind Tate Martell, (now at Ohio State), at quarterback. With so many blowouts, he saw plenty of action in mop-up duty and got the attention of college scouts across the country. As a senior starter, he justified the offers by completing 69% of his passes for 3,275 yards. He also had 38 touchdowns against only three interceptions in leading Bishop Gorman to its ninth consecutive state title. At that point he had offers from Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Georgia, Miami, LSU, and Tennessee.
DTR committed in April to Jim Mora. When Mora was fired, Thompson-Robinson tweeted that he was still committed to UCLA. When Chip Kelly was named head coach, DTR re-confirmed his commitment to UCLA via Twitter. Since then, he has been one of the Bruins busiest recruiters. He routinely sends messages/tweets to other recruits, committed and not, about joining him in Westwood. He finally took his official visit on December 10. “Coach Chip Kelly is really good person and his message for me is that the best player will play, whether it’s a true freshman or a fifth-year graduate senior. The Rose Bowl was really cool — just the tradition of that place is historic and speaks volumes,” he told 247SPorts.
With three year starter Josh Rosen leaving for the NFL, that leaves redshirt freshmen Matt Lynch and Devon Modster remaining at quarterback. Modster got significant playing time this season as Rosen dealt with two concussions. He is also a better fit to Kelly’s offense than is Lynch. That means there is a likely to be a viable quarterback competition in camp that includes Thompson-Robinson. He has made it clear that he will see high school through to its calendar conclusion. He will enroll in UCLA in the Summer.
