Chip Kelly Gives Top Defensive Line Recruit Anthony Lucas In-Home Visit
With Johnny Nansen gone, the onus of reeling in one of the Bruins' top targets has fallen on Chip Kelly.
UCLA football is making a last-ditch effort to earn a commitment from class of 2022 defensive lineman Anthony Lucas, as shown in Kelly's visit to Lucas' home on Wednesday. Lucas had the Bruins in his top 10 back in April, but supposedly trimmed them out of the race when he narrowed things down to seven schools in early August.
Lucas himself never made an official announcement of his top seven, though, as it was his father who told 247Sports that he was down to Alabama, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Oregon, USC, LSU and Miami.
Since then, Lucas still visited UCLA for the LSU game on Sept. 4. But on Dec. 1, defensive line coach and top recruiter Johnny Nansen left Westwood to become Arizona's defensive coordinator, so that too changed the dynamic between Lucas and the Bruins.
Defensive analyst Clancy Pendergast has stepped up to be UCLA's temporary defensive line coach leading up to the Holiday Bowl, but it appears Kelly is filling in for Nansen out of the recruiting trail.
Lucas is listed as the No. 5 interior defensive lineman and No. 19 overall prospect in the class of 2022 in SI All American's SI99, leaving him as a prime candidate to earn All-American honors in the coming weeks. In his senior year at Chaparral High School (AZ), Lucas racked up 64 tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, two passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, as well as six receptions for 48 yards and two touchdowns on the other side of the ball.
Coming in at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, Lucas is a consensus four-star prospect and is the top recruit out of Arizona, according to 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN. Lucas has also been selected to play in the Under Armour All-American Game in January.
SI All-American's John Garcia and Matt Solorio wrote up a scouting report on Lucas back in July, complimenting his raw pass-rushing abilities among other top-tier physical traits:
Widebody from head to toe. NFL size with good composition. Room for a little more good weight. Great Length. Solid out on the edge, but might get out-twitched at the next level. Highly coordinated when changing direction. We really like his lateral first step, because he doesn’t give any ground when trading gaps. Big, powerful stepper. His compact style of pass-rushing fits the interior better than the edge. Locking out blockers was coached into him well. Can sometimes give up his chest with low, late punches. Pad level is decent, angles of pursuit look good. Shows flashes of pass-rushing brilliance. Eyes can sometimes get lost in the backfield. Would benefit from more active hands when rushing the passer.
247Sports Mountain Region Recruiting Analyst Blair Angulo wrote a scouting report of his own on Lucas in March 2020, actually comparing the young lineman to former Bruin and 2016 first round NFL draft pick Kenny Clark.
Lucas is set to announce his commitment on Dec. 15, the first day of the early signing period. Alabama coach Nick Saban and Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman made in-home visits to Lucas as well, bringing assistants along with them, and Texas A&M and LSU are also continuing to push for Lucas.
UCLA's top-three recruits last year were all defensive linemen – Jay Toia, Tiaoalii Savea and Quintin Somerville.
If he were to commit to the Bruins, Lucas would be UCLA's top-rated recruit this year and could easily bump their 2022 class into the top 25. Kelly has 12 commits and two preferred walk ons lined up for this cycle, and none of them are defensive linemen.
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