UCLA wrapped up another full pads practice on Wednesday morning. Here were the news and notes from the day:
Notables
-Lots of injury updates to get to. Like we reported in Monday's Instant Analysis, Tevita Halalilo has indeed suffered a setback and needs to have surgery again on his broken ankle. Jim Mora said he's not sure how long the big OL will miss, but I've heard it'll be the entire year.
-Freshman wideout Demetric Felton needs shoulder surgery after planting his arm awkwardly, Mora said. Linebackers Mique Juarez and Breland Brandt are still out with concussions. DB Randall Goforth sat out most of practice with a contusion above the knee. OL Najee Toran wasn't out at practice today. OL Poasi Moala is playing with a big wrap/cast on his right hand. OL Conor McDermott sat out nearly every contact drill today. DB Colin Samuel left practice early to ride a bike with Sal Alosi. DB Marcus Rios and LB Josh Woods remained out.
-Stephen Johnson spent most of practice today at cornerback, getting several 1-on-1 reps and then playing big minutes in 11-on-11 as well. He lost every 1-on-1 rep I saw him take, but he fared better in 11-on-11s. Demetrice Martin spent a lot of time coaching him up. It's not as slam dunk of a position change as I thought it'd be a week ago, but I still think the better 2016 position for him would be corner, just because of how well Ishmael Adams and now Darren Andrews have looked at slot receiver so far.
The Day Nine depth chart
-With all the injuries, the defensive back group looked like this today: CB - Octo Spencer, S - Jaleel Wadood, S - Tahaan Goodman, CB - Nate Meadors. Adarius Pickett worked with the twos at safety for the first time this camp.
-With Toran and McDermott out, the starting OL from left to right looked like this: Andre James, Kenny Lacy, Scott Quessenberry, Poasi Moala and Kolton Miller.
-Kenny Young continued to take first-team reps over Isaako Savaiinaea at inside linebacker, and he had his best practice of the spring today (more on that below).
Practice observations
-Practice started out with a very chippy 9-on-7. Guys looked like they were tired of hitting each other. McDermott got in a little tussle with Takkarist McKinley. Kenny Young got after it with Scott Quessenberry. Ainuu Taua and Jayon Brown got in a little scuffle. As practice progressed, however, things calmed down between the offense and the defense.
-Denzel Fisher had a really tough day today in 1-on-1s. He was beat in every 1-on-1 rep I saw him take, including a Cordell Broadus jump ball to start out the drill.
-Kenny Walker once again flashed in 1-on-1s, consistently creating separation with his big speed. He beat Octo Spencer so badly that the young DB fell down trying to keep up. As is the case nearly every practice, though, Walker did drop a jump ball that UCLA would expect him to make. That being said, in the following backed-up 11-on-11 drill, he made the longest play of camp so far, blowing by Spencer for what would have been a 99-yard touchdown from Josh Rosen.
-After really struggling on Saturday, the light looked to have clicked on for DeChaun Holiday today. He was outstanding in 1-on-1s, blanketing receivers like Jordan Lasley and tight end Austin Roberts. Later in 11-on-11, he helped come over the top to make a goal line fade a much more difficult throw. In 7-on-7s, he picked off Rosen. And even in 9-on-7, he was active in the run defense. It was by far the best practice I've seen from the San Diego DB in the year he's been here.
-Darren Andrews put together a nice practice for the second day in a row. Adarius Pickett can't stop him in 1-on-1s, and he got Tahaan Goodman in that same drill as well. In 7-on-7, he was effective with his crossing routes, and to end 11-on-11 drills for the day, he caught a little bubble screen that went the distance to force the defense to run (Kenny Walker made a fantastic block to spring him, by the way).
-Ishmael Adams had the play of the day, taking a little flat route 25 yards or so to the endzone. He dominated 1-on-1s once again and just overall was an explosive playmaker in every drill.
-Josh Wariboko is going to have nightmares of Nick Terry for the next few nights after today. The JUCO DL terrorized him in both 1-on-1s and 11-on-11s. There was a point in 1-on-1s where Adrian Klemm made Wariboko try four different times to block Terry, and Terry dominated them all. In 11-on-11s, Terry swam over Wariboko for a few sacks as well.
-Deon Hollins had a solid day, demolishing Zach Bateman in 1-on-1s and then making a few plays in the backfield in 11-on-11s. He remains relegated to second string, however, and probably even third string if Keisean Lucier-South keeps coming on.
-Kenny Young had one of his best practices as a Bruin. I had him marked down for several tackles in 9-on-7, the hit of the day on Nate Starks and a pass breakup in 7-on-7. Savaiinaea is probably the better game player than Young, but Young has been the better ILB in practice so far.
-Andre James had an up-and-down day in 1-on-1s. Takkarist McKinley beat him pretty badly twice to start the drill, but James more than held his own in three reps against KLS. He's playing left tackle right now, but with all the uncertainty at guard, it wouldn't shock me to see him slide down there eventually and be a starter if Tevita Halalilo can't make it back and the Lacy/Moala/Toran crew still struggles.
-Will Lockett continues to come on strong here lately. So much so, Demetrice Martin had him running with the twos at safety. He made a few tackles at the line of scrimmage in 11-on-11, he won the majority of his 1-on-1 reps that I saw, and he had great coverage on Eldridge Massington in 11-on-11 too.
-I thought the offense had much better pass protection today, and Rosen looked fine in 11-on-11s. But it was the first time the ground game has struggled this camp. There probably wasn't a single run that would have gone for longer than about eight yards. Usually every run averages about that.
-Freshman J.J. Molson had his first brutal day kicking the ball. I had him at 2-for-6 on the day with a few real mishits from 27 and 36 yards.
UCLA practices again on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Notables
-Lots of injury updates to get to. Like we reported in Monday's Instant Analysis, Tevita Halalilo has indeed suffered a setback and needs to have surgery again on his broken ankle. Jim Mora said he's not sure how long the big OL will miss, but I've heard it'll be the entire year.
-Freshman wideout Demetric Felton needs shoulder surgery after planting his arm awkwardly, Mora said. Linebackers Mique Juarez and Breland Brandt are still out with concussions. DB Randall Goforth sat out most of practice with a contusion above the knee. OL Najee Toran wasn't out at practice today. OL Poasi Moala is playing with a big wrap/cast on his right hand. OL Conor McDermott sat out nearly every contact drill today. DB Colin Samuel left practice early to ride a bike with Sal Alosi. DB Marcus Rios and LB Josh Woods remained out.
-Stephen Johnson spent most of practice today at cornerback, getting several 1-on-1 reps and then playing big minutes in 11-on-11 as well. He lost every 1-on-1 rep I saw him take, but he fared better in 11-on-11s. Demetrice Martin spent a lot of time coaching him up. It's not as slam dunk of a position change as I thought it'd be a week ago, but I still think the better 2016 position for him would be corner, just because of how well Ishmael Adams and now Darren Andrews have looked at slot receiver so far.
The Day Nine depth chart
-With all the injuries, the defensive back group looked like this today: CB - Octo Spencer, S - Jaleel Wadood, S - Tahaan Goodman, CB - Nate Meadors. Adarius Pickett worked with the twos at safety for the first time this camp.
-With Toran and McDermott out, the starting OL from left to right looked like this: Andre James, Kenny Lacy, Scott Quessenberry, Poasi Moala and Kolton Miller.
-Kenny Young continued to take first-team reps over Isaako Savaiinaea at inside linebacker, and he had his best practice of the spring today (more on that below).
Practice observations
-Practice started out with a very chippy 9-on-7. Guys looked like they were tired of hitting each other. McDermott got in a little tussle with Takkarist McKinley. Kenny Young got after it with Scott Quessenberry. Ainuu Taua and Jayon Brown got in a little scuffle. As practice progressed, however, things calmed down between the offense and the defense.
-Denzel Fisher had a really tough day today in 1-on-1s. He was beat in every 1-on-1 rep I saw him take, including a Cordell Broadus jump ball to start out the drill.
-Kenny Walker once again flashed in 1-on-1s, consistently creating separation with his big speed. He beat Octo Spencer so badly that the young DB fell down trying to keep up. As is the case nearly every practice, though, Walker did drop a jump ball that UCLA would expect him to make. That being said, in the following backed-up 11-on-11 drill, he made the longest play of camp so far, blowing by Spencer for what would have been a 99-yard touchdown from Josh Rosen.
-After really struggling on Saturday, the light looked to have clicked on for DeChaun Holiday today. He was outstanding in 1-on-1s, blanketing receivers like Jordan Lasley and tight end Austin Roberts. Later in 11-on-11, he helped come over the top to make a goal line fade a much more difficult throw. In 7-on-7s, he picked off Rosen. And even in 9-on-7, he was active in the run defense. It was by far the best practice I've seen from the San Diego DB in the year he's been here.
-Darren Andrews put together a nice practice for the second day in a row. Adarius Pickett can't stop him in 1-on-1s, and he got Tahaan Goodman in that same drill as well. In 7-on-7, he was effective with his crossing routes, and to end 11-on-11 drills for the day, he caught a little bubble screen that went the distance to force the defense to run (Kenny Walker made a fantastic block to spring him, by the way).
-Ishmael Adams had the play of the day, taking a little flat route 25 yards or so to the endzone. He dominated 1-on-1s once again and just overall was an explosive playmaker in every drill.
-Josh Wariboko is going to have nightmares of Nick Terry for the next few nights after today. The JUCO DL terrorized him in both 1-on-1s and 11-on-11s. There was a point in 1-on-1s where Adrian Klemm made Wariboko try four different times to block Terry, and Terry dominated them all. In 11-on-11s, Terry swam over Wariboko for a few sacks as well.
-Deon Hollins had a solid day, demolishing Zach Bateman in 1-on-1s and then making a few plays in the backfield in 11-on-11s. He remains relegated to second string, however, and probably even third string if Keisean Lucier-South keeps coming on.
-Kenny Young had one of his best practices as a Bruin. I had him marked down for several tackles in 9-on-7, the hit of the day on Nate Starks and a pass breakup in 7-on-7. Savaiinaea is probably the better game player than Young, but Young has been the better ILB in practice so far.
-Andre James had an up-and-down day in 1-on-1s. Takkarist McKinley beat him pretty badly twice to start the drill, but James more than held his own in three reps against KLS. He's playing left tackle right now, but with all the uncertainty at guard, it wouldn't shock me to see him slide down there eventually and be a starter if Tevita Halalilo can't make it back and the Lacy/Moala/Toran crew still struggles.
-Will Lockett continues to come on strong here lately. So much so, Demetrice Martin had him running with the twos at safety. He made a few tackles at the line of scrimmage in 11-on-11, he won the majority of his 1-on-1 reps that I saw, and he had great coverage on Eldridge Massington in 11-on-11 too.
-I thought the offense had much better pass protection today, and Rosen looked fine in 11-on-11s. But it was the first time the ground game has struggled this camp. There probably wasn't a single run that would have gone for longer than about eight yards. Usually every run averages about that.
-Freshman J.J. Molson had his first brutal day kicking the ball. I had him at 2-for-6 on the day with a few real mishits from 27 and 36 yards.
UCLA practices again on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
