SB Nation - Sean Sheller

2009 UCLA Football Post-Camp Grades: DL

Ryan Rosenblatt — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:38:15 -0000

The entire offense has been graded and it doesn't look so bad. The results won't lead you to believe that we'll have an explosive offense and that's because we won't, but you can see mediocrity across the board for the most part and after last season, I'll take mediocrity. The quarterbacks got a C+, the receivers and tight ends an A, the running backs and fullbacks a B+ and the offensive line a C-. Not so bad. Now we go to to the defensive side where there is elite talent at the top in some spots, but little to no depth in just as many spots.

Defensive Line

Any defensive line that has Brian Price in the middle is going to make its fair share of plays, but one player alone cannot make every play and its the play of the other three along the defensive line that brings a shred of doubt into the mind of UCLA fans. You know what you're going to get from Price. The massive, agile, strong and tough junior defensive tackle from Crenshaw High School will be double teamed, but hold at the point of contact, shed his man and get on the ball carrier against the run. Against the pass, he will command double teams, but will be able to create a push up the middle to create an uncomfortable situation for the opposing quarterback as his pocket collapses. If they're double teaming Price though, opposing teams clearly respect him enough to avoid running at him regularly and will assign as many necessary to block him in the passing game. That means the other three guys along the front four will have to make plays because the opportunities will be there.

As we head into the season, the other starting defensive tackle position is held by Jerzy Siewierski, a senior who has played better than expected this camp and has given the coaching staff some comfort in the level of play next to Price. Siewierski has shown improved strength that has allowed him to hold the point much better and create problems for the offense. In the passing game, he hasn't quite gotten to the level where he's bringing down the quarterback, but he's moving the pocket and causing confusion in the backfield so the opposing quarterbacks are often moving into the path of other defensive players. The top two of the UCLA defensive tackles looks strong, but behind them there are serious questions.

Jess Ward was having a good camp, but his knee injury leaves his play in doubt for 2009. Whether he can regain the form he showed in camp before his injury will be one of UCLA's biggest questions heading into the season. Reggie Stokes is another guy who was having a good camp, especially with his intensity and motor before falling victim to injury. His injury is more serious than Ward and he may be back by midseason, but only in a best-case scneario. If Ward and Stokes are still injured or does not regain his form, the even more responsibility will fall to David Carter, who had a sensational camp to go from near afterthought to trust member of the defensive tackle rotation. Carter showed a better motor than he had before and was able to establish leverage on a more regular basis despite being 6'5''. Carter should be a force in the running game with his size and improved handwork that allows him to shed blocks well, but the next step for him will be to pressure the quarterback.

The depth at defensive tackle is so poor right now that a pair of offensive linemen, Sean Sheller and Connor Bradford were moved to the position to give the Bruins some depth in camp. Andy Keane and Justin Mann are ahead of the two converted offensive linemen on the depth chart, but are closer to those two converts than they are to the rest of the tackles. Both really struggled in camp and will be called upon this season so they have limited time to make vast improvements.

The end position is another position that is rather strong at the top, although not as strong as at tackle, but with little depth, although a little better than tackle. Starting at ends is one guy with plenty of experience and another with plenty of talent. The one with plenty of experience, Korey Bosworth, is a redshirt senior and does have some talent to go with that experience. He led the Bruins in sacks last year and was second in tackles for loss so much is expected of him in his final year at UCLA. He will provide the Bruins an outstanding end and after a strong camp in which he was often on the quarterback off the edge, the only concern is when teams choose to run right at him. The super talented end is Datone Jones. What he lacks in experience (he's a sophomore), he makes up for in athletic ability, which he has in spades.The question for Jones is how he handles himself not in one-on-one situations, but when he's asked to twist or stunt. In one-on-one situations in camp, Jones was a terror as he used his speed to get off the edge and while he wasn't great against the run, he was able to get into the backfield with some regularity. When asked to work more within the team structure, he often got lost and dominated. When backs picked him out of the backfield, he was often slow to react and taken out. When tight ends rubbed him on the line, he was knocked backwards. He'll need to deal with those if he's to be a trusted every down end, but that could come with experience.

Damien Holmes will also be used off the end and while he doesn't have great physical tools, he has a never ending motor. Time and time again, Holmes would be originally outplayed by an offensive lineman, but would eventually make his way downfield, across field or into the backfield late in a play to make a tackle. Against the run, Holmes was often outmatched in the strength department, but used great handwork to shed blocks and get in position to make a tackle. He's a crafty guy with a great attitude that allows him to play above his tools. With so little depth, Stokes could slide over to end when he returns from injury and little talked about Ian Davis could get time, Davis doesn't quite have the strength to play on the defensive lins o he would be vulnerable against the run, but he has some wheels so if he were to be used only in passing downs, the Bruins might be able to get away with it. Otherwise Iuta Tepa, a freshman who would probably be best served redshirting, may be forced into action.

Grade: B- The starters on this defensive line would be worthy of a B+ or even A- with the quality all the way across and player who can dominate a game like Brian Price, but the depth is a major concern. If the defensive line can all stay healthy, this unit can be close to an A, but this is D-1 football, no unit stays healthy for an entire year and the depth on this unit will be tested, unfortunately.

Poll

What would you grade the UCLA defensive line?

A

94 votes

B

148 votes

C

24 votes

D

5 votes

F

2 votes

273 votes | Poll has closed

Defensive Line Reset: Coaches Dealing With Depth Concerns

Nestor — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:06:09 -0000

Now that we have gone through the LBing position let’s shift our attention to the defensive frontline. Before we even get through the depth chart we have got some brand new shift in personnel in light of injuries to back up tackles Reggie Stokes and Jess Ward. If you didn't read through the injury post, Reggie Stokes is out indefinitely because of a torn cartilage while Jess Ward is probably going to be out 2-3 weeks with a sprained MCL. As a result coaches made some immediate changes yesterday moving OL Sean Sheller and Connor Bradford to defense. Here is the reset from the LA Times:

"Part of it was in the event of an emergency, and part of it was we have the luxury of time to take a look," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel said about the Sheller and Bradford moves.

Ward, who has played in 24 games, was expected to be the team's No. 3 defensive tackle. Sheller will play defensive tackle.

"Hopefully, we can bring him up to speed so he can play 15, 20 snaps for us," defensive line coach Todd Howard said.

Will be interested from hearing from the practice goers in the coming days how Sheller and Bradford are performing with their new unit. So basically, just like the situation at LB the same themes are also in play on the defensive frontline where we have solid talent at the starting positions, but have depth related concerns that will stretch beyond this season.

Obviously, the guy who will be anchoring this unit will be superstar Junior Brian Price (6-2, 300). We don’t need to go through what Brian can do over here at BN. He is on pretty much every pre season award watch list. If the kid can stay healthy (knocking on wood) through his junior year and continue to develop the way he has first two years, he would have a strong shot at that award along with having the opportunity to be a first round NFL pick next season. Yeah, I know. We would all like for him to come back for one more year after this season. But I am not going to hold my breath and instead am planning to enjoy watching number 92’s every snap his junior year in Westwood. As Reggie Carter noted to the LA Times there are not many OLs in the country, who has the ability to block Brian:

"I would like to see someone block Brian Price for a while," Carter said at the Pacific 10 Conference’s media day. "I have never seen that."

Ted Miller from ESPN's Pac-10 blog wrote how Brian is on a mission in 2009:

"Every player thinks about one day playing there (NFL) but I'm just thinking about this season," he said.

In a revelation that will surprise no one, Price said he and his teammates are not big fans of last season, when the Bruins went 4-8. The defense was generally good, but the numbers were hardly spectacular because the woeful offense provided little help.

"That's all we talked about this summer -- 4-8," he said. "We've got to get UCLA back."

Now Brian should be able to wreak havoc in the opponent’s backfield if he gets some help from his team-mates on the frontline. And right now the way that line is shaping up, it has the look of emerging as a solid one at least among the starting group. More on them after the jump.

Last year Brian had a great partner in senior Brigham Harwell who had a solid career at UCLA. Now that Harwell is gone it will be Jerzy Siewierski’s - 6-2/296 monster’s – turn to step up. Jerzy has all the potential in the world. Both Foster in his writeup and captainqtp in his upgrade-downgrade series mentioned Coach Howard’s reference to his athletic prowess of having the ability to dunk a basketball. That seems like a fairly scary proposition. If he can exert his own version of pressure down in the trenches, it will be incredibly helpful to Brian Price, who I am sure might be drawing double teams if he develops along his projected potential. So Jerzy’s contribution this year will be key. More on Brian and Jerzy’s team-mates on the defensive frontline after the jump.

Price and Jerzy will be flanked by two solid athletes in Korey Bosworth and Datone Jones. Coach Howard in his pre camp interview with Bruin Report Online (BRO) sounded excited about both of these youngsters:

On what he saw in Bosworth that translated to the d-line, to end:

"He just could run, and he was flexible. When you get guys like that, that’s your recipe. How do you not play guys like that? How do you not play guys like that? You don’t want guys that you look at on film who aren’t hustling, don’t look like they love football, they aren’t hustling, they’re walking. And then you’ve got a guy like Boz? This is all you need. You don’t talk about what he can’t do. This is all you need to do. If he can run, and his aggression and his attitude are like this on the football field, you let those guys play. They’re going to win more than they lose. I just like guys that like to fly around. You may not know what to do, but you can at least chase the ball like it’s a piece of meat and you haven’t had anything to eat."

On Jones and his future at UCLA:

"He’s hungry. He does what you ask him to do. If I were to tell Datone, ‘Hey, man, when you get up in the morning do 10 jumping jacks,’ he would get up and do 10 jumping jacks. That’s the kind of guy that he is. He’s a hungry player and I think he has a chance to be better than any end I’ve coached since I’ve been here. That kind of lets you know what I think of him."

On what Jones has to do to become that dominant player:

"Just get the experience. We’ll see this year what he’s going to be. I mean, you can talk about potential all you want. Until we see this year how he approaches the games and how he produces, that’s going to tell you. Damien Holmes is not far behind. He might not be as gifted as Datone is, but he listens. He studies. He understands what’s going on."

So after the starting lineup up Bosworth, Price, Siewierski, and Jones, depth becomes a question mark for the Bruins. Few weeks ago the LA Times noted how the coaches were going to look to Jess Ward and little used David Carter for depth. Obviously now David Carter is going to be a key figure in this depth chart. From the LA Times:

[T]he weight of the defensive tackle depth falls mainly on David Carter, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound junior.

Carter was converted from defensive end during the off-season with UCLA needing more bodies inside. That concern was heightened when Brandon Warner, a transfer from Compton College, didn't get into UCLA because of transcript issues. The move required Carter to gain 30 pounds.

"When you're on edge, a lot time you're the contain guy, you have to be athletic," Howard said. "Inside, you're going against more beef."

Carter was more than willing and began to rework his game.

"It definitely involves different techniques," Carter said. "You have to move your feet differently and learn how to play with the big boys."

Bradford will play defensive end, which is also down in numbers.

Per Coach Howard few weeks ago Holmes "made big strides since last fall." So he is going to be counted on to back up the DE position.

Coach Howard in his BRO interview also indicated he was going to closely monitor how incoming freshman Keenan Graham (who ran a 4.56) performs in the special teams. His plan was also to keep an eye on Iuta Tepa.

Our main hope right now is for these kids to stay healthy because we don’t have a lot of depth. If they can stay healthy, I feel good about these guys feeding off the drive and hunger of Brian Price, who has certainly proved himself both on and off the field in his total dedication of being a Bruin.

I also think the first game of the season is going to be telling (I am not going to look ahead to the Tennessee game … no way). We will have to see how this unit comes out and sets the tone on against the Aztec rushing attack and the pressure they are able to generate on the QB from the get go. If they come out and make a statement in that very first game, I think it will serve as a building block for rest of the season.

These guys will have their hands full all year long going up against lightning quick, game breakers in a number of Pac-10 squads. While the line has been steady last few years under Walker, they have had rough times against teams with quick backs and receivers. Moreover, they haven’t been able to generate the kind of pressure on QBs Davis and Hickman were able to do couple of years ago. So it will be up to Jerzy, Bosworth and Jones and rest of the guys in the depth chart to rise to Price’s level at least in terms of effort and determination, so that we can see the kind of intensity we experienced during 13-9, not just for big games but for every game through the coming season. We are going to need that if the team wants to take the next step by going bowling this season

We will wrap our look through the defense by going over the defensive backs rosters in the next few days.

GO BRUINS.

The Wait Is Over For Bruin Football: Practice Starts Today

Nestor — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:00:14 -0000

So it all starts today. As mentioned over the weekend the season gets started today with a "Media Day" in the morning and then first practice (which is open to public) at 3:30 pm PST. I am sure we are going to be reading stories from the Media Day and first practice starting tomorrow starting later this evening and with our usual roundup in the AM. Already there are few notes up on the official site that should get all of us ready for the camp.

Following the tweeter feed yesterday it was pretty clear the players were coming back to Westwood yesterday. Everyone of them sound excited and fired up (Case in point here is Taylor Embree). Here are the details from the official site:

On Sunday afternoon, the veteran UCLA football players reported to camp. The first team meeting is scheduled for tonight. On Saturday afternoon, the newcomers reported to camp and went through a series of orientation meetings on Sunday.

Monday's schedule includes position meetings in the morning and a short walkthrough. The players will participate in Media Day at noon and at the same time shoot portrait photos for television broadcasts and other material for the Rose Bowl video board.

The first practice is scheduled for 3:00 pm. For the first few days, head coach Rick Neuheisel and the coaches will split the team into two groups so the players can receive more one-on-one coaching from the staff. The first group will begin practice at 3:00 pm. The entire team will work on special teams for 20 minutes at 4:20 pm and then the second group will practice from 4:40 - 6:00 pm.

I hope some of you get to make it out there either today or sometime in the coming weeks. Just reading through the position overviews it becomes clear how intense the competition is going to be this year. We just need to have the players stay healthy. More details after the jump.

Note "several" of the walkons are not reporting for camp until after the first game or the start of school. Also, it looks like Jayson Allmond is another scholarship freshman who is not going to report because he is waiting for issues related to NCAA Clearinghouse issues to be resolved. Perhaps Brian Price can give him a call and tell the kid to hang in there.

The official site also posted whole bunch of pre-season notes. There were few details I found to be interesting and worth sharing. First here are the players we are going to have this season who missed entire if not most of last season due to injury and other issues:

WHO WAS MISSING -- The following players, who will return to the team for 2009, were listed in the 2008 pre-season two-deep or figured to play a prominent role, if available for action last season: Offense --- TE Logan Paulsen - missed 11 g to injury; OL Jeff Baca - missed 3 g to injury; OL Darius Savage - missed 2 g to injury; OL - Sean Sheller - missed all 12 g to injury; OL - Mike Harris - missed 7 g to injury; RB - Christian Ramirez - missed all 12 g due to academic eligibility issues; FB Trevor Theriot - missed 9 g to injury; Defense --- Kyle Bosworth - missed 10g to injury; DL - Jess Ward - missed 5 g due to injury; DL Reginald Stokes - missed 1 g due to injury.

So here is these guys staying healthy in 2009. All those injuries meant UCLA had a lot of cubbies getting action this past season:

YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE -- UCLA played a total of 22 freshmen (11 redshirt and 11 true freshmen) in the 2008 season. Sixteen of the twenty scholarship players included in that group are scheduled to return in 2009. Of that group of sixteen returning players, 11 have starting experience (Defense --- So. Rahim Moore, S - 12 g; So.R Steve Sloan, LB - 9 g; So. R Akeem Ayers, LB - 3 g; So. Datone Jones, DL - 2 g; So. Tony Dye, S - 1g; Offense --- So. Cory Harkey, TE - 7 g; So. Taylor Embree, WR - 8 g; So. Jeff Baca, OL - 8 g; So.R Nate Chandler, TE - 2 g; So. Derrick Coleman, RB - 1 g; So.R Mike Harris, OL - 5 g).

Needless to say it will be exciting to see how these guys can improve on this year. Also, a total of 29 players saw action for the first time in 2009:

FIRST ACTION -- A total of 29 players (17 offensive and 12 defensive) saw their first action as a Bruin during the 2008 season (11 true freshmen - seven offensive and four defensive players (LB Sean Westgate, S Rahim Moore, TE Cory Harkey, WR Taylor Embree, S Tony Dye, WR Antwan Moutra, WR Nelson Rosario, RB Aundre Dean, RB Derrick Coleman, OL Jeff Baca, DL Datone Jones); 11 redshirt freshmen - five defensive and six offensive players (DB Courtney Viney, LB Steve Sloan, LB Akeem Ayers, DB Glenn Love, OL/TE Nate Chandler, RB Raymond Carter, DL Justin Edison, WR Ryal Jagd, QB Chris Forcier, TE Glenn Rauscher, OT Mike Harris), six redshirt sophomores - three offensive and three defensive players (OL Brandon Bennett, LB Mike Schmitt, DL Reginald Stokes, OL Sonny Tevaga, OL Jake Dean, DB Garrett Rubio), one redshirt junior (QB Kevin Craft).

Of course some of those guys such as Carter, Dean and Craft are either no longer with us or will probably not get much action this coming year. However, I think those numbers show how Neuheisel will not hesitate to put in his young guys in there if they are competing hard out at Spaulding and doing what the coaches are asking them to do.

Lastly, the pre-season notes also has some interesting numbers on freshman QBs record at UCLA during last 20 years:

*2002 (8-5, T 4th Pac-10) -- Matt Moore (Fr.) game 8 win over Stanford; Drew Olson (Fr.) game 9 win at Washington; game 10 win at Arizona; game 11 loss to USC; game 12 loss to Wash. State; game 13 bowl win over New Mexico.
*1999 (4-7, 9th Pac-10) -- Cory Paus (Fr.R) game 3 win over Fresno St.; game 5 loss at Ariz. State; game 6 win over Oregon; game 7 loss to Cal; game 8 loss at Ore. State; game 9 loss to Arizona; game 10 win over Washington; Ryan McCann (Fr. R) game 11 loss at USC.
*1995 (7-5, T 5th Pac-10) -- Cade McNown (Fr.) game 3 loss to Oregon; game 5 win over Fresno St.; game 6 win over Arizona; game 7 win at Stanford; game 8 win over Cal; game 9 loss at Ariz. State; game 10 loss to Washington; game 11 win at USC; game 12 bowl loss to Kansas.
*1992 (6-5, 8th Pac-10) -- Rob Walker (Fr. R) game 2 win at BYU; game 3 win over San Diego State; game 4 loss at Arizona; game 5 loss to Stanford; game 10 win at Oregon; Ryan Fien (Fr.) game 7 loss to Arizona State.
*1990 (5-6, T 6th Pac-10) -- Tommy Maddox (Fr. R) game 3 loss at Michigan; game 4 win at Wash. State; game 5 loss to Arizona; game 6 win over San Diego State; game 7 loss at Cal; game 8 win over Oregon State; game 9 loss at Oregon; game 10 win at Washington; game 11 loss to USC.
*1989 (3-7-1, 9th Pac-10) -- Bret Johnson (Fr. R) started all 11 games. game 1 loss to Tenn.; game 2 win over San Diego State; game 3 loss to Michigan; game 4 win over Cal; game 5 win over Ariz. State; game 6 loss at Arizona; game 7 loss at Oregon State; game 8 loss to Washington; game 9 loss at Stanford; game 10 loss to Oregon; game 11 tie at USC.

You can sense that Cade McNown was kind of an anomaly and even he had a roller coaster first two years. Bret Johnson, Rob Walker, and Ryan Fien were total disasters (well Johnson was just a disgrace).

Anyway, those numbers above are fairly sobering and should be datapoints we all take into account before deluding ourselves with visions of grandeur that takes over average college football fans around this time of the year. I still think Prince will be an upgrade from what we saw last year. However, given how legends like McNown struggled during their first year in college we should keep our expectations in check.

GO BRUINS.

Previewing 2009 San Diego State Opponents: UCLA Bruins

Jeremy Mauss — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:13:00 -0000

More photos » by Nick Ut - AP

UCLA head football coach Rick Neuheisel (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Browse more photos »

UCLA is hoping for a rebound from last years 4-8 debacle under new coach Rick Neuheisel who infamously put out an ad in The LA Times proclaiming that the college football monopoly in Los Angeles is over. Well... Not really yet Slick Rick, because last year was a mess with Kevin Craft a former San Diego State player who transferred ended up being their starter last year, and this year Craft is third on the depth chart heading into fall camp. Also, remember that the Bruins lost their defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker who took over the head job at New Mexico State and was replaced by Chuck Bullough.

The Bruins get to start over at quarterback and the current front runner is redshirt freshman Kevin Prince is a former three star recruit and was ranked as the 25 quarterback. To surpass what Craft did last year should not be all that hard. 2008 Kevin Craft somehow managed to throw twenty picks to only seven touchdowns receptions. Prince will not have to try that hard to improve off those numbers. The rest of Kraft's stats are listed below along with the rest of the returning stat leaders.

Those stats are after the jump

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Kevin Craft	55.6	2,341	7	20
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Derrick Coleman	53	285	5.4	2
Chane Moline	30	118	3.9	0
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Terrence Austin	53	460	8.7	1
Taylor Embree	40	531	13.3	0

UCLA in 2009 is hoping to be better, because the quarterback play should be much improved plus the fact that offensive coordinator Norm Chow is a great offensive mind and has had success at all of his locations. Chow has a lot of catching up to do to make the Bruins decent on offense, last year UCLA only averaged 17.7 points per game which was eighth in the Pac-10. Not only were they averaging only 17 per game but they were 109th in the nation. It also helps to have a new quarterback who most likely will not throw 20 picks, and the Bruins return their top three receivers from 2008.

There is hope for the Bruins because the offensive looks to be significantly improved because tackle Sean Sheller has recovered from a knee injury that sidelined him for all of the 2008 season. Sophomore Kai Maiava, who started at Colorado as a freshman before transferring and sitting out the required year, is ready to take over at center.

The line should finally be coming together because there are the three returning starters and then toss in transfer Kai Maiava and Sean Sheller returning from injury. Those are some ifs, and it is hard to see the offensive line being worst then last year.

The running game was very, very poor and this year does not look to be too much better. The projected starter is Christian Ramirez who converted from safety to running back in the 2007 and played sparingly, and did not play at all in 2008. Somehow this spring Ramirez claimed the starting job.

The backup is Derrick Coleman who was second in the team in rushing last year with 285 yards, and he will see some time with Ramirez. Neither back is considered anything special, so it could be up to the offensive line is improved to create some holes for these to backs to make some noise.

Any good news for the Bruins?

Yes, the defense has playmakers, so there is hope for UCLA to be competitive. The numbers from last year may not provide hope since UCLA was 89th in scoring defense by giving up 29 per game. The bright spot comes from the three different areas in their defense.

The Bruins do return six players who started last year, but with a new defenisive coordinator there is a chance for them to struggle early on. It will be hard to be worst then last year mainly because of the returning talent and the fact that the Bruins have three of the best defensive players in the league.

The first of those stars are tackle Brian Price has received all-conference acclaim for 2009 and could land even grander honors with his ability to quickly get into the offensive backfield and has recorded nearly one tackle per loss per game.

Then there is Senior linebacker Reggie Carter who is one of the best in the Pac-10 and moves back to the inside linebacker spot after spending a season as an outside linebacker where he recorded 83 tackles, and was a force in the running game. The third stud for UCLA is senior corner back Alterraun Verner who has eight career interceptions with three which he has returned for touchdowns, and by the way Verner is a potential All-American candidate.

The Bruins do have a wild card in the special teams with Terrence Austin who set a school record for kick-return yardage last year and was an exceptional punt returner as well. They were 16th in kickoff returns and Austin averaged 24 yards per attempt, so if that production is repeated or improved off of then the Bruin offense could have an advantage with good field position.

Overall the Bruins will still struggle to score points, but if the offensive line, quarterback, and running back play gets better UCLA then might have a chance for a bowl appearance. Well unless you are one of the coaches who

Offensive Line Thoughts: No Rootcanal In 2009?

Nestor — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:29:19 -0000

If you haven't done it yet I would highly recommend letting captainqtp know how much we have all appreciated his posts during this past few weeks going over every position with new starters in 2009. He has put up some great posts and all of us are even better informed and prepared for this upcoming football season because of his tremendous efforts. I wanted to build on captain's post from yesterday which wrapped up his look through UCLA's offensive line.

Again this is a topic we have discussed over and over all through this off-season. As Ted Miller noted earlier this summer UCLA's OL is the "biggest reason for concern" this coming season. We don't have to go over the gory stats concening number of sacks allowed and rushing avg. from this past year. We know them all too well. But here is one number that gives me a modicum of hope. I have written about it before and it is worth mentioning again. If you go back to our last season, when were all bracing for a disaster our OL featured only 16 starts. It was unreal and gave us a good reason to be gloomy about 2008 season (couple with the fact we were going in without our two top QBs). This year the situation is a little different. At the end of the spring, (if I have my math right) we have around 46 (not counting the 2 starts from Sonny Tevaga) starts in that roster. That is not as dire.

So with that let's get the over view from Chris Foster in the LA Times:

Kai Maiava, a transfer from Colorado, will start at center, giving line coach Bob Palcic a 6-foot-1, 309-pound rock to build around.

Stanley Hasiak and Xavier Su’a-Filo are the jewels of the freshmen class. One or both could earn a starting spot.

Eddie Williams, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, and Nik Abele, a freshman from Irvine, both cleared academic hurdles this summer and will be admitted.

Jeff Baca started eight games at left tackle as a freshman, but could get moved around.

"We’ll see where everyone fits," Palcic said.

Returners Nick Ekbatani, Darius Savage and Mike Harris are other returners who will get a long look.

Willams and Abele clearing the academic hurdles was a huge relief. Although I think coaches might end up moving Abele over to the defense. We are all waiting on pins and needles to see how Hasiak and XSF perform during this August camp. The guy I am most intrigued about (and I am sure I am not the only one) is Kai Maiava. More on him and the OL after the jump.

Baxter Holmes (new reporter?) from the LA Times did a wonderful story on Kai Maivava yesterday. The story tells us all about Kai's emergence as a freshman All American lineman in Colorado only to be asked to convert over to TE/FB. He decided to come back to Cali and home to UCLA. What I really liked was this part of the story about coaches riding on our OL all off season:

The Bruins averaged only 82.75 rushing yards a game -- 2.62 yards a carry -- and gave up 35 sacks. The rankings indicate the worst: of 119 major-college teams, UCLA ranked 110th in allowing sacks, 111th in total offense and 116th in yards rushing per game.

The players seem to know these numbers by heart. In conversation, they recite them as if they are written on the inside of their helmets.

"The coaches are always reminding us, 'What was it, 116th in the country?' " says redshirt senior guard Nick Ekbatani, noting the rushing offense's ranking.

I like that. I know people are feeling good and our team might have some reasons for optimism. But I also like to hear directly from the players how they are well aware of what took place this past season was understandable given how the program was left by the previous regime, will never be acceptable at UCLA.

And Kai seems to have the kind of fiery leadership qualities that can get this much maligned OL going. From the same article (emphasis added):

"I don't like to be pushed around," Maiava says. "And I don't like negative plays."

He attributes his mean streak to having older brothers and also from a childhood that included eight years spent living in shipping containers while the family tried to get its finances in order so it could build a house.

There was no running water, no electricity.

"He had it tough growing up," his dad says.

This season, Maiava says he wants to pound the ball the first few games, run straight up the middle again and again so teams know last year was an aberration.

"Pound the rock," he says.

His desire is in line with the plans of Coach Rick Neuheisel, who at Pacific 10 Conference media day said, "We're going to be able to run the ball or die trying this year."

I think there is no quesiton that the kids this year have potential. I got that sense when I read and reread captain's posts on the changes at right tackle, center, left guard and left tackle [Nick Ekbatani started all the games at right guard so its a good bet he will be back there again]. However, the biggest question mark for me right now is the toughness of this group. How will they respond after the demoralizing season from this past year. From Dave Consolazio in the All Pac-10 blog:

With an extremely talented young core featuring guys like Jeff Baca, Kai Maiava, Mike Harris, and Sean Sheller (not to mention a few four-star 2009 OL recruits in Stanley Hasiak and Xavier Su’a Filo), there is no question that the future is bright for this offensive line.

That said, I think the future is probably still a year away. With so many young players on the line likely to go through the growing pains that young lineman often do and without a truly shut-down kind of veteran on the line, this will very likely be a unit that has some great games and some very bad games.

Last year’s experience should help the line be a bit better than it was last year, but I’m expecting this year’s step forward to be a small one, with a potentially huge one coming in 2010. Credit Neuheisal for getting so many good pieces in place so quickly, and remember that successful football programs aren’t built overnight; but the future looks promising.

I think that is right. I do believe we are at least an year away. However, I can tell you this much. When I go through our OL depth chart this season, I don't get the same feeling of preparing for a root canal like I was experiencing this past year.

More than anything I am excited to see how these kids respond to the challenge and humilation of this past season. And in Kia it seems like they have the right attitutude and leadership in place. For the first time in a while, I am excited to see how a UCLA OL will perform heading into pre-season. By no means I am expecting a smooth ride. However, I am expecting the same kind of roller coast fun ride we experienced via JF/AA in Howland's second season at UCLA.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Josh Smith Coming To UCLA & Other Football Notes

Nestor — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:12:38 -0000

Of course we are talking about football (not that Josh Smith). And it looks like big news for Coach Neuheisel and UCLA football program as the Bruins per Dohn are about to nab one of the better playmakers in college football. Former Colorado WR is heading to UCLA:

UCLA is getting a deep-threat receiver and a proven kick returner in former Moorpark High star Josh Smith, who will complete a transfer from Colorado to UCLA by the end of the summer, according to sources.

Smith left Colorado in the spring, in part because he wanted to pursue a degree in music, and Colorado does not offer one. Under NCAA transfer rules, Smith will sit out the 2009 season and be eligible for the 2010 season.

According to sources, Smith will enroll at UCLA in September and redshirt. He will have two years of eligibility remaining when he returns to the field. The only hang- up would be an unforeseen issue with his transcripts, sources said.

The Sporting News Features UCLA & Kevin Prince

Nestor — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:00:16 -0000

UCLA and Kevin Prince was on the frontpage of the Sporting News (top left corner). TSN like Phil Steele and westwood78 is being a bit bullish on CRN's Bruins as the Pac-10's "most improved" program this coming season. TSN guys are high on the Bruins for three reasons:

Kevin Prince: they are calling him an "upgrade" from last year
New talent: they love Morrell Presley calling him UCLA's "best weapon"
CRN's second season: thet are pointiing to CRN's second seasons at both CU and at UW that were his best seasons at both of those programs

Let's work backwards here. Well I am really not sure about point number 3 considering CRN inherited the UCLA program in a very different state compared to the situations he entered into as a head coach at his previous two positions (no need to rehash that old history all over again).

As for Presley being the "best weapon" in the team that could be true but we will see how the lack of experience plays into his performance next year. Kevin Prince meanwhile hasn't started a game in almost two years. So while I am excited to see what he could do, we still have to keep the excitement in check. More on the TSN feature after the jump.

You can read the whole preview here which seems fairly standard at this point and bit stale. Like all other previews, it points to OL as "a major area of concern" (in CRN's own words):

The offensive line, which Neuheisel deemed "a major area of concern," should be better with the addition of junior college transfer Ryan Taylor and tackle Sean Sheller, who missed the 2008 season after being injured in a vehicle accident.

The key for the offense, it seems, is to not lose games—for the defense should be good enough to win its share. The Bruins have all-conference talent on the line in junior tackle Brian Price, at linebacker in senior Reggie Carter and in the backfield with shutdown senior cornerback Alterraun Verner.

That seems fair enough although they should have mentioned X man and Hasiak when talking about young talent could help our OL. Fingers crossed.

The print version has a projected starter lineup which also seems a bit dated and off given it has Dominque Johnson at WR (who transferred out) and Presley as the starting TE (I think Pausen as the team captain and also because of his experience will be getting starting nod at TE).

Still though it's cool to see UCLA getting positive pub despite the tough first season we expected this past year. If we can pull off a bowl season this coming year, the excitement around the program is only going to build heading into the next season.

GO BRUINS.

2009 Expectations: The NY Times Joins The Emerging Consensus Re. Upcoming UCLA Season

Nestor — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:32:25 -0000

Looks like there is not going to be much of a debate concerning the expectations for the upcoming UCLA football season. So far this season we have seen the following expectations/predictions (we have debated and discussed the nuances of those points endlessly over last few years) for the 2009 UCLA football season:

Adam Maya from the OC Register predicted UCLA's "best/worst-case scenario" ranged from"5-7 to 7-5." He concluded UCLA will finish "finish .500 (6-6) and earn a bowl bid."
Ted Miller of WWL also thinks UCLA could be the "surprise" team of the Pac. However, he is being lot more realistic listing UCLA as the 7th best team in the conference. Miller also went on to project a 6-6 regular season.
As noted previously, Lindy's has UCLA ranked No. 48 nationally and No. 6 in the Pac-10. Athlon has the Bruins No. 51 overall and No. 6 in the Pac-10.

In terms of upside, WWL's Bruce Feldman is bullish on the Bruins pegging UCLA as one of the potential most improved teams of 2009. Similarly, Phill Steele has an optmisitic projection of UCLA as one of the potential "most improved team" of 2009 that could "return to the post season." Still the consenseus right now is that realistically UCLA should be looking at 6-6/bowl season for this upcoming year, which would be a step up from this past season.

It looks the New York Times agrees with that emerging consensus expectations of a 6 win regular season:

Season breakdown & prediction: I believe U.C.L.A. will reach bowl eligibility, but I don’t think this team has any chance of cracking the top half of the Pac-10. Not that the Bruins won’t get there eventually, but this team would have to make a radical improvement on offense to be taken as a serious contender in the conference, and all signs entering the summer pointed towards U.C.L.A. still needing some work on this side of the ball. One fact in the team’s favor: the roster is positively littered with young talent. This is especially the case on offense, where a plethora of underclassmen will have ample opportunity to make their presence felt at the skill positions. Still, the offense has me concerned. Will the defense be good enough to propel U.C.L.A. to, say, eight wins? It’ll be good, but not that good. Neuheisel is building a program here, and if the past two recruiting classes are any indication, help is on the way. But I’m crazy about this team’s chances at cracking the top four in the Pac-10. Instead, I’ve got the Bruins just about tied with Arizona and Stanford for fifth in the conference: 6-6, 4-5.

That was from Paul Meyerberg on the New York Times's blog - "the Quad" - where he has UCLA checking in at number 52 (which is consistent with the discussions we have seen above). For more on the preview come along after the jump.

Paul's UCLA breakdown is fairly detailed as he has the following on players to watch for this upcoming season:

Players to watch: The Bruins will have a new starting quarterback in 2009, as the redshirt freshman Kevin Prince beat out the incumbent starter, the senior Kevin Craft, with a solid, though unspectacular spring. Craft will likely be the backup, though he’ll battle the true freshman Richard Brehaut for that position. Craft struggled last fall, throwing a school-record 20 interceptions against seven touchdowns; six of his interceptions were returned for touchdowns. I gained a lot of respect for the way Craft dealt with his ineffectiveness, but for U.C.L.A. to become a capable offensive unit, the team must get much better play from its quarterback. The Bruins have a nice mix of experience and young talent on its receiving corps, a group led by the senior Terrance Austin. His breakout junior campaign included a team-best 53 receptions for 460 yards, as well as a school-record 1,878 all-purpose yards. Most of this yardage came on kick returns (1,109 yards), but Austin also added 90 yards rushing on only 13 attempts for a team-leading 9.0 yards per carry. Joining him at receiver are the sophomores Tyler Embree, who set school freshman records for receptions (40) and receiving yards (531, best on the team) and Nelson Rosario, the junior Dominique Johnson (34 for 373 yards) and the senior Gavin Ketchum. The Bruins also go two-deep at tight end, as the 2008 second-team all-conference senior Ryan Moya (38 receptions for 364 yards and 3 scores) will be joined by Logan Paulsen, the 2006-7 starter who missed all but one game last fall. The offensive line is due for an improvement, if only because the wide majority of the group returns with a year’s experience in the system. The senior right guard Nick Ekbaktani, the only lineman to start all 12 games last fall, leads the way. The unit also receives a nice boost from the sophomore center Kai Maiava, a transfer from Colorado who earned freshman all-American honors in 2007. He sat out last fall and will compete with the junior Jake Dean (seven starts in 2008) for the starting spot in the middle. The sophomore Jeff Baca will move inside to guard after making seven starts at left tackle as a rookie, likely leaving the left tackle job in the hands of the junior Sean Sheller, who missed all of last season due to a knee injury.

If there is any optimism regarding U.C.L.A.’s chances at reaching a solid bowl game in 2009, it is because of a talented defense. This group will do a lot of the heavy lifting for the Bruins, especially in the early going. It’s a good thing, therefore, that U.C.L.A. has talent at every level of the defense, from the line through the secondary. The front four will feature one of the nation’s best interior linemen in the junior tackle Brian Price, a first-team all-conference selection last fall after notching 35 tackles (a team-leading 14 for loss) and 4.5 sacks. Price has been a stalwart in the middle since early in his freshman season, and will be even better as a junior. He’s terrific. Lining up next to Price, and replacing Harwell, is the junior Reginald Stokes, who started five of the last seven games down the stretch last fall. Also competing for the starting role, though certainly at worst a part of the tackle rotation, is the sophomore Datone Jones. At end, the senior Korey Bosworth’s first season as a full-time starter saw him lead the team with seven sacks; he finished second to Price with 11 tackles for loss. The team will welcome back his twin brother, the senior weakside linebacker Kyle Bosworth, back to full health after missing all but two games a season ago. In 2007, Bosworth finished fifth on the team with 74 tackles. (Quick aside: My favorite movie featuring their uncle Brian Bosworth is "Stone Cold," where he plays a loose-cannon police officer who infiltrates a biker gang.) The leader of the linebacker corps is the senior Reggie Carter, who paced the team with 83 stops a season ago. Twenty of those tackles came against B.Y.U., the most by a Bruin in a single game since 1989. Rounding out the starting group is the sophomore Akeem Ayers, who had 40 tackles and 4 sacks as a freshman. One area where Neuheisel and his staff have done a very good job in recruiting is in the secondary. U.C.L.A. has surrounded the senior cornerback Alterraun Verner — one of the nation’s best — with a number of athletic freshmen and sophomores, giving this unit the potential to be the second-best in the Pac-10. Any group that has a player of Verner’s caliber is bound to be pretty good. As a junior, he ranked second on the team in tackles with 73 and led the nation with 18 pass breakups. Much like Price, Verner will challenge for all-American honors in 2009. The other returning starter in the secondary is the sophomore free safety Rahim Moore, who last fall became the first true freshman to start every game on defense for the Bruins since 2001. On the season, Moore tied Norris for the team lead with three interceptions. The second starting corner spot will come down to the redshirt freshman Aaron Hester and the sophomore Courtney Viney. As mentioned, this group is very talented, thanks largely to the solid job U.C.L.A. has done in bringing in young playmakers over the past two recruiting cycles.

He lists RB as the "position battle to watch" which is right. However, as we have said over and over again the difference this year between a 4-8/5-7 season and a bowl one will be how much improved our OL is from the disastrous effort of this past season. You can read the whole preview over here.

Reading the season previews this year, I think this is probably as close to consensus narrative I have seen around UCLA football pre-season expectations as the one we saw heading into Dorrell's (mercifully) final season when after four years of excuse making we were all expecting a Pac-10 championship season.

As we have said over and over again, this year in many ways will be like Howland's second season at UCLA when we all considering just getting into the NCAA dance a positive marker for the program, after it completely tanked under the previous regime. Similarly this year, if we can somehow scrap and claw into a bowl game, we will see it as a turnaround after the cratering the program experience last year from the listless leadership from previous regime(s).

GO BRUINS.

Roundup From BN Walk: New Commitment For UCLA, Another Football Preview & Other Notes

Nestor — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:39:42 -0000

Let's start the Thursday with some good news from the football front. Looks like Neuheisel picked up another solid recruit securing a commitment from former Birmingham Senior HS grad Marquis Johnson, who is one of the best JUCO DEs in the country. Brian Dohn reports on the committment (HT muircoach):

"It was humbling. It was different," the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Jackson said of the junior college experience. "Although I was a good athlete, it was not just like I was going to go somewhere based on my talent. I had to take care of academics.

"Once I got dropped by Fresno State, things started changing. I wasn't ready to give up. Once I knew in high school I wasn't going anywhere, I had to get on my game."

Jackson and his mother, Robin, met with UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel and defensive line coach Todd Howard on Wednesday and committed.

His twin brother, Malik, plays at USC.

"It's time for us to separate," Marquis Jackson said. "We've been together for 18 years. I think it's a good time to separate. When I first started getting offers, I had no idea where I was going to go. I need to be in California. It's the best place for me. It's home. UCLA came out to be the best option."

As always, we have to see how this all pans out because of our recent history of JUCO commits who weren't able to fulful their academic obligations. Per Dohn Jackson still has "coursework to complete" as he plans to enroll at UCLA for 2010's winter quarter. So good luck to him both off and on the field this fall.

As mentioned above he was a standout at Birmingham High School (also attended by current Bruins such as Milton Knox and Donovan Carter). Here are some highlights from his high school days:

Marquis Jackson (via noseguard59)

He sure looks like a beast and probably explains why he had offers as JUCO recruit from schools such as LSU, ASU, Oregon and others. Anyways, it's key committment given DL is such a huge area of need for the football program. You can see our full committment list here. Roundup down the BN walk continues after the jump ...

Of course UCLA recruiting will be impacted by the kind of season we are going to have on the field this coming year. We have maintained that if Bruins are able to show tangible improvement (record wise) from this past season and show that they are moving in the right direction, recruiting will get even better. Overwhelming majority of the previews we have seen this season have essential set the expectations line around 6 or 7 wins and I think that is just about right. Jake from Oregon State's Building The Dam just wrote up his UCLA season preview this week that hits many of the themes we have been discussing on BN this off season. It will all come down to our OL:

As discussed above, the offensive line is the major area of concern for the Bruins this season, but a lot of players have been able to gain valuable experience. Will they be able to put it to use? Sophomore left guard Jeff Baca, sophomore senior Kia Maiava, and junior left tackle Sean Sheller are the leaders of the group. If the offensive line can be somewhat successful, the Bruins will be able to move the ball easier, which means less reps for the defense, which could go a long way to getting UCLA back to the .500 mark.

That is exactly right. Jake does need to however, update the details re. our RB situation. Jake observes:

The success of the rushing game will have a lot to do with how the offensive line fares. Kahlil Bell is gone, but sophomore Derrick Coleman and fullback Chane Moline return. Coleman averaged just under 30 yards per game last season, and Moline checked in at just under 10 yards per game. Sophomore Raymond Carter, who appeared in seven games last season, figures to also be in the mix.

Of course from what we have heard it will be Christian Ramirez who will most likely come in as the number 1 starter at the RB spot this fall. Coleman will be the number 2 guy at this snap shot of time with Jonathan Franklin (who apparently has shown a lot of promise at Spaulding) at number 3. Carter has transferred out this off seaosn. I am sure Moline will be in the mix as a seasoned veteran and we can't forget about Milton Knox who could break out this August. But for now Ramirez, Coleman and Franklin are going to be the guys getting their shots. Rest of Jake's preview is a solid read, which you should do so by heading over to BTD.

Elswhere, on the Ben Ball front KL has been playing hoops at the UCLA mens gym. His former head coach really appreciates it:

Kevin Love is playing pickup with our current players this week. He likes our young guys. It's good to have him around- such a smart player.

Well I know if I was taking summer classes in Westwood, I'd stop by to see those outlet passes flying towards ML and JA (assuming they are also playing with KL and the gang). That would beat watching the replay of old football games currently on Fox Sports West during this dead off season.

Lastly, UCLA's What's Bruin Blog has a cool update on former baseball alum Tim Murphy putting together dominating performances in the minor leagues. For a full list of former UCLA ballplayers in the minor leagues go here. Late this afternoon rye will continue with his analysis/reflections from his recent meeting with Savage. Today he is going to tackle the facility related questions and concerns about UCLA baseball. So stay tuned.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: 2009 Expectations & Recruiting Notes

Nestor — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:04:25 -0000

We will start our Spaulding roundup with a little trip over to Ted Miller's ESPN Pac-10 Blog. Ted has been publishing a series of posts starting with the title of "Don't be surprised ..." last few weeks in his attempt to offer up "unusual angles" to this upcoming Pac-10 season (gotta give him an "A" for effort given how difficult it is to come up with content during this nuclear winter of college football season). So Ted yesterday focused his efforts on UCLA observing that our offense could be "much better in 2009". Here are his reasons for offensive optimism:

No way a Norm Chow offense lays another egg like this one. In the quarter-century-plus he's been coaching offenses, he's never had one as bad as 2008.

The offense welcomes back nine starters, though redshirt freshman Kevin Prince has unseated Kevin Craft at quarterback.

Five players who would have started last year but were unavailable for various reasons -- injuries, suspension, transfer rules, etc. -- will be good to go in 2009: running back Christian Ramirez, tight end Logan Paulsen, center Kai Maiava, fullback Trevor Theriot and offensive tackle Sean Sheller.

That beleaguered offensive line not only welcomes back Sheller, it also gets six guys back who started at least five games last fall. What's more, incoming freshmen Stan Hasiak and Xavier Su'a-filo, as well as JC transfer Eddie Williams, represent one of the nation's best recruiting hauls of O-linemen.

Ted then went on to project a 6-6 regular season. That is pretty much on par with the discussions we have had on BN since the end of spring camp. I still think though we have to wait to see how the Fall camp shakes out and how kids like Stan Hasiak and Xavier Su'a-filo to the college game. We are not going to have a shot if our OL improves from last year's dire straits to an averaging perfoming unit this season, putting together a foundation for the upcoming ones.

As we have said before we have to treat this year like Howland's second year in Westwood. That year it was all about getting into the NCAA tournament after Howland's (but not so surprising) first season. Of course barely getting into the NCAA tournament will never be up to UCLA standards. However, getting to that point in Howland's second season was a sure sign of tangible improvement that set him for future success. Getting into a bowl game this year for CRN's program will similarly set him for better seasons in the coming years in Westwood.

If Neueheisel and co. are able to pull off a bowl season this year expect that to boost their solid recruiting efforts even more. As the OC Register's Adam Maya notes in his June roundup, Bruins have momentum with 4 commitments and are zeroing on number of prospects from Southern California and across the nation:

In progress…

Three-star receiver Anthony Jefferson of Cathedral High includes UCLA in his top five, along with USC, Cal, Oregon and Oklahoma.

Three-star cornerback Cullen Christian ranks UCLA No. 3 among schools he’s considering.

Servite High DT Kirifi Taula said UCLA is his favorite and he would likely commit once he receives an offer. The Bruins already offered Tesoro High OL Silvarius Ajawara, who has just recently gotten more attention but said he’s always loved UCLA.

And finally…

Several of the top recruits in the nation (Rivals.com’s top 100, Scout.com’s top 100) list UCLA as a possible destination, including: OT Seantrell Henderson (Scout and Rivals’ No. 1 overall player), DE Ronald Powell (No. 12, Rivals), RB Malcolm Jones (No. 15, Scout), WR Robert Woods (No. 17, Rivals), S Sean Parker (No. 19, Scout) and RB Anthony Barr (No. 20, Rivals).

Of course one of the guys who just committed to CRN is Bay Area's Brett Nottingham. He has been impressing scouts all over the Western region this summer. Greg Biggins from ESPN becomes the latest prominent Western recruiting guru to jump on the Nottingham bandwagon:

Brett Nottingham (Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) came in to Vegas with a lot of confidence after strong camp performances at Colorado, Stanford and UCLA. All three colleges offered scholarships and the signal caller fulfilled a lifelong dream committing to the Bruins, where both parents and two of his sisters attended.

Nottingham had a good workout and is one of those quarterbacks that just does everything well although he may not wow you in any one respect. His arm looked a bit tired after attending so many camps the previous weeks but arm strength will not be an issue at the next level.

Nottingham already has a college body at a solid 6-4, 210 pounds, takes great drops, throws well on the run as well as in the pocket and is a great leader with a magnetic personality.

Sounds perfect for UCLA.

GO BRUINS.