UCLA Football: Grading the Bruins’ 2018 recruiting class

Overall: B+

UCLA sits in the middle of one of the most talent-rich regions in the country. The location and the brand alone all but guarantee that the Bruins will put together upper-tiered recruiting class every cycle. But hoarding talent doesn’t always lead to victories, and that’s why the Bruins have a new head coach.

In his first stint back in college football since leaving the Oregon Ducks for the NFL, Kelly not only brought in talent, he brought in the right talent at the positions of greatest need. He did all this on a hyper-condensed recruiting cycle while competing against coaches that had more than a year to build these relationships.

A top 20 class isn’t going to elevate the Bruins into the national championship hunt just yet, but a good season in year one under Kelly could go a long way to building momentum for the future. The success Kelly had in his time at Oregon (46-7) would indicate that the future is bright for Bruin Nation.

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UCLA doesn’t have any commits yet for the 2019 class. That cycle had already started before the 2018 class reached National Signing Day. What Kelly does in his first full cycle at UCLA will speak volumes about the ceiling this program will have with him at the helm.