While Caleb Williams pursues 2nd Heisman, UCLA has a QB battle in Westwood

Chip Kelly should pick Dante Moore as his QB1, but that hasn’t happened just yet at UCLA.

The UCLA Bruins are heading into a big 2023 season. Many of their 2022 veterans, including their starting quarterback from the past five seasons, Dorian Thompson Robinson, are gone.

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. Now the Bruins will have three options to consider under center in 2023.

Ethan Garbers completed 70.3% of his passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions across six games in 2022 as a reserve. He will be looking to start Game 1 against Coastal Carolina at home.

True freshman quarterback Dante Moore, a five-star recruit from Michigan, became one of the Bruins’ highest-rated recruits ever when he shocked the college football world by switching his commitment from Oregon to UCLA on Dec. 19.

Kent State senior transfer Collin Schlee threw for 2,109 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions in the Mid-American Conference. He best fits somewhere between Moore’s gunslinging, playmaking style and Garbers’ game-managing, pocket-passer style.

All three candidates are intriguing, but Moore is the center of attention. Moore is a 6-foot-3, 210-pound dual-threat quarterback who led Martin Luther King (Michigan) to a state title earlier this month. In a four-year high school career as a starter, Moore threw for 135 total touchdowns and nearly 10,000 yards.

The other candidates on the outside looking in are former three-star Chase Griffin, a fifth-year senior who has attempted one pass in the last two seasons, and Justyn Martin, a former three-star from Inglewood High School (California).

Unlike crosstown rival USC, UCLA is in quarterback limbo. You could potentially see all three under center this season. Moore is the most talented of the trio for Kelly and he fits the system perfectly. Garbers is consistent and a veteran who can manage the game and minimize mistakes for the young Bruins.

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.

“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?”

There is risk in starting a true freshman if he struggles and it affects his confidence, but it’s a decision that makes a lot of sense for Kelly to consider as we get into the late summer and closer to the start of the college football season.

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