Has UCLA’s recruiting stalled a little bit?
“Last year, they didn’t get their first commit until first week in June. Second and third came the exact same time last year, span of 24 hours. By the end of June, they had commitments from Moore, Nottingham, McDonald and Flowers. What I think it is, because they have such few scholarships, they’re being a lot more judicious. Quite a few went out at the camp, and the way they changed format, more went out now than normal. You’ll see things pick up more. But because the class is small and they’re going after big fish, it will be a more top-heavy class. Those are the guys who wait til December, January to decide.”

Besides quarterback, what do they need RIGHT NOW?
“They definitely need linemen on both sides of the ball. Two tackle commits help. All three guys they signed last year are inside guys, and they got two really long players so far this year. Torian White is a legit 6-5, Marc Mustoe is 6-7. With X-man being gone, really after the next couple years you don’t have many natural tackles. They’re really addressing tackles now. The problem is it’s not a great year for linemen out west. They’ve had to offer a bunch of project guys.”

And on defense?
“Defensively, they’re defensive tackles are what they’re focusing on. They’re going after big prospects -Todd Barr, Christian Heyward. If they end up with four or five, let alone one, it’s big.”

There’s a lot of chatter about the talent level at the camps being down, but why?
“A lot more of these guys are having to play in their high school 7-on-7 tournaments. Junior Pomee played in a tournament all day Saturday, and his legs were dying by Sunday. Guys from Long Beach Poly were in Saugus in the heat all day. A lot of the elite guys, they’re just doing what they’re team requires. The timing of it is off. There were also out of region camps going on, people going up to Washington, Cal. A lot of contributing factors; even a lot of guys are flat-out not going to camps this year.”

More to come later this week…