This post was updated Aug. 6 at 6:24 p.m.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson suited up to play football Thursday.
In years past, he would have been throwing on a UCLA football practice jersey as he took to the fields behind Wasserman Football Center.
Instead, he was donning the brown and orange of his new team, the Cleveland Browns, as he took on the New York Jets in the Hall of Fame Game.
Meanwhile, just over 2,000 miles away on the other side of the country, six quarterbacks were busy getting ready for their season.
UCLA’s quarterbacks room is a veritable melting pot of talent, featuring a five-star recruit in incoming freshman Dante Moore, a two-year veteran in rising redshirt junior Ethan Garbers and former Kent State signal-caller rising redshirt junior Collin Schlee. Two-time NIL Athlete of the Year rising senior Chase Griffin, rising redshirt freshman Justyn Martin and incoming freshman Luke Duncan – a three-star recruit in his own right – round out the group, showcasing variety in height, style and personality on the field.
Schlee said the race for the starting job has made all of the prospective signal-callers better players.
“You come out here and you get better every single day because the guys in the room make you better,” Schlee said.
Schlee, who tallied 2,109 passing yards, 492 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns across 11 games last season with the Golden Flashes, is the Bruins’ most accomplished quarterback in terms of on-field achievements.
“Their meetings are awesome, watching them go back-and-forth and the questions and the dialogue that comes out of them and coach Gunderson (quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson),” said coach Chip Kelly. “I think all of those guys have really progressed from where we started with them in the first spring practice to where those guys are today, so I’m excited about the whole group.”
At the start of fall camp in 2022, Kelly had Thompson-Robinson poised to take the season’s opening snap. Just a year later, the six-year coach now has an abundance of players to choose from, with each competing to be under center at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 2.
Kelly said it’s imperative for a quarterback to be able to accomplish drawn-up plays and not rely on improvisation.
“I think it’s grasp and knowledge of what our offense is,” Kelly said. “If we call a play, that they can execute what we call. They have to have some innate ability to make plays off schedule, but you just can’t rely on off-schedule plays all the time and just hope he’ll make a play.”
The whole group has been practicing since spring camp in April, with Moore and Duncan enrolling early and Schlee transferring in January to start getting reps before the summer.
Rising senior tight end Hudson Habermehl said the summer became a time for the quarterbacks and receiving corps to step away from practicing against a live defense and work on their timing.
Habermehl detailed how the team would run player-led practices that predominantly featured seven-on-seven drills. Then, the offense would use its Saturday off-days as a chance to hit the field and further improve their timing.
Rising senior wide receiver Kyle Ford – a transfer from USC – said a battle at any position can be challenging, but overall, it’s better for the team.
“I think it’s just like any position. Obviously, quarterback, it’s a little harder because there’s only one person that can play that spot,” Ford said. “But I think that brings out the best, and if that doesn’t bring out the best in you, then I honestly don’t want that person as my quarterback.”
As the youngest member of a crowded quarterback room, Moore said he’s focused on learning from the guys around him and bettering himself throughout the fall.
“I’m the youngest one in there, just turned 18,” Moore said. “It’s more really me learning from my big brothers. … I’m not really worried about who I’m competing with. I’m really competing with myself.”
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