Four-star quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson verbally committed to UCLA on Sunday night. Thompson-Robinson is the No. 3 dual-threat QB and No. 36 player overall in the class of 2018, according to the 247Sports Composite. This is an enormous pull for UCLA.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson commits to UCLA: Bruins land electric 4-star QB
He’s one of 2018’s top quarterback prospects.
Thompson-Robinson chose the Bruins over Michigan, his other finalist. He had more than two dozen reported scholarship offers and could’ve chosen nearly any program in the country. Alabama, LSU, Miami, Florida State, Georgia, and Louisville were also among the schools to offer Thompson-Robinson before his senior season even starts.
Thompson-Robinson plays his high school football at Bishop Gorman, the Las Vegas powerhouse that last year produced four-star Ohio State QB signee Tate Martell. Like Thompson-Robinson, Martell thrives with his legs as well as his arm.
Because of Martell’s presence on the roster, Thompson-Robinson hasn’t been the team’s starter. That means there’s a lot of projection involved in evaluating him — even by the standards of rising senior dual-threat quarterbacks.
Still, it’s not hard to see why Thompson-Robinson is so sought-after. He has the athleticism to evade tacklers and be a factor in the running game, plus the arm to make defenses pay for crashing the line of scrimmage to stop him.
His commitment is well-timed for Jim Mora’s Bruins. They are likely to lose rising junior Josh Rosen to the NFL Draft after this season, leaving a hole that’ll need to be filled. Thompson-Robinson will be arriving in Los Angeles just as a spot opens up. He could torment Pac-12 defenses for several years.
Thompson-Robinson will be able to sign with the Bruins in December, when the NCAA will offer an early signing period whose existence is now all but official. Class of 2018 prospects will be the first to be able to sign in either December or February (or later), if they so choose. Thompson-Robinson’s recruitment by other schools probably won’t stop until he’s put pen to paper with UCLA.
