USC Transfer Wide Receiver Kyle Ford Commits to UCLA Football
Even more reinforcements are coming to join the Bruins' receiving corps, this time from just across town.
Former USC wide receiver Kyle Ford committed to UCLA football on Tuesday night, he announced on Twitter. Ford was with the Trojans for four seasons before entering the NCAA transfer portal on Jan. 12, and he has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining.
Ford is the 13th transfer to commit to the Bruins since the end of the regular season, joining UPenn defensive end Jake Heimlicher, Cal linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo, Princeton punter Will Powers, Kent State quarterback Collin Schlee, Purdue left guard Spencer Holstege, Army running back Anthony Adkins, Oregon tight end Moliki Matavao, Montana State kicker Blake Glessner, Ball State running back Carson Steele, Bowling Green safety Jordan Anderson, Cal wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant and College of the Sequoias offensive lineman Caleb Walker.
UCLA has now added four transfers from the Pac-12 alone – Oladejo, Matavao, Sturdivant and Ford – and two are receivers.
Coming out of Orange Lutheran in 2019, Ford was pegged as a five-star recruit by 247Sports. The Bruins sent him an offer, but were hardly a contender for his commitment.
Ford struggled to put up numbers and stay on the field with the Trojans, battling through multiple injuries over the past four seasons. Across the 24 games he did appear in at USC, Ford totaled 40 catches for 637 yards and five touchdowns.
After playing four games in 2019 and missing all of 2020, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound wideout went for 252 yards and two touchdowns on 19 catches in 2021. Ford appeared in 12 of the Trojans' 14 games this year, racking up 365 yards and two scores on 20 receptions.
Ford managed to put up that production despite being in a crowded receivers room that also included reigning Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison, Tahj Washington, Mario Williams and Brenden Rice.
UCLA will have plenty of options in the passing game next season, although they will have to replace the production of Jake Bobo, Kazmeir Allen and Matt Sykes, who ran out of eligibility, left for the NFL Draft and entered the transfer portal, respectively,
Sturdivant and Ford are the headlining additions from the portal, while four-star class of 2023 signees Jeremiah McClure and Grant Gray will add young depth to the group. Former Texas A&M transfer Kam Brown, former UCF transfer Titus Mokiao-Atimalala and veteran Logan Loya are the top returning targets, and class of 2022 recruits Jadyn Marshall and Braden Pegan could be fighting for bigger roles as well.
As for who will be throwing them the ball, five-star freshman Dante Moore will likely compete with two-year second-string quarterback Ethan Garbers for the starting job.
Click here to check out All Bruins' 2023 transfer portal tracker
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