Class of 2024 OT Marquise Thorpe-Taylor Commits to UCLA Football
A month after he reeled in an offer from the Bruins, one of the West's top lineman decided he would head to Southern California to open up his collegiate career.
Class of 2024 offensive tackle Marquise Thorpe-Taylor has verbally committed to UCLA football, the Mount Tahoma (WA) prospect announced Saturday on Twitter. The 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman has been one of the hottest new names on the market over the past five months, garnering interest from several other top programs.
Thorpe-Taylor's other offers were from Arizona, BYU, Cal, Colorado State, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, USC, Washington and Washington State. He also being recruited by Oklahoma and Oregon State.
Oregon, USC and Washington all hosted Thorpe-Taylor for visits this spring, but his final trip was an official to UCLA the weekend of May 12.
Thorpe-Taylor is a steady left tackle with plenty of size, and he has also proven capable of moving laterally and pulling on screens.
Playing on the other side of the ball as a defensive end, Thorpe-Taylor recorded 25 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, seven quarterback hurries and two passes defended in 2022.
Thorpe-Taylor is a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports, Rivals and On3. In the 247Sports Composite, Thorpe-Taylor is ranked as the No. 10 player in Washington, the No. 50 offensive tackle is the country and he No. 640 overall prospect in his class.
Among offensive tackles in the West and Mountain regions, Thorpe-Taylor ranks No. 6.
Between their 2022 and 2023 high school recruiting classes, the Bruins added just two offensive linemen, both of whom were three-star prospects ranked outside the top 500 nationally – Sam Yoon and Tavake Tuikolovatu. Of the six who joined in the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes – none of whom were top 500 prospects – only four remain.
Offensive line coach Tim Drevno is trying to turn that around in his second full recruiting cycle, though, adding commitments from three class of 2024 tackles so far this offseason – Thorpe-Taylor, three-star Mark Schroller and three-star Joshua Glanz.
Between Thorpe-Taylor, Schroller, Glanz and four-star defensive back Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins, UCLA's four-man class of 2024 ranks No. 47 in the country and No. 4 in the Pac-12.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF MARQUISE THORPE-TAYLOR/TWITTER
