UCLA Football Recruiting: Evaluating 2024 Commit Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins' Progress At Cornerback
He committed to UCLA just after his junior season on January 17th, 2023. He has fantastic film from all four years of his high school career. So, what will he bring to the table for D'anton Lynn's Bruins defense?
Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins is a local kid. Chip Kelly and his staff have six California seniors committed to play for him next season, which currently makes up half of their 12 2024 commitments. Dunbar-Hawkins was actually the first class of 2024 commit for the Bruins. He's ranked a 4-star prospect by all the major recruiting outlets, but a 3-star by On3.
Even after his UCLA commitment in January, Penn State offered him in the subsequent June. He spent his sophomore season at Alemany High School in Mission Hills, CA, and his junior season at Mater Dei High School, just across the way from Westwood in Santa Ana, CA. He now is finishing out his high school career at Tustin High School in Tustin, CA.
Evaluation:
Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins strikes me as a feisty, in-your-face, corner. His senior highlight tape almost looked like he wasn’t truly challenged all that much during the first half of his senior season, which is likely an ode to how gifted he is. Also worth noting is that he jumped from program to program throughout his high school career, and was undoubtedly fiercely challenged at each place prior to ending up a Tustin.
He can jam up receivers at the line, but he’s super dangerous playing off the ball and breaking to intercept quarterbacks that he deceived into throwing. He is also very dangerous with the ball in his hands. So while he currently doesn’t have the length that so many coaches covet these days, he more than makes up for it with his tenacity and explosiveness. It remains to be seen where he will fit in the (slot or outside) in the Bruins secondary.
The cornerback position has one of the steepest learning curves of all positions on the football field as players move up competition levels. Even if he doesn't see much burn his first season and he needs that year to develop, he’s got all the athletic necessities at his current age to give himself a good base to build on.
Bottom Line
Dunbar-Hawkins has a knack for creating turnovers, and call me old school, but isn’t that what used to be all that defensive coordinators would talk about? His senior season highlight tape is dominant, which is more than fair to expect given the level of competition he played at in the prior three seasons.
He is, according to 247Sports, the second-highest ranked commit for the 2024 Bruins class, the 26th best corner in the country, and the 28th best player in California.
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