UCLA recruits make waves in new Rivals rankings

Rivals.com released its annual post-spring rankings on Tuesday, and plenty of UCLA recruits littered the list.

Here's a look at some of the notables:

Jaelan Phillips had as dominant of a spring as any player in the country, earning invites to both The Opening and the Rivals Five-Star Challenge. He also excelled in the 7-on-7 tournaments he participated in. Those performances were rewarded with a fifth star and a spot in the national top 25.

"Hybrid players are all the rage in college football and Phillips fits the mold," national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell said. "He’s the guy on film who’s too big to be playing off the ball or standing up but yet the one making all the plays. And when he is closer to the line of scrimmage, he comes off the edge and flattens so well he dips past tackles with ease. He can play standup football for two downs and then get down in the dirt on passing downs and become a nightmare for the quarterback.”

Added national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney: “I had not seen much of Phillips before this spring but after seeing him at a few events it's clear he's one of the best prospects in the West. The UCLA commit is all of 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and is a classic hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker. He has the power and the toughness to line up at defensive end and get to the edge or make a move inside to harass the quarterback. He also has the speed and athleticism to drop back in coverage to make plays. He could be a special player for the Bruins immediately.”

UCLA's two other commitments, defensive end Hunter Echols and offensive lineman Kanan Ray, also made some moves in the updated rankings.

Echols shot up the charts from unranked to No. 53 overall.

"Echols is an impressive athlete who has outstanding junior season film but I wanted to see more from him this spring before shooting him up the charts," Gorney said. "He showed up at a few events and looked great, a prototypical edge rusher who cannot be stopped by many offensive tackles because he's just simply too fast to the edge. He's going to collapse the pocket and force the quarterback into quick decisions. Echols routinely tracks down plays and makes the tackle from the back side.”

Ray, meanwhile, dropped out of the Rivals250 rankings.

The Bruins are either leading for or are in the top three or four for several prospects. Here's where those recruits landed in the new round of rankings:

-Five-star RB Najee Harris - No. 2 overall

-Five-star LB Baron Browning - No. 6 overall

-Five-star DB Darnay Holmes - No. 15 overall

-Five-star OL Wyatt Davis - No. 18 overall

-Four-star QB Tate Martell - No. 31 overall

-Four-star OLB Addison Gumbs - No. 58 overall

-Four-star DB Thomas Graham - No. 67 overall

-Four-star DB Deommodore Lenoir - No. 85 overall

-Four-star DB Jaylon Redd - No. 95 overall

-Four-star OL Aaron Banks - No. 96 overall

-Four-star DL Greg Rogers - No. 142 overall

-Four-star WR Tarik Black - No. 151 overall

-Four-star DB Chaz Ah You - No. 160 overall

-Four-star TE Jimmy Jaggers - No. 194 overall

-Four-star OL Andrew Vorhees - No. 212 overall

-Four-star CB Elijah Gates - No. 219 overall

-Four-star DL Martin Andrus - No. 228 overall

-In a surprising move, four-star quarterback and big UCLA target Jack Sears dropped out of the Rivals250, despite a very strong spring.

-UCLA target and suspected Bruin tight end lean Erik Krommenhoek earned his fourth star.

-Former UCLA linebacker commit Rahyme Johnson earned his fourth star.

-When it comes to Pac-12 commits in the Rivals250, Arizona, Stanford and Washington lead the way with three. UCLA is next in line with two.