UCLA Commit Named No. 1 Prospect in State

Three-star 2026 Marion (Mass.) Tabor Academy UCLA commit Marcus Almada recently jumped every player in the New England high school football ratings for his class on Prep Redzone.

The high school site's comprehensive rankings put the 6-foot-4, 280-pound defensive lineman above every player in New England for the class of 2026, including his four-star teammate and fellow UCLA commit, Carter Gooden, who is fourth on the rankings.

Almada and Gooden committed to the Bruins on Thursday, marking yet another "packaged deal" of high school teammates to pledge to Westwood.

Almada is the ninth-ranked player in the state of Massachusetts according to 247Sports' player ratings. Gooden is first on their site.

UCLA Bruins on SI caught up with Almada after he pledged to the Bruins. Below are a couple of excerpts from his interview with us:

"The three things throughout the entire recruiting process was, 1: the level of academics that I would receive and the degree that I would hold after everything was done. The second thing was, the coaching staff that I could form relationships with, all while feeling comfortable with them day in and day out. Third is the atmosphere and how comfortable I believe I would feel on that campus.

""I would say that after my official visit with UCLA, I had very strong feelings about them, but I wanted to make sure that everything that I felt was really set in stone and it wasn't just feelings after my official visit, so I followed through with the rest of my official visits, but I felt like after that official visit there, I felt in my heart that it was going to be hard to beat them."

Below is the evaluation 247Sports national analyst, Hudson Standish, gave Almada just a couple weeks before he announced his commitment:

"Scheme versatile defensive tackle with the redirection skills and short-area quickness to consistently slice into gaps. Hovers a shade under 6-foot-4, 280 pounds with subpar length measurements for his frame. Owns experience working along the defensive line in even and odd fronts and will likely project to a 4i or 3-technique at the next level, depending on his growth potential. Plays with a hot motor and will run down ball carriers along the line of scrimmage. Still developing as an interior rusher but has shown positive flashes thanks to his post-snap quickness and explosive power in the hands. Athletic tools and play style lead us to believe Almada could develop into an excellent zone run defender at the point of attack. Should be viewed as an athletic high floor interior projection who could factor into a defensive line rotation early in his college career."

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