UCLA Football Extends Offer to In-State Running Back Recruit Tybo Rogers

The Bruins continue to scour the West Coast for top running back prospects for their upcoming recruiting class.
(Photo Courtesy of Tybo Tylin Rogers/Twitter)

The Bruins have officially added another running back to their recruiting board.

UCLA football sent a scholarship offer out to class of 2023 running back Tybo Rogers on Monday, making him the third player at his position to earn an offer from the Bruins. It marks the 14th Division I offer for the Bakersfield (CA) ball-carrier.

Rogers has hauled in offers from USC, Cal, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Utah State, Washington State, San Jose State and San Diego State just since the start of January, and he was already sitting on offers from Washington, Colorado, Oregon State, Fresno State and Boston College from late last year.

Rogers came to Westwood for an unofficial visit on Jan. 25 as part of the team's big push on juniors prior to the dead period.

Bakersfield High School is the alma mater of current UCLA linebacker Carl Jones, and although he was in Westwood by the time Rogers joined varsity as a freshman, the recruit still shouted out his predecessor in his offer announcement tweet. Jones replied and told Rogers he would be an "asset as soon as he stepped foot" on campus.

Less than a year ago, Rogers didn't have nearly enough production on the field to justify that kind of praise, but in 2021, he burst onto the scene as one of the top running backs in California.

Rogers was a backup ball-carrier, receiver and safety as an underclassman at Bakersfield. Then as a junior, he took a major leap by racking up 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns on 111 carries to go along with 614 yards and six touchdowns on 31 receptions. Rogers stayed active on defense as well, recording 31 tackles, three interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

For his all-around performance – which also included 298 yards on punt and kickoff returns – Rogers earned a laundry list of accolades, including making Cal-Hi Sports' All-State First Team Offense and getting named his league's co-Offensive Player of the Year.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Rogers is currently a three-star recruit on 247Sports and Rivals. In the 247Sports Composite rankings, Rogers is the No. 69 player in California, No. 95 running back in the nation and the No. 696 recruit in his class overall.

Rogers is the lowest-ranked of the three running backs UCLA has targeted in recent weeks, with Jayden Limar and Roderick Robinson II coming in just ahead of him in the major rating systems. All three had breakout 2021 seasons, though, and they all stand as highly-coveted prospects heading into the showcase circuit this offseason.

National Prep invited Rogers to participate in the Champion Invitational Showcase in Northern California on April 16, giving him another opportunity to try and stand out heading into his senior year.

Rogers, Limar and Robinson make up a trio of potential future Bruins, and they could all be the next cog in a long line of successful running backs to come through the program. Ever since coach Chip Kelly took over in 2018, UCLA has had Joshua Kelley, Demetric Felton, Brittain Brown and Zach Charbonnet ascend to new heights, becoming the most consistent running back factory in the Pac-12 during that span.

Charbonnet will almost certainly be gone by 2023, leaving a void in terms of who the next league-best lead-back will take over. Deshun Murrell just redshirted his true freshman year, Tomarion Harden will be a freshman in 2022 and veterans Keegan Jones and Christian Grubb will be in their final years of eligibility come 2023.

Whether it's Rogers, Limar or Robinson suiting up alongside Murrell and Harden in the near future remains to be seen, but it figures that one of them will be tasked carrying the torch from a handful of solid NFL backs.

As it stands, UCLA does not have a single commitment for its class of 2023, at running back or elsewhere. Kelly's staff has 36 outstanding offers, one of the lowest numbers in the nation.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon was the Publisher and Managing Editor at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s All Bruins from 2021 to 2023. He is now a staff writer at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s Fastball. He previously covered UCLA football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country and golf for The Daily Bruin from 2017 to 2021, serving as the paper's Sports Editor from 2019 to 2020. Connon has also been a contributor for 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' BruinBlitz, Dash Sports TV, SuperWestSports, Prime Time Sports Talk, The Sports Life Blog and Patriots Country, Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s New England Patriots site. His work as a sports columnist has been awarded by the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon graduated from UCLA in June 2021 and is originally from Winchester, Massachusetts.