Roundup From BN Walk: News & Notes

by Nestor on Jul 16, 2008 4:00 AM PDT in News

We have some significant news from the football team. There has been some shuffling around in our depth chart and it has to do with our OL. Nate Chandler, a red shirt freshman TE is moving over to the OL (per Chow’s request). Dohn has the details:

Chandler met with offensive coordinator Norm Chow last week and agreed to move to tackle as UCLA tries to solve its depth issues and find a replacement for Sheller.

"It's going to help the team eventually, so I'm down with it," Chandler said. "I have no problems with it. At first, it was kind of tough, but I talked to Norm and he said, `I can make you into a great tackle.' I believe in him, and I think I can do it myself."

The 6-foot-6, 273-pound Chandler said he wants to gain 10 to 15 pounds. He was considered a strong tight end prospect, but the Bruins have depth at that position.

However, Sheller was injured in an offseason off-roading accident and is out for the season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery.

It creates a hole at right tackle, and Chandler said he was told he could compete for playing time immediately. Incoming junior college transfer Donovan Edwards, providing he meets UCLA's academic requirements, will also compete for the spot.

"I'm definitely going to have a chance to compete for the spot, so I'm going in with the mindset that I can play," Chandler said. "I think that's possible."

Great comments from Chandler. This move could work out well for all parties involved. Given his previous experience as a TE, Chandler could emerge as an athletic TE. If he excels at his new spot, it will make him that much more marketable in case he is pursuing a football career beyond college (which I imagine is the dream of Chandler and all other blue chip recruits at UCLA).

Dohn also has some encouraging news re. Raymond Carter:

Carter looks fine in workouts and is expected to be ready for training camp next month.

If Carter works his way to his old self (and get back that speed) it will be a huge boost to our RB corps. I will start posting my notes going through our dept chart tomorrow.

Moving over to hoops, now that is he back from Korea, Jordan is looking to take another trip. This one though seems to have a deeper purpose than just promoting the NBA:

The Lakers' guard, who is Jewish, will travel to Israel to run basketball camps for Israeli and Palestinian children in association with the Peres Peace Center. The goal of the camps, which take place Aug. 4 to 11, is to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together through basketball and create a foundation for peaceful relations between them in years to come.

"If you can have a good time with someone you're supposed to be enemies with, and you guys can work together, things can be better for your future," Farmar said.

Farmar, who averaged 9.1 points and 2.7 assists in his second season with the Lakers, also participated in the NBA's fifth-annual "Play for Peace" clinic in 2006, a little more than a month after he was drafted out of UCLA.

"Sports can be a ground where everyone has fun and when you're out there having a good time; you don't really think about everything else that's going on," Farmar said.

Farmar was also in the news recently doing a fundraiser for Senator Obama. So just like Kareem, Baron, Arthur Ashe, Jordan is emerging as yet another Bruin superstar, who is making a name for himself beyond the basketball court.

Don’t worry our Republican friends. Not to be outdone (angling for the hearts and minds of Bruin Nation), Senator McCain recently lampooned a certain “school” (which happens to be his wife’s alma mater) by calling it out as “the University of Spoiled Children.” Good for Senator McCain.

GO BRUINS.

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It's great to see JF getting out there in the community

“NBA Cares” always seemed sort of gimmicky to me, but there are certainly some guys out there that don’t need a tacky line to give back to society, and Jordan is one of them.

It’s also fantastic to see a presidential candidate recognize that SUC undergrad is nothing more than a spoiled entitled bunch of trust fund babies, encapsulated perfectly in the classic “University of Spoiled Children” line.

by Tydides on Jul 16, 2008 7:41 AM PDT 0 recs

Once Again,

We have two young athletes demonstrating the depth of character which has become a UCLA standard. What a fantastic attitude young Mr. Chandler has: it’s all about the team. And I’m sure that none of us are surprised that JF is sincerely dedicated to and willing to work for a cause so much greater than self or basketball. I am just so impressed with this young man.

Thank you, N.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Jul 16, 2008 9:11 AM PDT 0 recs

Couldn't find the McCain link working

But did find a link here…

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-oe-long10-2008jul10,0,3043609.story

by Free the 16 on Jul 16, 2008 10:20 AM PDT 0 recs

Concern over Chandler move

I understand that we are frightfully thin at RT with Sheller out for the season, leaving us with just Edwards (assuming he becomes academically eligible) and Harris (a redshirt freshman) on the depth chart at RT.

And, I agree that moving Chandler from TE, where he’d get little time this season with both Moya and Paulsen in the picture, to RT would be a good short-term solution. But I’m concerned with the long-term implications. Once Paulsen graduates at the end of this season, we’ll just have Moya and Harkey on the chart as TEs. I’d like to see Chandler moved back next season as our #2 TE so that once Moya is gone, he’ll take over at TE. I think he is a real good TE prospect and I don’t want us to waste that potential by making the kid gain weight and become rusty.

The other thing that bothers me is that NC felt moving a redshirt freshman TE over to RT rather than using one of the other offensive linemen we have on the books:

Mike Harris, RT (RS FR); Brandon Bennett, LT (RS SO); Sonny Tevaga, LG (RS SO); Aaron Meyer, LG (RS SR); Jake Dean, C (RS SO); Adam Heater, C (RS JR); Glicksberg, RG (RS SR) or Ekbatani, RG (RS JR) (depending on who starts at RG); Andy Keane, RG (RS SO).

That’s 8 offensive linemen who have experience, albeit little (or even just high school experience) playing on the offensive line. Chandler, on the other hand, is new to the position. For NC to go to Chandler rather than any of these other guy indicates to me that NC doesn’t think much of our OL depth and that we might be in a more dire situation that our depth chart would indicate.

I had hoped these guys would develop under Palcic and help us avoid major line issues down the line, but if NC isn’t sold on them and is turning to a converted TE, that makes me real worried about what happens when the current crop of starting linemen with experience (such as Kia and Reed) are gone.

by norcald503 on Jul 16, 2008 1:04 PM PDT 0 recs

Another thought

I don’t know if Baca and Bradford have made it to campus yet and partaken in drills, but if they haven’t, I hope that if NC likes what he sees, he can slot one of those guys over to RT to avoid Chandler having to make the conversion permanent.

by norcald503 on Jul 16, 2008 1:05 PM PDT up 0 recs

Should be ok

It’s not that big of a switch from tight end to tackle. Similar blocking duties, just no pass-catching. And he certainly has the size (fool is huge- bulkier than Marcedes, who was a pretty mammoth tight end in his own right). Given an offseason of weight training, and say he comes in at 280, he’d give us a really athletic option at tackle—something we haven’t really had in a while. And our depth chart at OL is abysmal. Hopefully Palcic can make something out of guys like Bennett, Tevaga, Meyer, Dean and Ekbatani, but the fact that Scott Glicksburg was thrown ahead of them in spring does not do anything to alleviate my concerns. At this point, a 260 pound corpse with some athleticism would be in the two deep.

And tight end shouldn’t really be a worry, as far as depth. It’s not that important of a position, especially when compared to OL. And regardless, Cory Harkey is reportedly going to be a stud. That’s our No. 1 tight end locked up right there for at least the next four years. Remember, JJ Hair was the primary backup at tight end for at least three years, and all he did was block decently. We should be ok at TE.

As for Baca and Bradford, it’s a rare offensive lineman (think Jonathan Ogden rare) that can even get playing time as a freshman. Agreed, this is a weird situation, but I bet they’re only seeing time if a really significant injury bug strikes the team. They need to bulk up, learn the scheme, etc.

by DavidWoods on Jul 16, 2008 1:38 PM PDT up 0 recs

I understand that...

...the blocking duties won’t be too different, but not getting the reps at TE in practice is going to make the kid a bit rusty. And granted, Harkey is supposed to be a stud TE. But so was Chandler. And truth be told, we have no way of knowing which guy will be the better TE. It’s not the most important position on the field, but as San Diego, Kansas City, and Indy have shown in the No Fun League, it can be a very potent offensive weapon if used effectively. I don’t want us to shortchange ourselves if Chandler could have been better at TE down the line than Harkey but we wasted his potential to save our line for one season.

Anyway, I agree with you re: the OL depth. We actually have a decent number of bodies, but as I said before, we’re really lacking in terms of talent at the position.

You hit the nail on the head though as to my other concern. The fact NC is looking past all of these other guys (Bennett, Meyer, Keane, Dean, Tevaga, and Ekbatani) is a major concern. I wrote off a lot of our OL for lack of experience, not lack of talent or skill. I figured that this year we’d hurt because so many guys lacked experience, but once we started working in the newer guys in to get some time, both on and off the practice field, we’d be okay down the road.

The fact that NC is basically writing these guys off and lookingto Glicksburg and Chandler is, I think we both agree, an indictment against the other OL guys we have. Troubling, to say the least.

by norcald503 on Jul 16, 2008 2:49 PM PDT up 0 recs

could also be

that he’s just the best blocker of the bunch, and the fact that he’s not a small fry may indicate merely that OT is the best place for him. It may not be the indictment on the abilities of the others . . . could just be a compliment on his own ability. And if NC says he can turn him into a “great tackle,” I have to believe Chow means it.

by palafox on Jul 16, 2008 10:37 PM PDT up 0 recs

It could be

But considering no one else has seen that before, I’m a bit unsure. I know NC is a great OC and all, no doubt. I just feel like this is more of a desparation move due to NC not being sold on the other guys we have at OL.

I mean, no one has ever seen how Chandler blocks in a NCAA Division I game. Dude’s a RS FR. Sure, he might be bigger. Sure, he might be a good blocker in practice. But, the fact remains is he has zero game experience on OL. Some of the other guys do and the fact that NC is turning to Glicksburg and Chandler over them indicates, in my opinion, that the new staff has very little faith in the OL guys KD brought in.

Truth be told, I’d be a bit more sold if this kind of talk came from Palcic, our OL guy, a guy with a lot of OL coaching. NC is great, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t associate him with developing OL talent. Rather, it appears, at least in my opinion, he gets solid OL recruits and using, for lack of a better phrase, “pre-made” OL talent, develops QBs.

Again, it’s just me, but I don’t see NC as the guy who “makes” or develops OL talent, but rather recruited well and got good OL talent.

Just an opinion.

by norcald503 on Jul 17, 2008 12:42 AM PDT up 0 recs