UCLA football’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson to return for 5th season with the Bruins
Senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson walks off the field during UCLA football’s win over Colorado on Nov. 13. Thompson-Robinson announced his return to the Bruins for his fifth year in Westwood on Monday afternoon. (Sakshi Joglekar/Assistant Photo editor)
By Jon Christon
Jan. 10, 2022 1:37 p.m.
This post was updated Jan. 11 at 5:45 p.m.
A familiar face will remain under center for the Bruins in 2022.
Senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson announced his return to Westwood for a fifth season with UCLA football via Twitter and Instagram on Monday afternoon. Thompson-Robinson is using the extra year of eligibility previously granted to all NCAA student-athletes because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
See you in 2022! pic.twitter.com/i7rLl9zY8S
— DTR (@DoriansTweets) January 10, 2022
“I believe 2021 ended short so WE can go farther in 2022!” Thompson-Robinson said in a follow-up Tweet.
The quarterback is coming off his best statistical season, throwing for a career-high 2,409 yards and 21 touchdowns. The 2021 campaign also saw Thompson-Robinson utilized more as a runner, as the senior accumulated 609 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
Thompson-Robinson helped lead the Bruins to the Pac-12’s top-scoring offense at 35.6 points per game, finishing the season with over 1,000 total yards in the team’s final three games.
With Thompson-Robinson’s return, the Bruins will enter the 2022 season with the most experienced signal-caller in the conference. Thompson-Robinson has 35 career starts with UCLA and ranks 35th in the conference’s all-time total yardage leaders.
The senior also sits as the fifth all-time leading passer in program history with 7,541 yards – 3,167 behind former quarterback Cade McNown for first place – and ranks fourth in career touchdown passes with 61.
Thompson-Robinson will be without his top two receivers upon his return. Redshirt junior wide receiver Kyle Philips and redshirt junior tight end Greg Dulcich both declared for the 2022 NFL Draft last week.
The team still has redshirt freshman Ethan Garbers and redshirt sophomore Chase Griffin – both of whom have started in place of Thompson-Robinson for the past two seasons – in the quarterback room. The Bruins were originally slated to add UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel to the roster next season, but he has since changed his commitment to Oklahoma.
