UCLA Football projected to land much-needed 4-star in 2023

The UCLA football program is off to a slow start on the recruiting trail in the 2023 recruiting class but that could start to change this week. 

Over the last two recruiting classes, Chip Kelly and the UCLA football program have only signed a total of 29 high school recruits.

18 of those were signed in the 2021 recruiting class and that haul included three “blue-chip” prospects (a four or five-star recruit), while last year’s class featured just 11 players with six of them ranking as four-star recruits.

UCLA football ranked 57th overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings for the 2022 class, but the Bruins were 29th overall because of their No. 7 rating in the transfer portal as Kelly added more transfers (12) than high school signees.

That’s a trend that’s probably going to continue, especially for a program like UCLA. The Bruins are going to struggle to recruit against USC with Lincoln Riley in the mix and blue-chip players just aren’t itching to play in Pasadena, at least in the regular season.

But Kelly is still viewed as a big-time head coach and that allows him to recruit the portal pretty well. However, you have to be able to recruit in a traditional sense too and while the Bruins have been a little stagnant in 2023, they are about to get some good news.

UCLA is trending for a four-star commitment

Tre Edwards, a top-200 recruit according to the 247 sports composite rankings, is supposed to announce his commitment on Friday and the Bruins appear to be the heavy favorite.

At 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, Edwards is the No. 14 player in the state of California and the 12th-best linebacker in the country. He’s also ranked as the No. 195 overall prospect in the 2023 class.

USC was the favorite at one time and received a crystal ball projection, but the Bruins have been trending with expert picks recently. Plus, the On3.com prediction machine gives UCLA football a 98-percent chance of winning his recruitment.

Edwards, assuming his ranking holds, would be just the fourth top-200 commitment UCLA football has landed in the last five recruiting classes, so his addition would be huge, especially for momentum.

Edwards is also a guy with legit NFL potential down the road and he’s a guy who could be a multi-year starter and an early contributor if he does indeed commit to the Bruins.