College Football: 5 Spring quarterback battles to watch

5. UCLA Bruins

 The Bruins start off spring of 2018 with a new head football coach in Chip Kelly, and a new quarterback will be chosen this spring or fall. With Josh Rosen off to the 2018 NFL Draft the Bruins will have a new starter for the first time in three years. Rosen survived three different offensive coordinators in his three seasons in Los Angeles. Devon Modster is the favorite.

Modster, a 6-foot-2 210 pound redshirt sophomore, sat behind Rosen but was forced into starting duty and playing time when Rosen was injured. Modster threw for 671 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. His performance in the Cactus Bowl against Kansas State was set Twitter a flurry as he threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns. 

Modster’s main competition is freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Thompson-Robinson was ranked the 36th overall player in the 2018 recruiting class. He only started a year at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas but made the most of his time throwing for 3,200 yards and 38 touchdowns with only three interceptions.

Thompson-Robinson is a dual threat quarterback and added seven rushing touchdowns to his 38 passing scores. Thompson-Robinson isn’t the highest rated quarterback in 2018, but he was a four-star prospect and gives Chip Kelly the prototypical quarterback he desires. 

Chip Kelly has made good use of quarterbacks of all shapes and sizes from Dennis Dixon at 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds to a slimmer Darron Thomas and even the battering ram shaped Jeremiah Masoli who stood 5-foot-10 and 228 pounds. Thompson-Robinson’s biggest downside is not being an early enrollee which puts him even further behind Modster. 

Prediction: Devon Modster