UCLA Football Offers Late Bloomer Class of 2023 OT Barrett Maddox
The Bruins have sent out a late offer in an attempt to fill out depth at a key position for future seasons.
Class of 2023 offensive tackle Barrett Maddox announced he had received an offer from UCLA football Thursday afternoon on Twitter. The 6-foot-6 lineman out of Clinton High School (TN) had received a run of offers in the spring and early fall, but the Bruins became his first in October.
UCLA joins Akron, Arkansas State, Army, Austin Peay, Bryant, Charlotte, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky, Kansas, Lehigh, Marshall, Miami (OH), Middle Tennessee State, Murray State, North Alabama, Richmond, Southern Illinois, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Tulane, USF, UT Martin and Western Kentucky in becoming the 24th program to have offered Maddox.
Prior to his senior season, though, Maddox did not have a single Power Five offer. Kansas changed that in late September, and the Bruins were not far behind. Maddox told 247Sports’ Allen Trieu that he is considering taking a visit to Westwood when UCLA hosts Stanford on Oct. 29.
Auburn and Florida have been keeping a close eye on Maddox as well, with the former having hosted him on Oct. 1 and the latter set to host the rising recruit Saturday. 247Sports’ GoPowercat has reported that Kansas State may soon be sending Maddox an offer as well.
Maddox is a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports and Rivals, while On3 does not list a star rating for him and ESPN does not have a prospect page up for the lineman. According to the 247Sports Composite, Maddox is the No. 1500 player in the class of 2023, the No. 120 offensive tackle in the country and the No. 56 prospect in Tennessee.
Coach Chip Kelly’s 2023 recruiting class is currently ranked No. 91 in the nation and No. 11 in the Pac-12, according to 247Sports, and it is now down to six players after Roderick Robinson flipped his commitment to Georgia on Monday.
None of the players committed to UCLA at this time are offensive linemen, and most of their targets up front are already off the board. Offensive tackles Samson Okunlola, Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu all received offers and are uncommitted, but the Bruins do not appear to be serious contenders for their commitments.
Baraka Beckett and Tyler Manoa may not have had the eligibility to play the 2023 season in Westwood, but both veteran offensive linemen announced they had entered the transfer portal on Oct. 5. Less than ten months earlier, starters Sean Rhyan and Alec Anderson entered the NFL Draft, kicking off a period of great turnover on the Bruins' offensive line.
Kelly is likely to focus on the transfer portal himself when it comes to securing depth on the offensive line moving forward – as he did with Rutgers’ Raiqwon O’Neal and Oregon’s Jaylan Jeffers this past offseason – but if Maddox were to come to UCLA over his other recent Power Five suitors, offensive line coach Chris Drevno would have a multi-year project on his hands as the program prepares for its move to the Big Ten.
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