UCLA worked out again in the rain, and once again, the storylines were the same. The offense's passing game struggled to get going, several recruits were in attendance, and the big stars kept shining. Here were the notes from the morning:
Notables
-It was a big recruiting day out there. Four-star UCLA commit Hunter Echols and three-star commit Will Farrar could not be separated from four-star DE Jaelan Phillips. The trio had said they were going to have a sleepover in Westwood last night, and it looks like that happened. Phillips' parents were once again dressed head to toe in UCLA gear visiting with their son. Farrar, meanwhile, looked to have an outstanding OL body for just a junior in high school.
-I didn't spot 2018 DB Tyreke Johnson at practice, but he just tweeted he's on campus, so maybe he arrived a bit late. Either way, he's here in L.A.
-Three-star Utah receiver Ty Jones was in attendance. 2018 RB Toa Taua and 2018 QB Hamish McClure were also out there.
-On the injury front, guys actually didn't have class and were in fact injured on Thursday evening. Randall Goforth, Demetric Felton, Nate Meadors and Cordell Broadus were all working with Sal Alosi today. Mique Juarez wasn't out at practice for the second straight day as Jim Mora said he's dealing with a head injury that the team will take very seriously. Josh Woods and Marcus Rios continued to sit out as well. I didn't see much of Octo Spencer in team drills. Poasi Moala, who left Thursday's practice appearing to nurse a hand or wrist or arm injury, sat out too.
The Day Seven one-deep
With all the injuries, there were some changes to the starting units on both sides of the ball:
QB - Josh Rosen
RB - Soso Jamabo / Nate Starks
FB - Cam Griffin
TE - Nate Iese
LT - Conor McDermott
LG - Najee Toran
C - Scott Quessenberry
RG - Cristian Garcia
RT - Kolton Miller
CB - Jaleel Wadood
S - Adarius Pickett
S - Tahaan Goodman
CB - Denzel Fisher
OLB - Jayon Brown
ILB - Kenny Young
OLB - Cam Judge
DE - Takk McKinley
DT - Eli Ankou
DT - Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
DE - Matt Dickerson
Practice observations
-The offense was a complete mess out there, mostly in the passing game, because of the O-line struggles. Without Moala, Jake Raulerson and Tevita Halalilo, and for some reason Kenny Lacy (who appears to be in a bit of a doghouse - more on that in a second), it's just a feeding frenzy for the D-line. Takk McKinley continues to battle Conor McDermott hard and had a few sacks on him. Deon Hollins ran around Kolton Miller a few times for sacks. Matt Dickerson ate Andre James alive in 11-on-11 a few times for sacks. Tuioti-Mariner vs. Garcia was an unfair fight and the DT had probably three sacks on the day on Garcia alone. Even nose guard Eli Ankou got in the party with a few sacks, beating Najee Toran mostly. Every time UCLA dropped back for a pass, it was either a false start or a sack. I'm pretty sure there were more sacks, penalties and incompletions than actual passing yards out there today.
-In 9-on-7s, Jayon Brown continued to steal the show. He was around the ball every rep, making several tackles at the line of scrimmage.
-Austin Roberts provided one of the highlights of early 11-on-11, catching a pass and juking Adarius Pickett so hard the DB actually fell to the ground.
-In that same early 11-on-11 drill, Cristian Garcia got beat in back-to-back reps, causing Adrian Klemm to pull him for the demoted Kenny Lacy. Lacy fared much better than any of the guards on this team, but he false started a few times and from my vantage point, it looked like Jim Mora kicked him out and told Klemm not to put him back in again. I'm pretty sure Lacy never went back in the rest of the day.
-The running backs continue to be this offense's saving grace. Bolu Olorunfunmi runs so hard and he provided one of the highlights of the day, running over Leni Toailoa near the goal line. Nate Starks had a few long runs, showing good vision to cut back into some big holes. Soso Jamabo, though, was the star here. I marked him down for three huge highlight plays: A big run, a big stiff arm on William Lockett and another good RB screen. He was also effective between the tackles.
-Denzel Fisher had the play of the day in early 11-on-11s, intercepting an underthrown deep ball intended for Kenny Walker via Josh Rosen. Fisher then went into 1-on-1s and promptly got burned by just about every receiver he attempted to cover.
-Speaking of WR-DB 1-on-1s (we finally got to watch them!), it was not a good look for really any of the defensive backs out there. DeChaun Holiday is looking very Priest Willis-esque, holding a lot and looking slow in and out of breaks. Ishmael Adams toasted him one time and Holiday even drew a flag on the play for holding. Colin Samuel was repeatedly beat, most notably by Kenny Walker, who when he has a good day catching the ball like today he looks like a monster.
-I had Adams highlighted three different times in 1-on-1s, beating Holiday, Pickett and Goodman badly. He's been a star out here at WR.
-A guy who I think should probably switch sides of the ball sooner than later is Stephen Johnson. He just hasn't popped at WR this camp, at one point running a route so poorly in 1-on-1s Rosen looked at him with a pretty good amount of disgust. With Adams now starring in the slot, and Darren Andrews already there and Damian Alloway and perhaps Felton on the way too, his future might be better off at CB.
-Kenny Young had a solid day of practice today, his first notable one this month. He had a few TFLs early in 9-on-7, and came back with a strong performance in 11-on-11 as well.
-Theo Howard stole the WR show in the last bit of 11-on-11s; the only receiver to really do anything in team drills. He mostly beat Colin Samuel for a couple first downs.
-William Lockett has started to pop a bit at safety. Late in 11-on-11s, he had a big hit on Ish Adams and then followed it up with a big hit on Bolu Olorunfunmi.
-Like Lockett, Leni Toailoa has popped a bit too. He had a near interception on a deflection in 11-on-11 and he stuck with tight ends well in 1-on-1s.
-Tahaan Goodman ended team drills with an interception off a Mike Fafaul overthrow. He had a solid day running with the ones.
-Freshman kicker J.J. Molson was fantastic booting the football today. I had him at 6-for-6 with a long of 51 that would have been good from about 60. His kickoffs weren't as great, but still respectable, landing 4 yards deep, 1 yard deep, at the 2 yard line and then a mishit that squibbed down the field.
-Working at kick returner today were Stephen Johnson, Theo Howard, Jordan Lasley and Ish Adams.
UCLA returns to the practice field on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Notables
-It was a big recruiting day out there. Four-star UCLA commit Hunter Echols and three-star commit Will Farrar could not be separated from four-star DE Jaelan Phillips. The trio had said they were going to have a sleepover in Westwood last night, and it looks like that happened. Phillips' parents were once again dressed head to toe in UCLA gear visiting with their son. Farrar, meanwhile, looked to have an outstanding OL body for just a junior in high school.
-I didn't spot 2018 DB Tyreke Johnson at practice, but he just tweeted he's on campus, so maybe he arrived a bit late. Either way, he's here in L.A.
-Three-star Utah receiver Ty Jones was in attendance. 2018 RB Toa Taua and 2018 QB Hamish McClure were also out there.
-On the injury front, guys actually didn't have class and were in fact injured on Thursday evening. Randall Goforth, Demetric Felton, Nate Meadors and Cordell Broadus were all working with Sal Alosi today. Mique Juarez wasn't out at practice for the second straight day as Jim Mora said he's dealing with a head injury that the team will take very seriously. Josh Woods and Marcus Rios continued to sit out as well. I didn't see much of Octo Spencer in team drills. Poasi Moala, who left Thursday's practice appearing to nurse a hand or wrist or arm injury, sat out too.
The Day Seven one-deep
With all the injuries, there were some changes to the starting units on both sides of the ball:
QB - Josh Rosen
RB - Soso Jamabo / Nate Starks
FB - Cam Griffin
TE - Nate Iese
LT - Conor McDermott
LG - Najee Toran
C - Scott Quessenberry
RG - Cristian Garcia
RT - Kolton Miller
CB - Jaleel Wadood
S - Adarius Pickett
S - Tahaan Goodman
CB - Denzel Fisher
OLB - Jayon Brown
ILB - Kenny Young
OLB - Cam Judge
DE - Takk McKinley
DT - Eli Ankou
DT - Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
DE - Matt Dickerson
Practice observations
-The offense was a complete mess out there, mostly in the passing game, because of the O-line struggles. Without Moala, Jake Raulerson and Tevita Halalilo, and for some reason Kenny Lacy (who appears to be in a bit of a doghouse - more on that in a second), it's just a feeding frenzy for the D-line. Takk McKinley continues to battle Conor McDermott hard and had a few sacks on him. Deon Hollins ran around Kolton Miller a few times for sacks. Matt Dickerson ate Andre James alive in 11-on-11 a few times for sacks. Tuioti-Mariner vs. Garcia was an unfair fight and the DT had probably three sacks on the day on Garcia alone. Even nose guard Eli Ankou got in the party with a few sacks, beating Najee Toran mostly. Every time UCLA dropped back for a pass, it was either a false start or a sack. I'm pretty sure there were more sacks, penalties and incompletions than actual passing yards out there today.
-In 9-on-7s, Jayon Brown continued to steal the show. He was around the ball every rep, making several tackles at the line of scrimmage.
-Austin Roberts provided one of the highlights of early 11-on-11, catching a pass and juking Adarius Pickett so hard the DB actually fell to the ground.
-In that same early 11-on-11 drill, Cristian Garcia got beat in back-to-back reps, causing Adrian Klemm to pull him for the demoted Kenny Lacy. Lacy fared much better than any of the guards on this team, but he false started a few times and from my vantage point, it looked like Jim Mora kicked him out and told Klemm not to put him back in again. I'm pretty sure Lacy never went back in the rest of the day.
-The running backs continue to be this offense's saving grace. Bolu Olorunfunmi runs so hard and he provided one of the highlights of the day, running over Leni Toailoa near the goal line. Nate Starks had a few long runs, showing good vision to cut back into some big holes. Soso Jamabo, though, was the star here. I marked him down for three huge highlight plays: A big run, a big stiff arm on William Lockett and another good RB screen. He was also effective between the tackles.
-Denzel Fisher had the play of the day in early 11-on-11s, intercepting an underthrown deep ball intended for Kenny Walker via Josh Rosen. Fisher then went into 1-on-1s and promptly got burned by just about every receiver he attempted to cover.
-Speaking of WR-DB 1-on-1s (we finally got to watch them!), it was not a good look for really any of the defensive backs out there. DeChaun Holiday is looking very Priest Willis-esque, holding a lot and looking slow in and out of breaks. Ishmael Adams toasted him one time and Holiday even drew a flag on the play for holding. Colin Samuel was repeatedly beat, most notably by Kenny Walker, who when he has a good day catching the ball like today he looks like a monster.
-I had Adams highlighted three different times in 1-on-1s, beating Holiday, Pickett and Goodman badly. He's been a star out here at WR.
-A guy who I think should probably switch sides of the ball sooner than later is Stephen Johnson. He just hasn't popped at WR this camp, at one point running a route so poorly in 1-on-1s Rosen looked at him with a pretty good amount of disgust. With Adams now starring in the slot, and Darren Andrews already there and Damian Alloway and perhaps Felton on the way too, his future might be better off at CB.
-Kenny Young had a solid day of practice today, his first notable one this month. He had a few TFLs early in 9-on-7, and came back with a strong performance in 11-on-11 as well.
-Theo Howard stole the WR show in the last bit of 11-on-11s; the only receiver to really do anything in team drills. He mostly beat Colin Samuel for a couple first downs.
-William Lockett has started to pop a bit at safety. Late in 11-on-11s, he had a big hit on Ish Adams and then followed it up with a big hit on Bolu Olorunfunmi.
-Like Lockett, Leni Toailoa has popped a bit too. He had a near interception on a deflection in 11-on-11 and he stuck with tight ends well in 1-on-1s.
-Tahaan Goodman ended team drills with an interception off a Mike Fafaul overthrow. He had a solid day running with the ones.
-Freshman kicker J.J. Molson was fantastic booting the football today. I had him at 6-for-6 with a long of 51 that would have been good from about 60. His kickoffs weren't as great, but still respectable, landing 4 yards deep, 1 yard deep, at the 2 yard line and then a mishit that squibbed down the field.
-Working at kick returner today were Stephen Johnson, Theo Howard, Jordan Lasley and Ish Adams.
UCLA returns to the practice field on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
