UCLA had one of its shorter practices Wednesday and it was filled with a lot of power runs and goalline drills. So there weren't too many notes to jot down. Nonetheless, here were the observations:
-UCLA got bit by the injury bug today. Alex Van Dyke grabbed a hamstring in warmups and didn't make it through practice the rest of the day. Craig Lee appeared to do the same. Mossi Johnson wasn't out at practice after tweaking something on Monday. Simon Goines missed a lot of reps limping around for most of practice. Other injured guys like Eldridge Massington, Caleb Benenoch, Austin Roberts, Eli Ankou, Steven Manfro, Darren Andrews and Kenny Orjioke all were limited as well.
-With Goines in and out of practice, Kolton Miller actually ran with the ones at right tackle and he looked great again. I saw him stonewall both Deon Hollins and Takk McKinley a few times in 11-on-11s, and I think if UCLA were forced to use him at starting RT this year, he'd be fine.
-On the quarterback front, it was a Josh Rosen and Mike Fafaul day, and my opinion on this battle did not change. Rosen made three throws that were jaw dropping today, including a deep ball to Jordan Lasley and a throw down in the redzone to a walk-on that made even Eric Yarber throw his paper in the air in disbelief. The offense runs so smoothly with him under center, and it's very clear he should be the starter here. It should be noted that Fafaul had another good day today, and if we were in a vacuum, he'd probably be the No. 2 guy here.
-Marcus Rios appears to have officially supplanted Ishmael Adams as the starting corner opposite of Fabian Moreau. He took the reps with the ones and didn't give up much once again.
-Outside linebacker Cameron Griffin had a good practice yet again, making a few tackles for loss.
-Roosevelt Davis had arguably the play of the day, catching an errant shotgun snap with a right hand down on the goalline, juking a defender and scoring a touchdown. Jordon James used to be the human joystick out here, but Davis has that crown now. He's had a great camp.
-It was a tough day to see 1-on-1s, but we caught most of the OL-DL 1-on-1s. Kenny Lacy had a nice block on Matt Dickerson; Alex Redmond handled Eddie Vanderdoes well; Jake Brendel stood up Kenny Clark; Caleb Benenoch moved well against Jacob Tuioti-Mariner; Najee Toran had a great bullrush on Zach Bateman; and Ainuu Taua continued his good 1-on-1 stretch beating Poasi Moala handily.
-Ka'imi Fairbairn had another very poor day kicking the football. He rotated with Stefan Flintoft, who was also bad, and the two combined to go eight for 15. Fairbairn doesn't look like he's improved one bit since his freshman season.
UCLA practices again on Thursday at 7 a.m.
-UCLA got bit by the injury bug today. Alex Van Dyke grabbed a hamstring in warmups and didn't make it through practice the rest of the day. Craig Lee appeared to do the same. Mossi Johnson wasn't out at practice after tweaking something on Monday. Simon Goines missed a lot of reps limping around for most of practice. Other injured guys like Eldridge Massington, Caleb Benenoch, Austin Roberts, Eli Ankou, Steven Manfro, Darren Andrews and Kenny Orjioke all were limited as well.
-With Goines in and out of practice, Kolton Miller actually ran with the ones at right tackle and he looked great again. I saw him stonewall both Deon Hollins and Takk McKinley a few times in 11-on-11s, and I think if UCLA were forced to use him at starting RT this year, he'd be fine.
-On the quarterback front, it was a Josh Rosen and Mike Fafaul day, and my opinion on this battle did not change. Rosen made three throws that were jaw dropping today, including a deep ball to Jordan Lasley and a throw down in the redzone to a walk-on that made even Eric Yarber throw his paper in the air in disbelief. The offense runs so smoothly with him under center, and it's very clear he should be the starter here. It should be noted that Fafaul had another good day today, and if we were in a vacuum, he'd probably be the No. 2 guy here.
-Marcus Rios appears to have officially supplanted Ishmael Adams as the starting corner opposite of Fabian Moreau. He took the reps with the ones and didn't give up much once again.
-Outside linebacker Cameron Griffin had a good practice yet again, making a few tackles for loss.
-Roosevelt Davis had arguably the play of the day, catching an errant shotgun snap with a right hand down on the goalline, juking a defender and scoring a touchdown. Jordon James used to be the human joystick out here, but Davis has that crown now. He's had a great camp.
-It was a tough day to see 1-on-1s, but we caught most of the OL-DL 1-on-1s. Kenny Lacy had a nice block on Matt Dickerson; Alex Redmond handled Eddie Vanderdoes well; Jake Brendel stood up Kenny Clark; Caleb Benenoch moved well against Jacob Tuioti-Mariner; Najee Toran had a great bullrush on Zach Bateman; and Ainuu Taua continued his good 1-on-1 stretch beating Poasi Moala handily.
-Ka'imi Fairbairn had another very poor day kicking the football. He rotated with Stefan Flintoft, who was also bad, and the two combined to go eight for 15. Fairbairn doesn't look like he's improved one bit since his freshman season.
UCLA practices again on Thursday at 7 a.m.
