UCLA Football Recruiting: Ranking the Bruins' Top Recruiting Targets for 2016

The 2016 recruiting cycle presents the UCLA football team with a golden opportunity. 

There's excellent talent coming out of the state of California—particularly at wide receiver and linebacker. Coincidentally enough, these are two areas of need when looking at the Bruins' roster going forward. 

This piece will rank the top five recruiting targets heading into the spring. The rankings will be based on the overall upside of the prospects, as well as the need from a positional standpoint on UCLA's roster after this season. 

Potential early defections to the NFL and deficiencies from a depth perspective also largely motivate the necessity of signing the five recruits being discussed.

*Honorable mentions: Damian Alloway, Sean McGrew, Darian Owens, Willie Allen, Theo Howard, Byron Murphy, Garrett Rand, Michael Eletise.

5. Jack Jones

Jack Jones possesses great positional ability—something the UCLA coaching staff looks for when evaluating prospects. 

Not only is Jones a 4-star receiver, but he can also perform exceptionally well at the corner position. Jones' speed and quickness allows him to function at a high level on both sides of the ball. Truth be told, UCLA needs speed and elusiveness from the wide receiver spot. Jack brings both of those qualities in droves.

However, Jones looked elite playing at corner this past weekend during The Opening regional in Los Angeles. The strong play garnered Jones an invite to Nike's The Opening football camp this summer in Oregon.

Jones lives only a stone's throw away from the UCLA campus. Two of Jones' former high school teammates (Colin Samuel and Jayon Brown) are also on the current roster. It seems like a no-brainer to target Jones heavily.

Plus, he recently mentioned UCLA as his current leader, per Ed Lewis of BruinSportsReport.  

4. Curtis Robinson

Curtis Robinson represents the long, athletic, rangy outside linebacker prospects UCLA craves. 

Although not a natural pass-rusher, Robinson excels in space versus smaller prospects. Robinson's overall athletic ability could enable him to play on either side of the ball. The potential is there for him to compete at linebacker, safety and even wide receiver. 

The Bruins are targeting him as an outside 'backer. Robinson prioritizes academics and could ultimately choose between UCLA and Stanford. Ohio State is also involved, among a host of other schools. 

However, UCLA does have an ace-in-the-hole in regard to his recruitment. His mother is currently a Spanish professor at UCLA. 

This surely doesn't hurt the Bruins' efforts with the 4-star athlete. 

3. Oluwole Betiku

Oluwole Betiku does not look like your average high school student. 

At 6'4" and 240 pounds, the Serra High School defensive lineman (by way of Nigeria) looks as if he were engineered in a lab. Physically, one will not find a more impressive-looking prospect. 

Betiku's story is quite fascinating. As detailed by Mark Whicker of the Los Angeles Daily News, Betiku was spotted in Nigeria by former NFL player LaVar Arrington. Arrington ultimately became Betiku's guardian and brought him to the United States. 

UCLA has a very good shot to garner his services. Arrington's mentor is Tom Bradley. Bradley coached Arrington in college at Penn State and is coincidentally UCLA's new defensive coordinator. There's also a strong Nigerian contingent within the UCLA roster.

Multiple players on the team (including Caleb Benenoch, Kenny Orjioke, Soso Jamabo, Bolu Olorunfunmi and Josh Wariboko) have ties to the country. 

By the looks of Betiku's Instagram page, he appears to have a definite interest in UCLA. 

Not only would the addition of Betiku immensely help the depth along the defensive line, but it could also signal the end of Serra being an institution dominated by USC. 

2. Caleb Kelly

Photo courtesy of 247sports

LB prospect Caleb Kelly.

Scout.com's No. 1 player in the state of California comes in the form of linebacker Caleb Kelly. 

Kelly pairs wonderful athleticism with superlative instincts. His ability to read the play and react is one reason why he's a special prospect. 

It'd be a pretty big surprise to see Myles Jack stick around after the upcoming season. Deon Hollins also theoretically could leave early with a big junior campaign.

With Jack almost certainly headed to the NFL after the 2015 season, Kelly could very well make an impact right away as a true freshman. Additionally, roster depth at outside linebacker isn't overly strong.

Landing Kelly would be a massive coup for the Bruins. The last Fresno native whom UCLA had at linebacker turned out to be a pretty good player. 

His name was Eric Kendricks. 

1. Boss Tagaloa

There isn't a recruit more important in this cycle than defensive tackle prospect Boss Tagaloa. 

The De La Salle High School product is an absolute bull inside. His combination of natural power and quickness makes him arguably the best defensive tackle prospect on the entire West Coast. 

There's a real possibility UCLA loses both Eddie Vanderdoes and Kenneth Clark to the NFL after this upcoming year. Depth at defensive tackle isn't great, and there's a general lack of experience across the board. 

Should Tagaloa sign with UCLA, he'll likely be in the mix for playing time as a true freshman. 

Star ratings courtesy of Scout.com unless otherwise noted.