UCLA Football 2021 Positional Preview: Quarterbacks

Dorian Thompson-Robinson poised for breakout year, backup job still up for grabs

With UCLA football's shortened offseason already winding down, it's time to start looking ahead to fall 2021 and what lies ahead for the Bruins on the gridiron. Before scouting out opponents and projecting the Pac-12 pecking order, it's best to look within by picking apart how UCLA will shape up on its own sideline.

All Bruins will be breaking down every position group over the next few weeks, starting with the quarterbacks.

Depth Chart

QB1: Dorian Thompson-Robinson, senior
QB2: Ethan Garbers, redshirt freshman
QB3: Chase Griffin, redshirt sophomore
QB4: Chase Artopoeus, redshirt sophomore
QB5: Parker McQuarrie, redshirt freshman
QB6: Kajiya Hollawayne, freshman

Until we hear otherwise, we're going to assume Thompson-Robinson is good to go for the season opener. Maybe that's naive or overly hopeful, but we don't have enough information to come to any other conclusions at this point.

Considering he's coming into the season regarded as a top-30 quarterback in the country, Thompson-Robinson won't have anything to worry about should he be cleared to play in the coming weeks. He's a third-year starter for a reason – he is the most athletic and has the best arm of the group, and even the mishaps that hindered him his freshman and sophomore seasons started to fade a bit in 2020.

Stretching Thompson-Robinson's 2020 stats out to a full 12-game schedule, he would have finished with about 3,000 passing yards, 900 rushing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, eight rushing touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 156.3 passer rating.

At this point, the biggest con for Thompson-Robinson moving forward will continue to be his availability. In 2018 and 2019, it was minor injuries, while he got stuck with a stroke of bad luck in 2020 when he got contact traced for COVID-19. Thompson-Robinson proved physically durable enough to survive almost all of last year until a late-season leg injury, so it isn't too much to expect him to do the same in 2021.

Still, UCLA has had to rely on its second-string quarterback in each of the last five seasons – Mike Fafaul featured as a primary signal-caller for seven games in 2016, Devon Modster did so three times in 2017, Thompson-Robinson filled that role in seven games in 2018, Austin Burton started two games in 2019 and Griffin started two in 2020. Preparing a solid backup is going to be important for the Bruins just as it has been in the past, which places very high stakes on the battle between Griffin and Garbers in that spot.

After spring camp and half of fall camp, Garbers looks like the more talented passer. Given a few more weeks, he should gain some ground on Griffin in terms of familiarity with the playbook and fit in the offense, so if we had to bet, he would be the first man off the bench for coach Chip Kelly. That makes Griffin the No. 3, but with the potential of playing down the line in some capacity.

The order of Artopoeus, McQuarrie and Hollawayne doesn't matter much, although we think Kelly will value experience when finalizing the depth chart. Artopoeus has looked better this fall than he did even in the spring, proving his strong fundamentals and nice touch on the ball. Considering he has experience running the scout team for the Bruins, it's safe to say the coaching staff likes having him around.

Hollawayne probably has the best raw arm talent and most mature frame of these bottom three quarterbacks, but his inexperience makes him easy to slot in at No. 6. If McQuarrie's absence from practice is anything long term though, Hollawayne could build some momentum and move up the ranks a bit.

Blake Kirshner is in the transfer portal and has not been participating in fall camp. He probably would have be the No. 7 quarterback, as he arguably has the worst arm of the group. UCLA has plenty of depth at the position without him though, so he won't be missed. 

Predictions

This could be the year UCLA actually gets a full season out of its quarterback.

Thompson-Robinson got much, much better at throwing the ball away and avoiding the disastrous and awkward sacks that dinged him up and cost his team 15-plus yards across his first two seasons. Just by reading into what's been said in press conferences and the unlikely nature of two quarterbacks just suddenly disappearing from practice on the same day die to injury, it doesn't seem like Thompson-Robinson is hurt at the moment, or at least not all that seriously.

If he does end up playing 12 or 13 games, we expect Thompson-Robinson to play even better than he was on pace to in 2020.

Thompson-Robinson put up some of the best passing numbers in the Pac-12 in 2020 despite throwing for fewer than 200 yards in two of his four full games, and he was only on pace for 130 yards against Stanford before getting hurt. Should his experience help him even things out a little more, his floor will rise a solid amount.

Let's say Thompson-Robinson plays 12 games – 11 of 12 in the regular season plus one bowl game. He should finish the season with 3,250 passing yards, 900 rushing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 10 rushing touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Those are some lofty benchmarks to hit, but what else should we expect from a former top recruiting heading into his fourth year with a Power Five school?

Either Garbers or Griffin will be a serviceable backup in case they're ever needed, and all things considered, UCLA should be more content with its current quarterback situation than any other position on the team.

There aren't many teams out there with a bona fide star calling the shots, one good backup and another who played above average last year.

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