PASADENA, Calif. — Ever since Chip Kelly took over as the head coach of the UCLA Bruins in 2018, he's been able to rely on one man at quarterback: Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
But Thompson-Robinson is now gone, leaving as UCLA's all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns, total yards, and passing completions - while giving his successor enormous shoes to fill.
Who that successor is remains to be seen, with a trio of players vying to start under center for the Bruins in 2023. There's true freshman Dante Moore, who decommitted from Oregon in part to go to a program where he felt he would play right away, as well as incoming senior and career backup Ethan Garbers and redshirt senior transfer Collin Schlee from Kent State.
Locked on UCLA host Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer believes the battle is already over, and that Kelly should make the freshman Moore the Week 1 starter already.
"There's no reason for UCLA not to start the freshman," Anderson-Yoxsimer said. "In my mind, from the get go you throw the freshman out there and get his licks out early. It's important for UCLA to see what they have with [Moore]. Why wait and waste reps?"
Moore has looked the best for UCLA during spring, according to multiple reports, and his upside is off the charts.
Is he currently as ready to manage a Pac-12 football game as Garbers, who has 11 games and 57 completions to his name, or even Schlee who had a solid season as a starter for Kent State in 2022? That's the question many will focus on, but for Anderson-Yoxsimer it's more about letting the kid go get those reps, gain that experience, and at times, make mistakes.
Bringing in a player of Moore's pedigree and starting a career backup over him, even just temporarily, only serves to hurt Moore's long term development.
There is risk in starting a true freshman, namely that he struggles and it impacts his confidence, but it's a decision that makes a lot of sense for coach Kelly to consider as we get into the summer and closer to the start of the college football season.