Army Bowl: Four-star guard Chris Murray to play for Kelly at UCLA

One of the biggest elements of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl is the announcing of commitments during the bowl, and this year is not lacking. Four-star offensive guard Chris Murray was part of the group of players who announced. He picked UCLA over Stanford and Notre Dame.

Rivals.com takes a look at Murray’s commitment to the Bruins and what it means moving forward.

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Over the holidays, four-star offensive guard Chris Murray narrowed his choices to UCLA, Notre Dame and Stanford, and made the decision to commit at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Many other programs had been involved for a long time but over the summer and then into his senior season, the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei standout saw his recruitment take off, and many big-time programs got involved.

He had excellent visits to all the schools that made the cut and then Murray picked the Bruins during the Army Bowl. The four-star loved his visits to both Stanford and Notre Dame, but UCLA emerged as a favorite so this pick is hardly a surprise.

Since first-year coach Chip Kelly arrived in Westwood, the Bruins have retooled their recruiting class by moving on from some players and looking around at other players. Murray, who has had an outstanding week of practice at the Army Bowl and really showed off a physical side, will provide much-needed depth to the interior of UCLA’s offensive line. He might be a tad undersized, but the four-star is tough and fearless and likes to play through the whistle. That type of grit is needed at UCLA - and Murray should be able to provide it.

UCLA is getting a talented, tough interior offensive lineman and those guys don’t come around all that often, especially ones that have Murray’s ability. But this isn’t a dire loss for either the Irish or Cardinal recruiting class.

The whispers are that Notre Dame has had some other top targets in mind, and Stanford is never lacking for top-end offensive line talent. Both recruiting classes should be completely fine, as Murray’s move to Westwood was expected.

Some schools might have slowed down on Murray because of his size - listed at 6-foot-3 and 295 pounds - but he’s hardly small and he showed this week at the Army Bowl that he’s one of the tougher offensive guards in this class. That is what’s needed at UCLA, and Murray will be a nice addition.