UCLA had its first day of fall camp this afternoon, and to just about everyone's surprise, it was a pleasant 85-or-so degrees. The team looked in shape and it was a crisp two-hour workout. Here were the notes from the afternoon:
-Jim Mora had several updates on players who were not out at practice today. First, OL Simon Goines has a medical issue that Mora declined to get into. He said Goines will miss the entire San Bernardino camp. RB Craig Lee is not on the roster and was not out at camp, but Mora said he has an academic situation that he didn't sound too concerned about. Freshman TE Chris Clark was out at practice but not suited up and Mora said he's dealing with mono. He said he hopes the big frosh will be out at practice tomorrow. Freshman receiver Cordell Broadus was also missing from camp today, and Mora said he's taking a day or two off to deal with a personal situation.
-Defensive back Justin Combs is still on the team, despite the infamous Diddy altercation.
-Redshirt freshman Aaron Sharp came out in a yellow quarterbacks jersey, but quickly put on a blue receiver jersey and worked with the wideouts today. He actually had a nice back-shoulder catch later in 7-on-7.
-Running back Steven Manfro looks fully recovered from his knee injury, but early in drills, he fell on his shoulder and left practice. It didn't look too serious, but he'll likely miss some time.
-For the freshmen, here's where some of the notable ones worked out today: Andre James at right tackle, Octo Spencer at S, DeChaun Holiday at CB, Will Lockett at S, Colin Samuel at CB, Stephen Johnson at slot receiver, Soso Jamabo at RB, Fred Ulu-Perry at center, Keisean Lucier-South at OLB and Rick Wade at DE.
-On the offensive depth chart front, here was your starting offense: QB Jerry Neuheisel, RB Paul Perkins, WR Jordan Payton, F Mossi Johnson, Y Thomas Duarte, WR Eldridge Massington, LT Conor McDermott, LG Kenny Lacy, C Jake Brendel, RG Alex Redmond, RT Caleb Benenoch. Here was your No. 2 unit: QB Josh Rosen, RB Nate Starks, WR Alex Van Dyke, F Devin Fuller, Y Nate Iese, WR Jordan Lasley, LT Kolton Miller, LG Josh Wariboko, C Fred Ulu-Perry, RG Poasi Moala, RT Cristian Garcia.
-On the quarterback front, Neuheisel took the first-team reps for about the first 60 percent of practice, but Josh Rosen had about the last 40 percent. And, as usual, Rosen dazzled. There were times out there when he was the best player on the field. In 7-on-7 in particular, there weren't many incompletions, if any at all.
-Working at punt returner today were your usual suspects: Ish Adams, Randall Goforth, Rosy Davis, Devin Fuller, Stephen Johnson III, Jordan Lasley and Jaleel Wadood.
-On the defensive depth chart front, here was your starting defense: CB Marcus Rios, S Jaleel Wadood, S Randall Goforth, CB Fabian Moreau, OLB Deon Hollins, ILB Myles Jack, ILB Kenny Young, DE Takk McKinley, DT Kenny Clark, DE Eddie Vanderdoes, OLB Aaron Wallace. The second string unit looked like this: CB Ish Adams, CB John Johnson, S Nate Meadors, S Tahaan Goodman, OLB Kene Orjioke, ILB Jayon Brown, ILB Isaako Savaiinaea, OLB Cam Judge, DE Matt Dickerson, DT Eli Ankou, DE Jacob Tuioti-Mariner.
-A defensive note here: Dwight Williams was back at inside linebacker today after moving to safety in the spring.
-There wasn't too much action on the 11-on-11 front with most players in just jerseys and shorts. But there were some notes there:
-Takk McKinley had one of the plays of the day, scooping up a fumbled bubble screen (which was probably an incompletion, but whatever) and taking it some 40 yards for a touchdown. He's still about the same size, but obviously moving well out there.
-Devin Fuller ran a little wildcat package for several snaps. He threw a tremendous duck on one of them, but Roosevelt Davis was able to dive and haul in the catch for a big gain.
-Fred Ulu-Perry really struggled with his shotgun snaps. He had poor Mike Fafaul running for balls on the ground on several plays in 11-on-11s. Physically, though, he looks like he belongs.
-I thought Deon Hollins was the defensive player of the day. He ran right around Andre James like he was an orange cone on one play for a would-be sack. I also saw him put several moves on Zach Bateman for another would-be sack earlier in the day. That first step is no joke.
-Marcus Rios could have been in line for defensive player of the day as well. He had several pass breakups and Demetrice Martin could often be heard yelling, "Great job Marcos!"
-The catch and throw of the day went to Josh Rosen and Eldridge Massington. Rosen unloaded a 40-yardish deep ball to a double-covered Massington, but the throw was so perfectly placed it beat both Tahaan Goodman and Nate Meadors for the score.
-Rick Wade had a solid afternoon, making a couple nice tackles for loss. He also looks bigger since the last time I saw him in the spring. He's got upside.
-A guy I was sort of surprised to see struggling a bit was Soso Jamabo. He just looked a step slow out there, and in individual drills when coaches were swinging bags at running backs, he was getting knocked around a bit. We saw him guzzling water on the sidelines and spitting a whole lot, so maybe Day One out here just had him gassed and not Soso-like.
-Another freshman who I thought struggled a bit was DeChaun Holiday at corner. He had a few pass breakups, sure, but he is just so big that I'm not sure if he'll really be able to play that position effectively full time. I've been saying it for a while, but I think he might be a better wideout than DB.
-The freshmen safeties, Octo Spencer and Will Lockett, were rangy and looked good at times out there.
-Bolu Olorunfunmi had a nice first day. He caught all the passes thrown to him, which was an issue with him during his recruitment, and he ran with power.
UCLA practices again on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
-Jim Mora had several updates on players who were not out at practice today. First, OL Simon Goines has a medical issue that Mora declined to get into. He said Goines will miss the entire San Bernardino camp. RB Craig Lee is not on the roster and was not out at camp, but Mora said he has an academic situation that he didn't sound too concerned about. Freshman TE Chris Clark was out at practice but not suited up and Mora said he's dealing with mono. He said he hopes the big frosh will be out at practice tomorrow. Freshman receiver Cordell Broadus was also missing from camp today, and Mora said he's taking a day or two off to deal with a personal situation.
-Defensive back Justin Combs is still on the team, despite the infamous Diddy altercation.
-Redshirt freshman Aaron Sharp came out in a yellow quarterbacks jersey, but quickly put on a blue receiver jersey and worked with the wideouts today. He actually had a nice back-shoulder catch later in 7-on-7.
-Running back Steven Manfro looks fully recovered from his knee injury, but early in drills, he fell on his shoulder and left practice. It didn't look too serious, but he'll likely miss some time.
-For the freshmen, here's where some of the notable ones worked out today: Andre James at right tackle, Octo Spencer at S, DeChaun Holiday at CB, Will Lockett at S, Colin Samuel at CB, Stephen Johnson at slot receiver, Soso Jamabo at RB, Fred Ulu-Perry at center, Keisean Lucier-South at OLB and Rick Wade at DE.
-On the offensive depth chart front, here was your starting offense: QB Jerry Neuheisel, RB Paul Perkins, WR Jordan Payton, F Mossi Johnson, Y Thomas Duarte, WR Eldridge Massington, LT Conor McDermott, LG Kenny Lacy, C Jake Brendel, RG Alex Redmond, RT Caleb Benenoch. Here was your No. 2 unit: QB Josh Rosen, RB Nate Starks, WR Alex Van Dyke, F Devin Fuller, Y Nate Iese, WR Jordan Lasley, LT Kolton Miller, LG Josh Wariboko, C Fred Ulu-Perry, RG Poasi Moala, RT Cristian Garcia.
-On the quarterback front, Neuheisel took the first-team reps for about the first 60 percent of practice, but Josh Rosen had about the last 40 percent. And, as usual, Rosen dazzled. There were times out there when he was the best player on the field. In 7-on-7 in particular, there weren't many incompletions, if any at all.
-Working at punt returner today were your usual suspects: Ish Adams, Randall Goforth, Rosy Davis, Devin Fuller, Stephen Johnson III, Jordan Lasley and Jaleel Wadood.
-On the defensive depth chart front, here was your starting defense: CB Marcus Rios, S Jaleel Wadood, S Randall Goforth, CB Fabian Moreau, OLB Deon Hollins, ILB Myles Jack, ILB Kenny Young, DE Takk McKinley, DT Kenny Clark, DE Eddie Vanderdoes, OLB Aaron Wallace. The second string unit looked like this: CB Ish Adams, CB John Johnson, S Nate Meadors, S Tahaan Goodman, OLB Kene Orjioke, ILB Jayon Brown, ILB Isaako Savaiinaea, OLB Cam Judge, DE Matt Dickerson, DT Eli Ankou, DE Jacob Tuioti-Mariner.
-A defensive note here: Dwight Williams was back at inside linebacker today after moving to safety in the spring.
-There wasn't too much action on the 11-on-11 front with most players in just jerseys and shorts. But there were some notes there:
-Takk McKinley had one of the plays of the day, scooping up a fumbled bubble screen (which was probably an incompletion, but whatever) and taking it some 40 yards for a touchdown. He's still about the same size, but obviously moving well out there.
-Devin Fuller ran a little wildcat package for several snaps. He threw a tremendous duck on one of them, but Roosevelt Davis was able to dive and haul in the catch for a big gain.
-Fred Ulu-Perry really struggled with his shotgun snaps. He had poor Mike Fafaul running for balls on the ground on several plays in 11-on-11s. Physically, though, he looks like he belongs.
-I thought Deon Hollins was the defensive player of the day. He ran right around Andre James like he was an orange cone on one play for a would-be sack. I also saw him put several moves on Zach Bateman for another would-be sack earlier in the day. That first step is no joke.
-Marcus Rios could have been in line for defensive player of the day as well. He had several pass breakups and Demetrice Martin could often be heard yelling, "Great job Marcos!"
-The catch and throw of the day went to Josh Rosen and Eldridge Massington. Rosen unloaded a 40-yardish deep ball to a double-covered Massington, but the throw was so perfectly placed it beat both Tahaan Goodman and Nate Meadors for the score.
-Rick Wade had a solid afternoon, making a couple nice tackles for loss. He also looks bigger since the last time I saw him in the spring. He's got upside.
-A guy I was sort of surprised to see struggling a bit was Soso Jamabo. He just looked a step slow out there, and in individual drills when coaches were swinging bags at running backs, he was getting knocked around a bit. We saw him guzzling water on the sidelines and spitting a whole lot, so maybe Day One out here just had him gassed and not Soso-like.
-Another freshman who I thought struggled a bit was DeChaun Holiday at corner. He had a few pass breakups, sure, but he is just so big that I'm not sure if he'll really be able to play that position effectively full time. I've been saying it for a while, but I think he might be a better wideout than DB.
-The freshmen safeties, Octo Spencer and Will Lockett, were rangy and looked good at times out there.
-Bolu Olorunfunmi had a nice first day. He caught all the passes thrown to him, which was an issue with him during his recruitment, and he ran with power.
UCLA practices again on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
