Pair of Top 2023 Offensive Recruits Visit UCLA Football Over Weekend
The Bruins are starting to put in some leg work on next year's recruiting class.
UCLA football hosted quarterback Jordan Gile and tight end Jackson Bowers on unofficial visits Sunday, the duo of 2023 recruits shared on social media. Coach Chip Kelly and his staff have yet to offer either of the juniors from Mountain View High School (AZ) in Mesa.
Gile currently has offers from Kansas, San Diego State and Florida International and is also garnering interest from Arizona and Arizona State. Bowers has seven Pac-12 offers in addition to ones from Michigan State, Georgia Tech, BYU and Yale.
Gile and Bowers also visited USC over the weekend and showed up for the Trojans' 45-27 blowout loss at the hands of Oregon State.
Bowers is the higher-rated prospect of the two, coming in as a four-star on the 247Sports Composite and ESPN. 247Sports ranks Bowers as the No. 92 player and No. 7 tight end in the class of 2023, while ESPN pegs him at No. 266 and No. 9.
In six games last season, Bowers hauled in 25 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns. Bowers missed his entire freshman season with a torn ACL.
Gile is not rated or ranked by ESPN, Rivals or the 247Sports Composite. 247Sports has the 6-foot Gile slotted in as the No. 45 pro-style quarterback in the nation.
Both Bowers and Gile are viewed as top-25 players in Arizona.
Mountain View has started their season 4-0 with Gile and Bowers powering the offense. Their unit is averaging 30 points per game, but considering their defense has allowed just 14 points all year, they haven't had to play in many close games to this point.
UCLA still has just one commit for its 2023 recruiting class – cornerback Maliki Crawford. Utah is the only other team in the Pac-12 with a commit, and Crawford's prestige alone is enough to give the Bruins the No. 1 class in the conference.
Kelly and tight ends coach Derek Sage have also extended offers to Duce Robinson and Walker Lyons, two of the top-three tight ends in the 2023 class. Top-five quarterbacks Nicholaus Iamaleava and Jaden Rashada have earned offers at Gile's position as well.
Rashada will swing by Westwood for a visit this upcoming weekend. UCLA offered Rashada on Sept. 14 and he hinted on Twitter last week that he is close to announcing his top six.
No 2022 quarterbacks have committed to the Bruins either. Two of UCLA's top 2022 commits are tight ends – four-stars Jack Pederson and Carsen Ryan, the latter of which broke his leg in August.
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