There were plenty of surprises during the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday, but as expected no UCLA Bruins were selected. Any other outcome would have been absurd though, UCLA didn’t have any prospects worth first round consideration..

It hasn’t truly been that long since UCLA’s last first round pick, with it happening in 2024 with the Indianapolis Colts taking Laiatu Latu 15th overall. But before that? We’d have to go back to the 2018 Draft where both Josh Rosen and Kolton Miller were selected in the first round. Even last year, linebacker Carson Schwesinger was the first pick of the second round and all he did was go and win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

UCLA will hope to begin producing more NFL talent in the coming years. Bob Chesney has gotten off to a hot start as a recruiter with the Bruins. UCLA does have a pair of potential NFL draftees this year, Garrett DiGiorgio and Gary Smith III, but if they are selected, it’ll almost certainly be on day three of the draft.

If we’re looking at UCLA’s first round talent decade-by-decade, the Bruins had three first round picks in the 2000s, six in the 2010s and have only Latu for the 2020s so far. The Bruins have produced a pair of successful second round picks this decade, with both Schwesinger and Zach Charbonnet off to impressive starts to their NFL careers.

We’ll see over the coming years if Chesney is able to return UCLA to becoming a more frequent hotbed for first round talent.

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA was out of the picture during the first round of the NFL Draft