UCLA threw the pads on for the first time today, and outside of a few plays here and there, the defense absolutely dominated the near-three-hour workout. Here were the notables from the afternoon:
-After missing the last hour of Saturday's practice, Sunny Odogwu sat out the entire workout this afternoon. It appears to be a leg injury. Soso Jamabo (back) also missed the workout. Jalen Starks got hurt on the first play of 11-on-11s and also sat out the rest of practice.
-UCLA's offensive day, and its entire ground game, could be summed up nicely by the afternoon's first 11-on-11 series. It was a live goal-line drill. On the first play, Jalen Starks took the handoff, was met by five Bruin defenders, was stripped of the football by Lokeni Toailoa (who ran it back for a score) and then got injured. A few plays later, Bolu Olorunfunmi coughed up a handoff and gave it back to the defense. Several more plays later, Nate Starks was wrapped up for a 5-yard loss by Nick Terry. It took probably eight or nine tries for UCLA's offense to score, and even then it was on a sneaky fullback dive.
-UCLA's defense is pretty stingy, and it should be the strength of UCLA this year, especially in the secondary. But the Bruins' running game, particularly just the individual performances from the running backs, has been alarming through two padded days of practice so far. If you told me Bolu Olorunfunmi had more negative or non-gaining runs than positive ones, I'd believe you. The story is similar for Nate Starks. The only effective run play UCLA had today was its draws, which actually ate up huge chunks of yards.
-I thought Josh Rosen was fine today. No real wow throws from the QB, but also no missed easy or intermediate throws either.
-With Odogwu out, Kenny Lacy took all of the first-team reps at right tackle. I thought he was pretty good in 11-on-11s, but lost most of his 1-on-1 reps. The first-team O-line in general has been actually really good for these first two padded practices so far, at least when it comes to pass protection. Kolton Miller has been a wall at left tackle and I've loved what Andre James has done at right guard. James had one of the biggest "oh" and "awe" plays today, coming out on a kick out block and laying a pop on a defender.
With Soso and Odogwu missing practice, here's what today's depth chart looked like:
Offense
QB - Josh Rosen; Devon Modster
RB - Bolu Olorunfunmi; Nate Starks
WR - I had Eldridge Massington and Darren Andrews as the first-teamers today.
TE - Caleb Wilson; Jordan Wilson
LT - Kolton Miller; Jake Burton
LG - Najee Toran; Zach Sweeney
C - Scott Quessenberry; Josh Wariboko
RG - Andre James; Michael Alves
RT - Kenny Lacy; Poasi Moala
Defense
DE - Jaelan Phillips; Keisean Lucier-South
DT - Jacob Tuioti-Mariner; Chigozie Nnoruka
DT - Boss Tagaloa; Nick Terry
DE - Matt Dickerson; Rick Wade
OLB - Kenny Young; Breland Brandt
MLB - Lokeni Toailoa; Mique Juarez
OLB - Josh Woods; Krys Barnes
CB - Darnay Holmes; Denzel Fisher
S - Adarius Pickett; Will Lockett
S - Jaleel Wadood, Octo Spencer
CB - Nate Meadors, Colin Samuel
-UCLA did more WR-DB 1-on-1s today and the DBs threw on the oven mitts once again. My top performer from the drill was Jordan Lasley, who repeatedly destroyed defenders. After one long gainer, he walked down the sideline yelling, "They can't guard me!" and "Throw me the damn ball!" I also thought Darnay Holmes was really good, recording yet another pick. Jaleel Wadood had a nice interception too. Most others in this drill won as many reps as they lost.
-UCLA worked on starting punt return today, and Darnay Holmes, Jordan Lasley, Damian Alloway and Darren Andrews were the returners. Still liked Holmes, but Alloway showed something here as well. As for the punters, I had Stefan Flintoft at kicks of 47, 50 and 37. I had Austin Kent at 38, 50 and 54. Neither has really looked like a scholarship-worthy punter this camp, but Flintoft is still at least consistent with his hangtimes and yardage for the most part.
-Jaylan Shaw caught an earful from Mora in punt drills. After not running to his position, Mora made the team restart the drill. When Shaw did it again, Mora made them restart it again. Shaw hasn't earned much playing time at all through the first week here.
-Alex Van Dyke had the first dropsies day of camp from UCLA's wideouts. He dropped a nicely thrown deep ball from Josh Rosen that would have been a TD. A few plays later he dropped a throw to the sidelines as well. Overall, drops haven't been an issue this camp, but they remain a problem for Van Dyke it seems.
-Jaleel Wadood picked off Rosen in 11-on-11s when Caleb Wilson fell down. It's notable because while UCLA's secondary has been superb in coverage, they don't get many 11-on-11 picks. Rosen usually just dirts it for a coverage sack.
-A guy who's having a really solid camp is Will Lockett. The safety doesn't do much in terms of huge notable plays, but he's just always around the football and he rarely loses 1-on-1 reps.
-I'm not sure Austin Burton has a strong enough arm to ever be a huge successful Pac-12 quarterback, but he's been above average through camp so far. He has a good feel for the game and it doesn't seem too big for him. He had a nice scramble that would have gone for a 50-yard score. He reminds me a bit of a right-handed Kellen Moore in that regard.
UCLA practices again on Monday at 3:15 p.m.
-After missing the last hour of Saturday's practice, Sunny Odogwu sat out the entire workout this afternoon. It appears to be a leg injury. Soso Jamabo (back) also missed the workout. Jalen Starks got hurt on the first play of 11-on-11s and also sat out the rest of practice.
-UCLA's offensive day, and its entire ground game, could be summed up nicely by the afternoon's first 11-on-11 series. It was a live goal-line drill. On the first play, Jalen Starks took the handoff, was met by five Bruin defenders, was stripped of the football by Lokeni Toailoa (who ran it back for a score) and then got injured. A few plays later, Bolu Olorunfunmi coughed up a handoff and gave it back to the defense. Several more plays later, Nate Starks was wrapped up for a 5-yard loss by Nick Terry. It took probably eight or nine tries for UCLA's offense to score, and even then it was on a sneaky fullback dive.
-UCLA's defense is pretty stingy, and it should be the strength of UCLA this year, especially in the secondary. But the Bruins' running game, particularly just the individual performances from the running backs, has been alarming through two padded days of practice so far. If you told me Bolu Olorunfunmi had more negative or non-gaining runs than positive ones, I'd believe you. The story is similar for Nate Starks. The only effective run play UCLA had today was its draws, which actually ate up huge chunks of yards.
-I thought Josh Rosen was fine today. No real wow throws from the QB, but also no missed easy or intermediate throws either.
-With Odogwu out, Kenny Lacy took all of the first-team reps at right tackle. I thought he was pretty good in 11-on-11s, but lost most of his 1-on-1 reps. The first-team O-line in general has been actually really good for these first two padded practices so far, at least when it comes to pass protection. Kolton Miller has been a wall at left tackle and I've loved what Andre James has done at right guard. James had one of the biggest "oh" and "awe" plays today, coming out on a kick out block and laying a pop on a defender.
With Soso and Odogwu missing practice, here's what today's depth chart looked like:
Offense
QB - Josh Rosen; Devon Modster
RB - Bolu Olorunfunmi; Nate Starks
WR - I had Eldridge Massington and Darren Andrews as the first-teamers today.
TE - Caleb Wilson; Jordan Wilson
LT - Kolton Miller; Jake Burton
LG - Najee Toran; Zach Sweeney
C - Scott Quessenberry; Josh Wariboko
RG - Andre James; Michael Alves
RT - Kenny Lacy; Poasi Moala
Defense
DE - Jaelan Phillips; Keisean Lucier-South
DT - Jacob Tuioti-Mariner; Chigozie Nnoruka
DT - Boss Tagaloa; Nick Terry
DE - Matt Dickerson; Rick Wade
OLB - Kenny Young; Breland Brandt
MLB - Lokeni Toailoa; Mique Juarez
OLB - Josh Woods; Krys Barnes
CB - Darnay Holmes; Denzel Fisher
S - Adarius Pickett; Will Lockett
S - Jaleel Wadood, Octo Spencer
CB - Nate Meadors, Colin Samuel
-UCLA did more WR-DB 1-on-1s today and the DBs threw on the oven mitts once again. My top performer from the drill was Jordan Lasley, who repeatedly destroyed defenders. After one long gainer, he walked down the sideline yelling, "They can't guard me!" and "Throw me the damn ball!" I also thought Darnay Holmes was really good, recording yet another pick. Jaleel Wadood had a nice interception too. Most others in this drill won as many reps as they lost.
-UCLA worked on starting punt return today, and Darnay Holmes, Jordan Lasley, Damian Alloway and Darren Andrews were the returners. Still liked Holmes, but Alloway showed something here as well. As for the punters, I had Stefan Flintoft at kicks of 47, 50 and 37. I had Austin Kent at 38, 50 and 54. Neither has really looked like a scholarship-worthy punter this camp, but Flintoft is still at least consistent with his hangtimes and yardage for the most part.
-Jaylan Shaw caught an earful from Mora in punt drills. After not running to his position, Mora made the team restart the drill. When Shaw did it again, Mora made them restart it again. Shaw hasn't earned much playing time at all through the first week here.
-Alex Van Dyke had the first dropsies day of camp from UCLA's wideouts. He dropped a nicely thrown deep ball from Josh Rosen that would have been a TD. A few plays later he dropped a throw to the sidelines as well. Overall, drops haven't been an issue this camp, but they remain a problem for Van Dyke it seems.
-Jaleel Wadood picked off Rosen in 11-on-11s when Caleb Wilson fell down. It's notable because while UCLA's secondary has been superb in coverage, they don't get many 11-on-11 picks. Rosen usually just dirts it for a coverage sack.
-A guy who's having a really solid camp is Will Lockett. The safety doesn't do much in terms of huge notable plays, but he's just always around the football and he rarely loses 1-on-1 reps.
-I'm not sure Austin Burton has a strong enough arm to ever be a huge successful Pac-12 quarterback, but he's been above average through camp so far. He has a good feel for the game and it doesn't seem too big for him. He had a nice scramble that would have gone for a 50-yard score. He reminds me a bit of a right-handed Kellen Moore in that regard.
UCLA practices again on Monday at 3:15 p.m.
