UCLA practiced for nearly three hours Monday night, and while it was missing Josh Rosen, there were still plenty of live 11-on-11s to evaluate. So here were the news and notes from the evening:
-Rosen missed practice this evening because of a funeral, which left the quarterback battle basically between Asiantii Woulard and Jerry Neuheisel. Woulard took all the reps with the ones, while Neuheisel had the twos. Woulard started off practice really well, using both his feet and arm to pick up yards. The game actually looked to be moving slower for him for the first time since he's been here. But about halfway through practice, it all started to fall apart. He threw several interceptions and the game started to look too fast for him once again. Neuheisel wasn't much better playing behind a second-string O-line that got worked by the second-string D-line. Constantly under pressure, Neuheisel didn't complete many passes in 11-on-11s. In 7-on-7s, he wasn't much better, and had one of the worst throws of camp so far, floating / clanking a deep out route off Marcus Rios' helmet. It'll be interesting to see who actually comes out of this battle as the No. 2 behind Rosen.
-Running backs Paul Perkins and Nate Starks had outstanding days running behind UCLA's first-string O-line. The two may have combined for 100 yards a piece when all was said and done. Their vision and then their authority to hit the hole when they see it was on full display this evening at Spaulding.
-We saw Tom Bradley's nickel defense for the first time today. The first string unit featured Takkarist McKinley, Eddie Vanderdoes, Kenny Clark and Deon Hollins on the D-line, Kenny Young and Myles Jack at linebacker and Fabian Moreau, Ish Adams, Marcus Rios, Randall Goforth and Jaleel Wadood at defensive backs.
-There were plenty of individual standouts today, and most came from the defense. Wadood started off practice on fire, hitting Perkins so hard it forced a fumble. Then, in 1-on-1s, he broke up two more passes and has arguably been this defense's second-best player behind Jack all spring.
-Aaron Wallace also had a nice day, mostly running with the second-team nickel defense at DE. He had two would-have-been sacks and countless tackles for loss.
-Jordan Lasley has apparently been talked to about throwing fists at defenders, and today, he finally just let his play do the talking. He had one bad drop, but other than that, he was a star. He blew by Johnny Johnson (twice) and Denzel Fisher for big scores in 1-on-1s and had some nice grabs in 11-on-11s too.
-Fabian Moreau locked down Kenny Walker in 1-on-1s, winning all three reps by a wide margin. Marcus Rios, meanwhile, was all over Alex Van Dyke, winning his three reps easily. Rios was the best cornerback today, grabbing an interception off Woulard in 11-on-11s and recording a few tackles as well.
-Myles Jack was a freak show again in 1-on-1s, breaking up a Mossi Johnson corner route and then nearly running down a deep ball intended for Devin Fuller.
-Tahaan Goodman looked great here last spring, but he's been just about the opposite this spring. He got beat badly in every rep we saw him take in 1-on-1s.
-A guy who's really been a surprise so far has been Nate Meadors, who had a big pass breakup on Mossi Johnson in 1-on-1s and then a near pick on Aaron Sharp in 11-on-11s. That was a really nice find by Demetrice Martin.
-The improvement of defensive ends Matt Dickerson and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner should be giving UCLA fans a serious sigh of relief. With Clark and Vanderdoes looking NFL bound, Dickerson and Tuioti-Mariner look more than capable of taking over their spots at this point. Dickerson was great in 1-on-1s and was constantly in the backfield in 11-on-11s. Tuioti-Mariner, meanwhile, has put on some great size and has been stout against the run so far this spring.
-Kenny Young had another big day, tipping one pass at the line of scrimmage in 11-on-11, nearly intercepting Jerry Neuheisel in 7-on-7s and then recording plenty of tackles in run support too. He and Jack look like they are going to record some big-time numbers this season at the inside linebacker spots.
-Jayon Brown, too, had a huge day at inside linebacker. He forced a big fumble on Aaron Sharp and had probably double-digit tackles in the 11-on-11 periods as well.
-Some of the notables from OL-DL 1-on-1s: Conor McDermott continues to own Takk McKinley; Alex Redmond really struggled against Ainuu Taua; Caleb Benenoch returned to action here and won most of his reps versus Tuioti-Mariner, but he still looked a little rusty; Zach Bateman had two really nice reps against Najee Toran, looking like he may finally be picking up the pace of this game out here.
-Kenny Clark had the play of the day, recording an interception off a tipped Woulard pass. It actually was so impressive, it ended practice.
-Four-star LB Krys Barnes and 2015 DL Kyon Clark were the lone notable recruits in attendance that we spotted.
UCLA returns to practice Wednesday morning at 7.
-Rosen missed practice this evening because of a funeral, which left the quarterback battle basically between Asiantii Woulard and Jerry Neuheisel. Woulard took all the reps with the ones, while Neuheisel had the twos. Woulard started off practice really well, using both his feet and arm to pick up yards. The game actually looked to be moving slower for him for the first time since he's been here. But about halfway through practice, it all started to fall apart. He threw several interceptions and the game started to look too fast for him once again. Neuheisel wasn't much better playing behind a second-string O-line that got worked by the second-string D-line. Constantly under pressure, Neuheisel didn't complete many passes in 11-on-11s. In 7-on-7s, he wasn't much better, and had one of the worst throws of camp so far, floating / clanking a deep out route off Marcus Rios' helmet. It'll be interesting to see who actually comes out of this battle as the No. 2 behind Rosen.
-Running backs Paul Perkins and Nate Starks had outstanding days running behind UCLA's first-string O-line. The two may have combined for 100 yards a piece when all was said and done. Their vision and then their authority to hit the hole when they see it was on full display this evening at Spaulding.
-We saw Tom Bradley's nickel defense for the first time today. The first string unit featured Takkarist McKinley, Eddie Vanderdoes, Kenny Clark and Deon Hollins on the D-line, Kenny Young and Myles Jack at linebacker and Fabian Moreau, Ish Adams, Marcus Rios, Randall Goforth and Jaleel Wadood at defensive backs.
-There were plenty of individual standouts today, and most came from the defense. Wadood started off practice on fire, hitting Perkins so hard it forced a fumble. Then, in 1-on-1s, he broke up two more passes and has arguably been this defense's second-best player behind Jack all spring.
-Aaron Wallace also had a nice day, mostly running with the second-team nickel defense at DE. He had two would-have-been sacks and countless tackles for loss.
-Jordan Lasley has apparently been talked to about throwing fists at defenders, and today, he finally just let his play do the talking. He had one bad drop, but other than that, he was a star. He blew by Johnny Johnson (twice) and Denzel Fisher for big scores in 1-on-1s and had some nice grabs in 11-on-11s too.
-Fabian Moreau locked down Kenny Walker in 1-on-1s, winning all three reps by a wide margin. Marcus Rios, meanwhile, was all over Alex Van Dyke, winning his three reps easily. Rios was the best cornerback today, grabbing an interception off Woulard in 11-on-11s and recording a few tackles as well.
-Myles Jack was a freak show again in 1-on-1s, breaking up a Mossi Johnson corner route and then nearly running down a deep ball intended for Devin Fuller.
-Tahaan Goodman looked great here last spring, but he's been just about the opposite this spring. He got beat badly in every rep we saw him take in 1-on-1s.
-A guy who's really been a surprise so far has been Nate Meadors, who had a big pass breakup on Mossi Johnson in 1-on-1s and then a near pick on Aaron Sharp in 11-on-11s. That was a really nice find by Demetrice Martin.
-The improvement of defensive ends Matt Dickerson and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner should be giving UCLA fans a serious sigh of relief. With Clark and Vanderdoes looking NFL bound, Dickerson and Tuioti-Mariner look more than capable of taking over their spots at this point. Dickerson was great in 1-on-1s and was constantly in the backfield in 11-on-11s. Tuioti-Mariner, meanwhile, has put on some great size and has been stout against the run so far this spring.
-Kenny Young had another big day, tipping one pass at the line of scrimmage in 11-on-11, nearly intercepting Jerry Neuheisel in 7-on-7s and then recording plenty of tackles in run support too. He and Jack look like they are going to record some big-time numbers this season at the inside linebacker spots.
-Jayon Brown, too, had a huge day at inside linebacker. He forced a big fumble on Aaron Sharp and had probably double-digit tackles in the 11-on-11 periods as well.
-Some of the notables from OL-DL 1-on-1s: Conor McDermott continues to own Takk McKinley; Alex Redmond really struggled against Ainuu Taua; Caleb Benenoch returned to action here and won most of his reps versus Tuioti-Mariner, but he still looked a little rusty; Zach Bateman had two really nice reps against Najee Toran, looking like he may finally be picking up the pace of this game out here.
-Kenny Clark had the play of the day, recording an interception off a tipped Woulard pass. It actually was so impressive, it ended practice.
-Four-star LB Krys Barnes and 2015 DL Kyon Clark were the lone notable recruits in attendance that we spotted.
UCLA returns to practice Wednesday morning at 7.
