UCLA put on the pads today, and by moving practice up a couple hours, they beat the rain for the most part. Here were the notes from the two-hour Saturday workout:
CHIP'S PRE-PRACTICE PRESSER
https://www.pscp.tv/EdwardLewis/1MnGneWwyEdKO
-Kelly said he prefers the 3-4 defense because it's "really good at stopping the run." Also likes the ability to recruit "bigger, longer" guys to it. He emphasized UCLA's D will be "multiple" this year, though.
-On Boss Tagaloa's move to center, Kelly said: "We just need help on the offensive line." Said depth is a real issue there.
-On Moses Robinson-Carr's move to DE: Kelly said because of his weight (280 pounds now) and his place on the TE depth chart, it just made sense to move him to DE.
-Kelly joked UCLA is in real need of OL: "Any O-lineman out there, tell them to come here." He added, "we'll see" when asked if more guys could change positions to help out on the O-line.
-Kelly confirmed these guys are no longer on the football team: RB Jalen Starks, DB Octo Spencer, DB Will Lockett, OL Stephan Zabie, LB DeChaun Holiday and DB Denzel Fisher. Said most were gone even before he arrived. Only guy we forgot to confirm is off the team is OL Paco Perez, though I think you can safely assume he's no longer here as well.
-Kelly said the biggest reason he hired Frank Wintrich to be his strength coach was the lack of soft-tissue injuries guys suffered under his watch at Virginia: "I think they went two years where they didn't have anybody injured from a soft-tissue standpoint."
INJURIES
Kelly didn't have an update on individual injuries, saying only that these guys in yellow haven't been cleared by trainers yet to play:
-OL Michael Alves
-OL Jax Wacaser
-LB Josh Woods
-LB Lokeni Toailoa
-OLB Jaelan Phillips
-TE Caleb Wilson
-DB Keyon Riley
-DB Colin Samuel
-It should be noted here that RB Brandon Stephens left practice early to work with trainers as well.
DEPTH CHART
Again, not many changes from earlier in the week, and there were a lot of rotations in and out and trying different combos of guys, but this appeared to be the two-deep today:
QB -- Devon Modser; Matt Lynch
WR -- Theo Howard
SLOT -- Christian Pabico
WR -- Dymond Lee
RB -- Soso Jamabo; Bolu Olorunfunmi
TE -- Jordan Wilson; Devin Asiasi
LT -- Andre James; Bryan Weitzman
LG -- Josh Wariboko; Clayton Demski
C -- Boss Tagaloa; Zach Sweeney
RG -- Alex Akingbulu; Sean Seawards
RT -- Jake Burton; Zach Cochrun
CB -- Darnay Holmes; Mo Osling
S -- Adarius Pickett; Shea Pitts
S -- Quentin Lake; Jay Shaw
CB -- Nate Meadors; Elijah Gates
OLB -- Keisean Lucier-South; Leni Toailoa
ILB -- Brandon Burton/Josh Woods (though he couldn't do team drills); Mique Juarez
ILB -- Krys Barnes; Donovan Williams
OLB -- Rahyme Johnson; Odua Isibor
DE -- Rick Wade; Marcus Moore/Greg Rogers
DT -- Chigozie Nnoruka; Martin Andrus
DE -- Osa Odidhizuwa; Moses Robinson-Carr
RECRUITS
UCLA finally had some recruits at practice. The guys I saw:
-There were a few others, hopefully get confirmation on who they were later
OBSERVATIONS
-UCLA put on the pads, and it helped the O-line a bit. Rather than a free rusher in the QB's face on every play, there was only a free rusher in his face on about half the plays. It at least made the offense more capable of doing anything other than dumping the ball off like Tuesday and Thursday's workouts.
-The QB competition is honestly wide open. Devon Modster has to be the favorite at this point, just because his lows aren't nearly as low as the rest, but he's yet to really wow through three days and had a bad interception in 7-on-7 today to Quentin Lake. Austin Burton's been the most accurate, but he severely lacks arm strength and isn't mobile. Matt Lynch is wildly inaccurate, but at least he's not afraid to take chances and he's the most mobile. Kelly's also been giving a ton of reps to walk-on Jackson Gibbs, who hasn't looked much better or worse than Lynch or Burton. The door is wide open for KJ Carta Samuels to take the job next month, in my opinion.
-We saw some two tight-end sets today (I know a lot of people have asked about this) with Jordan Wilson and Devin Asiasi getting the run there with the ones.
-Keisean Lucier-South was a monster again today. I had him at two or three sacks. He was stout against the run as well.
-Mique Juarez had probably his best practice of his career today. He still looks tentative against the run, but his pass defense was good. He had a near pick off Burton in one team drill and was otherwise sticky in zones. You'd love to see him reshape his body a bit, as he's still got a few extra pounds on him, but he seems to be moving in the right direction toward his old high school self.
-Toward the end of practice, Rick Wade played noseguard and looked good there. Really, every DL in the two-deep has flashed so far. Robinson-Carr made a few plays again today, and guys like Odighizuwa, Moore, Nnoruka and Andrus beat their guys more often than not.
-A couple practice observations: After units finish their drives, Kelly and Wintrich make them run a sprint to the endzone before they hit the sideline. It's a sneaky effective way to get the team in shape. Also, at the end of the last two practices, Kelly's made the team do stations of what appear to be fundamentals. So a group of DL will go to RB coach DeShaun Foster to learn to carry the ball. A group of QBs will go to learn how to tackle bags. Receivers will do DB drills, etc. In my opinion, this looks like a way for Kelly to get some tape on how guys look at other positions. Either that or he really wants his team to understand the tiny nuances of every position.
UCLA practices next on Tuesday morning.
CHIP'S PRE-PRACTICE PRESSER
https://www.pscp.tv/EdwardLewis/1MnGneWwyEdKO
-Kelly said he prefers the 3-4 defense because it's "really good at stopping the run." Also likes the ability to recruit "bigger, longer" guys to it. He emphasized UCLA's D will be "multiple" this year, though.
-On Boss Tagaloa's move to center, Kelly said: "We just need help on the offensive line." Said depth is a real issue there.
-On Moses Robinson-Carr's move to DE: Kelly said because of his weight (280 pounds now) and his place on the TE depth chart, it just made sense to move him to DE.
-Kelly joked UCLA is in real need of OL: "Any O-lineman out there, tell them to come here." He added, "we'll see" when asked if more guys could change positions to help out on the O-line.
-Kelly confirmed these guys are no longer on the football team: RB Jalen Starks, DB Octo Spencer, DB Will Lockett, OL Stephan Zabie, LB DeChaun Holiday and DB Denzel Fisher. Said most were gone even before he arrived. Only guy we forgot to confirm is off the team is OL Paco Perez, though I think you can safely assume he's no longer here as well.
-Kelly said the biggest reason he hired Frank Wintrich to be his strength coach was the lack of soft-tissue injuries guys suffered under his watch at Virginia: "I think they went two years where they didn't have anybody injured from a soft-tissue standpoint."
INJURIES
Kelly didn't have an update on individual injuries, saying only that these guys in yellow haven't been cleared by trainers yet to play:
-OL Michael Alves
-OL Jax Wacaser
-LB Josh Woods
-LB Lokeni Toailoa
-OLB Jaelan Phillips
-TE Caleb Wilson
-DB Keyon Riley
-DB Colin Samuel
-It should be noted here that RB Brandon Stephens left practice early to work with trainers as well.
DEPTH CHART
Again, not many changes from earlier in the week, and there were a lot of rotations in and out and trying different combos of guys, but this appeared to be the two-deep today:
QB -- Devon Modser; Matt Lynch
WR -- Theo Howard
SLOT -- Christian Pabico
WR -- Dymond Lee
RB -- Soso Jamabo; Bolu Olorunfunmi
TE -- Jordan Wilson; Devin Asiasi
LT -- Andre James; Bryan Weitzman
LG -- Josh Wariboko; Clayton Demski
C -- Boss Tagaloa; Zach Sweeney
RG -- Alex Akingbulu; Sean Seawards
RT -- Jake Burton; Zach Cochrun
CB -- Darnay Holmes; Mo Osling
S -- Adarius Pickett; Shea Pitts
S -- Quentin Lake; Jay Shaw
CB -- Nate Meadors; Elijah Gates
OLB -- Keisean Lucier-South; Leni Toailoa
ILB -- Brandon Burton/Josh Woods (though he couldn't do team drills); Mique Juarez
ILB -- Krys Barnes; Donovan Williams
OLB -- Rahyme Johnson; Odua Isibor
DE -- Rick Wade; Marcus Moore/Greg Rogers
DT -- Chigozie Nnoruka; Martin Andrus
DE -- Osa Odidhizuwa; Moses Robinson-Carr
RECRUITS
UCLA finally had some recruits at practice. The guys I saw:
-There were a few others, hopefully get confirmation on who they were later
OBSERVATIONS
-UCLA put on the pads, and it helped the O-line a bit. Rather than a free rusher in the QB's face on every play, there was only a free rusher in his face on about half the plays. It at least made the offense more capable of doing anything other than dumping the ball off like Tuesday and Thursday's workouts.
-The QB competition is honestly wide open. Devon Modster has to be the favorite at this point, just because his lows aren't nearly as low as the rest, but he's yet to really wow through three days and had a bad interception in 7-on-7 today to Quentin Lake. Austin Burton's been the most accurate, but he severely lacks arm strength and isn't mobile. Matt Lynch is wildly inaccurate, but at least he's not afraid to take chances and he's the most mobile. Kelly's also been giving a ton of reps to walk-on Jackson Gibbs, who hasn't looked much better or worse than Lynch or Burton. The door is wide open for KJ Carta Samuels to take the job next month, in my opinion.
-We saw some two tight-end sets today (I know a lot of people have asked about this) with Jordan Wilson and Devin Asiasi getting the run there with the ones.
-Keisean Lucier-South was a monster again today. I had him at two or three sacks. He was stout against the run as well.
-Mique Juarez had probably his best practice of his career today. He still looks tentative against the run, but his pass defense was good. He had a near pick off Burton in one team drill and was otherwise sticky in zones. You'd love to see him reshape his body a bit, as he's still got a few extra pounds on him, but he seems to be moving in the right direction toward his old high school self.
-Toward the end of practice, Rick Wade played noseguard and looked good there. Really, every DL in the two-deep has flashed so far. Robinson-Carr made a few plays again today, and guys like Odighizuwa, Moore, Nnoruka and Andrus beat their guys more often than not.
-A couple practice observations: After units finish their drives, Kelly and Wintrich make them run a sprint to the endzone before they hit the sideline. It's a sneaky effective way to get the team in shape. Also, at the end of the last two practices, Kelly's made the team do stations of what appear to be fundamentals. So a group of DL will go to RB coach DeShaun Foster to learn to carry the ball. A group of QBs will go to learn how to tackle bags. Receivers will do DB drills, etc. In my opinion, this looks like a way for Kelly to get some tape on how guys look at other positions. Either that or he really wants his team to understand the tiny nuances of every position.
UCLA practices next on Tuesday morning.
