UCLA Football: 5 reasons the Bruins will be better than USC in 2018

2. Options at Quarterback

As previously mentioned, the UCLA Bruins have three candidates for the starting quarterback job. The first, who was last year’s backup, is Devon Modster. Modster has two starts under his belt. The first being when Josh Rosen was out with an injury, and the second being when Rosen decided to sit out the Cactus Bowl in preparation for the NFL draft. While Modster looked solid in these performances, especially in the Cactus Bowl, he was nothing spectacular.

This spring, former University of Michigan quarterback, Wilton Speight, met with Coach Kelly regarding his interest in transferring as a graduate student to UCLA. In 2016, Speight passed for 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 62 percent completion rate. Keep in mind, these numbers were earned in a very tough Big 10 conference. A Chip Kelly ran offense, with a mature, experienced quarterback, has the potential to run up the score on many Pac-12 teams.

However, there is another name in the hat for the starting job.  Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a notable incoming recruit who has a chance to give Speight and Modster a run for their money. Thompson-Robinson, from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, is an athletic quarterback who has good mobility. My money is on Speight to win the job early this fall. Should an injury sideline Speight, look for Thompson-Robinson to take over the starting job.

There is also a three way competition at quarterback on the other side of town. And there doesn’t appear to be a favorite out of the three. Sophomore Matt Fink and red-shirt freshman Jack Sears are the veteran quarterbacks…who have very little experience. On the other hand, freshman JT Daniels is the new kid on the block with the lots of excitement buzzing around his name. Regardless who starts for the Trojans, none are even close to the quality of Wilton Speight.