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Pac-12 weekly recruiting wrap-up: UCLA needs to add skill talent to go with Josh Rosen

With UCLA losing long time tight end commitment Alize Jones last week, it puts a lot of pressure on them down the stretch to add some talent for 5 star quarterback Josh Rosen to throw to

By Jamie Uyeyama
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA must have loved seeing this picture four months ago when St. John Bosco (California) took on Bishop Gorman (Nevada). On the right was their star tight end recruit, long time commitment Alize Jones. On the left was wide receiver Cordell Broadus, considered at the time at heavy UCLA lean. In the middle was Josh Rosen. A Bruin commitment and also the top quarterback in the nation.

Now? I don't think they would enjoy looking back on this picture as much now that Jones has officially flipped his commitment to Notre Dame. As for Broadus, it no longer seems so certain that he'll be a Bruin. That leaves Rosen. That's one they don't have to worry about as he is already enrolled and on campus.

There is no doubt that Rosen is an incredible talent. He has all the tools to follow and eventually surpass what Brett Hundley accomplished at UCLA. The only question is, who is he going to be throwing the ball too?

As it stands right now with the decommitment from Jones, UCLA has so far struck out on adding receiving talent in this recruiting class. They only have 4 star wide receiver L.J. Reed committed currently, and while I like Reed and think he could develop into a nice red zone target for Rosen, it's a little bit surprising that they've haven't locked down anyone else to catch passes from the top quarterback in the nation.

You would think that would be a pretty attractive selling point for most recruits and I'm sure Rosen has been out there trying to recruit as well to add some pass catchers like most other quarterback commitments are. Yet, they are where they are with only one receiver or tight end currently committed to the Bruins.

This could all change greatly down the stretch if things go the Bruins way. They are battling Michigan to land another top tight end in Chris Clark (Clark is visiting this weekend), are in the running to land explosive receiver/returner Ryan Newsome (he's announcing his decision this week), and are in the mix for another big wide receiver in Carlos Strickland (he's deciding on January 27th). Broadus could certainly end up in Westwood too when all is said and done and they are considered the favorite to land 5 star running back Soso Jamabo as well, who has big time receiving skills.

Knowing that has to make UCLA fans feel a bit better and it would not be surprising if the Bruins landed most of those players, but it's definitely not a certainty. Nothing is when you consider how long Jones was committed to the Bruins for before flipping.

Hopefully when signing day rolls around this isn't going to be an issue and Rosen will have at least a few more future targets to disperse the ball to. It would be a shame to not have good enough weapons supporting a quarterback as talented as Rosen over the next four years.

- I do like a lot of pieces the Bruins have in this class aside from the lack of receivers and I would like their class a lot more if they could somehow land 4 star defensive lineman Benning Potoae. They were considered the co-leaders with Washington going into this past weekend when Potoae took an official to UW. It sounds like he had a good time and that the product of Washington state may be leaning towards staying home based on how the visit went. At least that's according to Washington defensive line commit, Ricky McCoy.

Potoae is one of the more underrated defensive linemen in this entire recruiting class and it would be huge for the Huskies to keep him from leaving the state.

- It's been pretty quiet on the recruiting front for Utah, which tends to happen when there are a lot of staff changes going on. It appears the chaos had died down a bit with Kyle Whittingham signing an extension and the Utes adding two new commitments from Florida powerhouse program, St. Thomas Aquinas.

Tyson Cisrow is an aggressive safety that should be able to get on the field right away on special teams and Chris Hart is an athletic defensive lineman that is strong at the point of attack. Hart had offers from teams like North Carolina, Michigan State, and Wisconsin.

- The Utes also added another junior college wide receiver with a commitment from Deniko Carter. Carter is a smooth athlete with some nice ability to get yards after the catch.

- Gary Andersen and Oregon State are in scramble mode right now after the Beavers lost several commits because of the departure of most of the previous coaching staff. This probably isn't going to be a banner year in terms of blue chip players down the stretch for them, but they'll continue to look for and add under the radar players like they did with safety Jalen Moore. Moore has a lot of work to do in terms of cleaning up his technique, but he can lay the wood as a hitter.

- Players at prep schools don't get a ton of attention, so Arizona adding two players who will be with them this spring happened rather quietly. Defensive back Devon Brewer and tight end Darrell McCloy were both at Milford Academy getting some academic issues fixed this past season and will have the added benefit of coming into Tuscon more physically mature. That should help them get on the field sooner than most, but I don't see either of these two making an instant impact with the Wildcats in 2015.

- It's never too early for next year's class so it would be a mistake to gloss over the addition of 4 star athlete Mique Juarez to USC's 2016 recruiting class. Juarez plays quarterback on offense, but his future is likely on defense where he flashes awesome potential at linebacker. He's one of the top players on the west coast for next year's class so it's no surprise that USC was able to land him early in the process.

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