I do not usually post someone else's work. But Caleb deserves people to know how hard he has worked and how well thought of he is throughout the college football world. We have a stud who is ranked number one and deserves all the love and support Bruin fans can give him. I hope...I HOPE he blows up and steal the spotlight from all others this year. He has worked hard enough to earn that love.
UCLA's Caleb Wilson ready to prove analytics right after injury-shortened breakout season
Wilson is one of the highest rated college football players in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus
"It's kind of cool to see," tight end Caleb Wilson says of the evidence laid before him.
About now you're probably asking yourself: Just who the heck is Caleb Wilson?
Well, he's humble, for starters. UCLA's redshirt junior knows that Pro Football Focus having him listed as the nation's best returning Power Five player comes with several asterisks.
First, Wilson played in only five games last year before being sidelined with a foot injury. Second, Wilson's "honor" is largely a product of analytics.
Third, well, it's up to him, you and anyone else to figure out what a guy who played less than half a season is doing as the best Power Five player in the country.
"I try to take it with a grain of salt," he said.
He should. While Wilson is a fine player with an impressive pedigree, an explanation is in order.
In those five games last year, Wilson caught 38 balls for 490 yards. Against Texas A&M in the opener, he had a school-record 15 receptions for 208 yards.
Wilson was in the process of becoming one of Josh Rosen's favorite targets -- while hauling in passes on a 91-catch pace -- before season-ending foot surgery.
But that was it … until folks started calling up Pro Football Focus' subscription site. It showed Wilson as the top tight end in the country in 2017. It showed that, with the departure of seven players ranked above him, Wilson is also the highest-rated offensive player overall. He possesses a 93.4 rating where a score of 90 and above is considered elite.
The departed rated ahead of Wilson in 2017: Josh Jackson, DB, Iowa (96.8); Maurice Hurst, DL, Michigan (96.5); Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma (95.2); Ronald Jones, RB, USC (95.1); Quenton Nelson, OL, Notre Dame (94.6); Frank Ragnow, C, Arkansas (94.1). All but one was selected in the first two rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft (Hurst, fifth). Northern Illinois defensive end Sutton Smith out of the MAC finished with a rating of 95.4 and enters his junior season as the nation's top returning player overall.
"He was tearing it up before he got hurt," said PFF senior analyst Steve Palazzo of Wilson. "It's tough to compare across positions. If you're really good in a small sample size, that's the context."
That's why PFF is in business. It has hundreds of analysts breaking down every player and every play in every game. Here's how Iowa State's David Montgomery became the No. 1 returning Power Five running back.
Somehow, Wilson ended the season at the No. 1 tight end ahead of Oklahoma All-American Mark Andrews, who caught eight touchdowns (to Wilson's one), run blocked on three times as many plays and has now seen action in two career College Football Playoff games.
"The reason why analytics would rank [Caleb] so high [is] they can only really rank production," said Jedd Fisch, UCLA's offensive coordinator last season. "When you look at per game, per play, per target, his production was through the roof. I think he had one drop."
The route to the top of the spreadsheet has been … interesting. Wilson is as grounded as his are numbers are high.
"We were so far behind in the A&M game, I wasn't thinking, 'Wow, I'm having a great game,'" Wilson said. "I'm thinking, 'We need a first down.' It didn't really hit me. 'You're the first tight end to have 200 yards in a game at UCLA.' I just told Josh, 'Thanks.'"
The son of a former Oklahoma linebacker, Wilson was there to revel in the celebration when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. (Caleb's father Chris Wilson is Philadelphia's defensive line coach.)
Because of the itinerant nature of his dad's profession -- stops at 12 junior college, college or pro jobs since 1994 -- Caleb attended three high schools in three states. He won a state championship in Starkville, Mississippi. At Gardena Serra in California, he split quarterback duties with Khalil Tate.
That didn't last long.
"We ended up going to [a] two-quarterback system," Wilson said. "You could see Khalil had some talent and he could some things with the ball I couldn't do."
Tate took over the job. Wilson switched to tight end. His only offer was from Old Dominion -- as a quarterback.
Then-USC coach Steve Sarkisian got wind of Wilson in 2015 and asked him to walk on as a tight end.
"During scout team, I really tried to put great film out," Wilson said. "Sam Darnold was my quarterback."
When Sark was fired, his USC tight ends coach Marques Tuiasosopo moved to UCLA as quarterbacks coach.
"Coach Tui definitely put his neck on the line for me," Wilson said.
Now, as an analytic celebrity, Wilson has to find his way with Chip Kelly, his third college coach. At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, Wilson certainly looks the part.
"I think he's the best tight end in the nation, for sure," said Bruins wideout Theo Howard.
We'll see. Kelly doesn't know who is quarterback is yet, much less how that guy is going to get the ball to Wilson.
"It's tough workload," Wilson said of the early days of playing under Kelly. "We work really hard. There is a daily report every day. You're graded by your strength, how you competed. Every single afternoon we get a team email.
"You know how every single player did that day."
Whether Wilson has thought about it or not, that sounds a lot like an analytic approach.
UCLA's Caleb Wilson ready to prove analytics right after injury-shortened breakout season
Wilson is one of the highest rated college football players in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus
- by Dennis Dodd
"It's kind of cool to see," tight end Caleb Wilson says of the evidence laid before him.
About now you're probably asking yourself: Just who the heck is Caleb Wilson?
Well, he's humble, for starters. UCLA's redshirt junior knows that Pro Football Focus having him listed as the nation's best returning Power Five player comes with several asterisks.
First, Wilson played in only five games last year before being sidelined with a foot injury. Second, Wilson's "honor" is largely a product of analytics.
Third, well, it's up to him, you and anyone else to figure out what a guy who played less than half a season is doing as the best Power Five player in the country.
"I try to take it with a grain of salt," he said.
He should. While Wilson is a fine player with an impressive pedigree, an explanation is in order.
In those five games last year, Wilson caught 38 balls for 490 yards. Against Texas A&M in the opener, he had a school-record 15 receptions for 208 yards.
Wilson was in the process of becoming one of Josh Rosen's favorite targets -- while hauling in passes on a 91-catch pace -- before season-ending foot surgery.
But that was it … until folks started calling up Pro Football Focus' subscription site. It showed Wilson as the top tight end in the country in 2017. It showed that, with the departure of seven players ranked above him, Wilson is also the highest-rated offensive player overall. He possesses a 93.4 rating where a score of 90 and above is considered elite.
The departed rated ahead of Wilson in 2017: Josh Jackson, DB, Iowa (96.8); Maurice Hurst, DL, Michigan (96.5); Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma (95.2); Ronald Jones, RB, USC (95.1); Quenton Nelson, OL, Notre Dame (94.6); Frank Ragnow, C, Arkansas (94.1). All but one was selected in the first two rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft (Hurst, fifth). Northern Illinois defensive end Sutton Smith out of the MAC finished with a rating of 95.4 and enters his junior season as the nation's top returning player overall.
"He was tearing it up before he got hurt," said PFF senior analyst Steve Palazzo of Wilson. "It's tough to compare across positions. If you're really good in a small sample size, that's the context."
That's why PFF is in business. It has hundreds of analysts breaking down every player and every play in every game. Here's how Iowa State's David Montgomery became the No. 1 returning Power Five running back.
Somehow, Wilson ended the season at the No. 1 tight end ahead of Oklahoma All-American Mark Andrews, who caught eight touchdowns (to Wilson's one), run blocked on three times as many plays and has now seen action in two career College Football Playoff games.
"The reason why analytics would rank [Caleb] so high [is] they can only really rank production," said Jedd Fisch, UCLA's offensive coordinator last season. "When you look at per game, per play, per target, his production was through the roof. I think he had one drop."
The route to the top of the spreadsheet has been … interesting. Wilson is as grounded as his are numbers are high.
"We were so far behind in the A&M game, I wasn't thinking, 'Wow, I'm having a great game,'" Wilson said. "I'm thinking, 'We need a first down.' It didn't really hit me. 'You're the first tight end to have 200 yards in a game at UCLA.' I just told Josh, 'Thanks.'"
The son of a former Oklahoma linebacker, Wilson was there to revel in the celebration when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. (Caleb's father Chris Wilson is Philadelphia's defensive line coach.)
Because of the itinerant nature of his dad's profession -- stops at 12 junior college, college or pro jobs since 1994 -- Caleb attended three high schools in three states. He won a state championship in Starkville, Mississippi. At Gardena Serra in California, he split quarterback duties with Khalil Tate.
That didn't last long.
"We ended up going to [a] two-quarterback system," Wilson said. "You could see Khalil had some talent and he could some things with the ball I couldn't do."
Tate took over the job. Wilson switched to tight end. His only offer was from Old Dominion -- as a quarterback.
Then-USC coach Steve Sarkisian got wind of Wilson in 2015 and asked him to walk on as a tight end.
"During scout team, I really tried to put great film out," Wilson said. "Sam Darnold was my quarterback."
When Sark was fired, his USC tight ends coach Marques Tuiasosopo moved to UCLA as quarterbacks coach.
"Coach Tui definitely put his neck on the line for me," Wilson said.
Now, as an analytic celebrity, Wilson has to find his way with Chip Kelly, his third college coach. At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, Wilson certainly looks the part.
"I think he's the best tight end in the nation, for sure," said Bruins wideout Theo Howard.
We'll see. Kelly doesn't know who is quarterback is yet, much less how that guy is going to get the ball to Wilson.
"It's tough workload," Wilson said of the early days of playing under Kelly. "We work really hard. There is a daily report every day. You're graded by your strength, how you competed. Every single afternoon we get a team email.
"You know how every single player did that day."
Whether Wilson has thought about it or not, that sounds a lot like an analytic approach.
