Chip Kelly shares excitement about additions on offensive line

One of the most glaring issues for UCLA in 2023 was the pass protection of the offensive line, which often let the entire offense down.

The Bruins finished ranked 122nd nationally in sacks allowed, giving up 42 in 13 games played. Simply put, that will absolutely have to be better going forward if UCLA wants to be more competitive.

To that end, coach Chip Kelly set out to recruit a handful of offensive linemen he’d be able to lean on in the future. He landed three.

“All three of them are tall and long, which is what we need,” Kelly said after the early signing period. “Obviously that frame that you can add to. And I know coach (Keith Belton), our strength and conditioning coach is really excited about all three of those guys in terms of the frames that they’re going to bring into the weight room. Then you get them involved in our nutrition program and put the good weight on them in what we’re trying to get accomplished.”

The headliner of the class was Mark Schroller, a local product from Mission Viejo, Calif. He was ranked as a four-star prospect, the No. 310 overall recruit in the class. He checks in at 6 foot 7, 295 pounds.

The other two are three-star prospects Marquise Thorpe-Taylor (6-5, 340) and Jensen Somerville (6-7, 300). Thorpe-Taylor ranked 527 nationally, while Somerville checked in at 986.

Kelly believes all three have the versatility to play tackle or guard.

“We do. We had a chance to work all three of them out, that’s the beauty of the three guys,” Kelly said. “Marquise came down, we saw him. And then Jensen was over from Utah for one of our camps, one of those days. And obviously Mark’s local and been down to Mission Viejo a ton.”

While the UCLA offensive line struggled in pass protection last year, the unit was pretty good paving the way for a very good ground game. The Bruins ran for more than 2,500 yards, finishing No. 17 nationally in rushing offense.

The three newcomers coming in, with a little development and seasoning, should be able to help keep that rolling.

“I think they’re athletic for their size. I think they all have tackle type bodies and it was certainly a position of need for us, so we’ll see how it plays out, because I’ve had tackles move into guard and vice versa,” Kelly said. “But usually you’re trying to recruit tackle bodies and work out who are your top five out of those guys. We feel all three of these guys are tackles, but we’ll see how that plays out for us.”