Spaulding Roundup: Updated UCLA Football Roster, More OL Data points & Other Notes
by Nestor on Jul 12, 2010 5:21 AM PDT
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PrintWell we have less than month to go till the opening of 2010 summer/pre-season camp. So, I think now is a good time to start checking in with the football program on a more regular basis. I will start by looking through the update roster which was released few weeks ago with the names of incoming freshmen on the official roster. Here are some of my notes in context of the spring roster and depth chart (also linked within the following bullets):
- Defensive Tackles: David Carter is now up to 6-4/301, up 9 pounds from this past spring. Nate Chandler is holding steady around 291. Freshmen defensive linemen Cassius Marsh check in at 6-4/285 while Seali'i Epenesa checks in 6-2/320. This was released 2-3 weeks ago. So there is a good chance Marsh could get up 290 range. I think Marsh is more polished off the two and might more ready to contribute technique wise but you can't teach Epenesa's size. He is freaking massive. Donovan Carter has gained another 9 pounds from March as he is up to 280 from 271.
- Defensive Ends: Both Luta Tepa and Keenan Graham are holding steady for now in the mid 240s range. Owamagbe Odighizuwa (number 94) checked in at 6-4/240.
- Linebackers: Glenn Love at least during spring ball made smooth transition from safety to WLB. He is now listed at 6-4/220, up 4 lbs from spring. I could be wrong but I think he might have the edge against Sean Westgate for the starting spot. Ayers at 6-4/255 and Patrick Larimore at 6-3/249, at least on paper appear imposing. I don't recall having this kind of size in the UCLA LB corps for a while. Among freshmen Aramide Olaniyan checks in at 6-2/202, Jordan Zumwalt at 6-4/225, and Eric Kendricks at 6-1/213. It will be all about S&C and weight gain for these guys rest of this summer.
- Defensive Backs: Sheldon Price has been hitting the meal table. He is up 7 lbs from March, now up to 6-2/178. He has now gained 15 lbs from the beginning of his freshman season. He needs to keep at it. Christian Ramirez is still listed as a DB. Among the frosh Dietrich Riley checks in at 6-0/201 and Anthony Jefferson, who I think has an outside shot at breaking in the rotation this season checks in at 6-1/177.
I will get to the offense and some other football related notes after the jump.
So moving along here are some of my observations from the offensive side:
- Offensive Line: The first guy that stood out to me was Wade Yandall, who was listed during spring at 6-4/300. He is now at 6-4/329 (up 29 pounds). Just wow. On the other end Ryan Taylor seems to have slimmed down to 6-4/298 (down from 330 last spring). Among the incoming freshmen Chris Ward is already listed at 6-4/318. Kody Innes is at 6-4/279. Rest of the guys such as Greg Capella (RS Freshman), Micah Kia, Eddie Williams, and Stand Hasiak are around the same range they were in last spring (north of 300).
- Running Backs/Receivers/Quarterbacks: Freshman backs Malcolm Jones check in at 6-0/223, Jordon James at 5-11/191, and Anthony Barr at 6-5/228. It will be interesting to see where Barr ends up during camp. He could be switched over the defensive side where he could fit in as SS or a LB. I can't wait to see Jayson Allmond make his debut at FB (6-0/260). No real changes in the numbers for Jet Ski, Derrick Coleman, and Damien Thigpen. They are holding steady from spring depth chart numbers. Also not a movement in the numbers for WRs/TEs. Among WRs, Embree is down to 201 from 207 (perhaps he is trying to get leaner and faster?). No real changes in the number for QBs (at this point the development we are looking from them are inside their heads).
- Omissions: The list does not include Paul Richardson, Shaquille Richardson and Josh Shirley, who have been suspended from UCLA (not just the football program) at least for the Fall Quarter of 2010.
Keep in mind these guys still have about a month left in the weight room to keep building on these numbers. Over all, looking through and comparing them to numbers from spring and last summer, the methodical progression is pretty clear. The key is going to be whether there has also been progression in terms of development of their mindsets and ability to execute game plans on Saturdays. We have less than two months to go till we start getting some answers.
As we are on the topic of development, let me go back to the topic of assessment of OL talent again. I have been really intrigued by this topic since Woochifer brought it up little more than a week ago. I went ahead and looked up the OL recruits from Bob Toledo's recruiting classes of 1998 and 1999. Those two classes were perhaps the two most talented classes in the history of UCLA football in last quarter century with few highly regarded, uber talented OL recruits. Yet the end results didn't match up the hype around them from high school. From the Class of 1998 we had:
- Steve Morgan
- Mike Saffer
- Blake Worley
- Jeff Wright
And from Class of 1999:
- Bryce Bohlander
- Shane Lehmann
From the group above Saffer, Worley, and Bohlander were three of the most publicized OL recruits to come into UCLA. Yet unfortunately for us none of them developed into the dominant OL we thought they would emerge as in Westwood. The reason I bring them up is not to knock those guys down (they are all Bruins no matter what).
The reason to bring them is to keep emphasizing the point what a crapshoot OL recruiting really is when it comes to assessing it via the star system or recruiting accolades. The key will be is how our coaching staff develops the recruits coming into Westwood in recent years. Thankfully we do have a coach like Bob Palcic with proven track record in terms of talent spotting and evolution from his previous college stops. Hopefully the current guys will continue to make progress under him (like they did last year) while he helps Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow spot more talents on the recruiting trail.
Lastly, speaking of the recruiting trail, ICYMI there was an interesting article on Mike Bell, the father of former Bruin Kahlill Bell in the Marin Independent Journal. Mr. Bell is of course the Dad of possible Bruin transfer QB Darius Bell. Per the article Darius is still "waiting on paperwork to clear him to play next year at UCLA." Hopefully there will be news on that front soon.
GO BRUINS.
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what ever happened
to Todd Golper?
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's"
John Wooden.....
He is still there
I am sure he will get a chance to contribute. Click on the links and you will get info. on him.
When I was at practice
He seemed kinda little on the shorter side. It seems like guys in his class such as Larimore have either progressed more mentally or physically than him.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
He's barely a RS Freshman
for goodness sake. Give him time,I’ve seen him play since his days at Arcadia and he’s a real gamer.
RESCUING DANCE MUSIC FROM THE BLAHS
Yup
It will be ridiculous for anyone to make any conclusion on him now. Also note he was recovering from a surgery last season.
phew
Good thing no conclusions were made.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
and marlon pollard snagged a pick 6 off Clayton Tunney
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
Depth
It looks like we are probably not going to be afforded the luxury of red shirting any DT’s this year except maybe Flowers. Although he does seem to have the biggest frame on the team in general being 6’7 and all. I can really see him developing with a red shirt and coming in as a RS frosh and playing effectively. But I truley I wish we had the luxury of red shirting all of our interior lineman, like most quality programs do.
Regarding the trio of suspendees, does the winter quarter start during the season? So IF they do get back for with us for the winter quarter will they be able to practice and play some football at spaulding?
And a note regarding Jayson Allmond, I dont think the pistol really has a fullback, the only way I see him getting on the field this year is in a goal line sitch or down and shorts.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
The revolver
From my understanding it will be a part of our offense. It is not clear whether we are going to go exclusively to that formation all the time. So there might be opportunities for Allmond beyond goal line situations. Guess we will see how the offense is set up in summer camp.
As for DT redshirting, it certainly would be nice. Perhaps we will get lucky. Justin Edison will come through. We stay relatively healthy and as a result get to RS Epenesa. Too early to draw any kind of conclusions.
Not the base
I doubt the “revolver” is going to be the base, and that the formation will always be the same. I think that on a certain drive, they might use it for every play if it is working, and the other times will be different formations.
IMO, it will be just to keep the defense on their toes and make them put an extra man accountable for the quarterback to open up the run game
I think it’s a great idea, if run successfully, it could open up the run game.
by LoveMyBruins on Jul 12, 2010 9:14 AM PDT up reply actions
I know weve had this convo on BN before but...
Why would we purley stick with the revolver all spring and not practice our sets from last regular season (at all) if we werent going to go with it (the revolver) for a cosiderable amount of snaps next season? Cause its not like our sets from last season were clicking on all cylinders and didnt need any work at all.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
I didn't say
that they weren’t going to use it all. They will use, it will be part of the offense, it just won’t be the base offense. That offense is different and isn’t a minor change that you can practice it half time and then practice the regular sets the other half-time. They were implementing something new in the Spring, so it needed more attention. They’ll probably practice both in the Fall.
We’ll see what happens.
by LoveMyBruins on Jul 12, 2010 9:45 AM PDT up reply actions
I think MaltBaa was saying we'll be seeing a lot of the Pistol
because in Spring our team practiced it exclusively – even though our other formations needed plenty of work, too. Why waste the practices on something you’ll use rarely?
OTOH: we have to see what we practice from now on to get an idea of what is on CRN’s mind.
by KnudsenRockne on Jul 12, 2010 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks, I get that
We will see a lot of the pistol/revolver, but I still don’t think this will be THE offense. And I hope it won’t be, because I don’t think Prince is that kind of QB because of injury concerns. He’s pretty fast, but someone like D. Bell would be better fit for that IMO.
If it is THE offense, then I hope Prince and co. prove me wrong, because the pistol is very cool and very fun to watch.
Again, we’ll see what happens. I trust CRN and CNC, and we’ll leave it up to them.
by LoveMyBruins on Jul 12, 2010 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions
I worry about timing issues between the QB and WR's
if the offense is run out of a mix between the revolver and under center.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
I think we all agree but are just saying it differently.
I definitely agree Re: Prince’s questionable suitability for the Pistol as well as it being fun to watch. Of course, the fun depends on the QB being fleet of foot and mind (when it’s our side running the Pistol).
by KnudsenRockne on Jul 12, 2010 7:48 PM PDT up reply actions
That being said
I hope CRN closes all practices including the scrimmage so that KState has no idea what to expect.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
Agree with that
Imagine Kstate prepares for the “revolver” but never see it once when they actually play…that would be pretty cool.
by LoveMyBruins on Jul 12, 2010 9:47 AM PDT up reply actions
Rivals has him at 6'4.
Your right, but thats still a pretty big frame.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
Winter Quarter
Starts after Christmas and New Years, which means there is no possibility of them playing or practicing until Spring.
Malcolm Jones
I saw him on campus last week and this kid is much bigger in person than I thought he’d be. He’s really wide, but in a good way. Looking forward to seeing this kid blasting through the holes created by the OL (and creating a few of his own).
I expect football players to be big
But the last guy I saw who really stood out to me as much bigger in person was my personal favorite: MJD. Was walking on that bridge between Northern Lights and that parking lot next to it and MJD is coming the opposite direction. That bridge is easily big enough to go three people wide…unless one of those people is MJD, in which case it’s enough for him and one person (me) scooting sideways to get by.
5'7" 207 pounds...
…were you at 3 bills when crossing the bridge?
Please, I can appreciate the man’s talent, his smart articulate self…but he’s five seven just over 200 pounds! Does he tear phone books apart like Dmitry Ivanov to keep his upper body svelt? Watch the ‘big uglies’ walking together and then you’ll see beef on the hoof.
by C.T. in Boston on Jul 13, 2010 8:18 PM PDT up reply actions
Yandall
329? We want our OL to get bigger, but I have a feeling that is not “muscle” weight he put on. If it was muscle weight, he should have become a bit leaner, rather than bigger. I could be wrong, but that could be the bad kind of weight he put on.
I haven’t heard any positives or negatives about Capella, has anyone seen anything that might be encouraging about him, or anything that he really needs to work on?
If Yandell was pretty soft coming in,
he could easily have put on most of that weight in muscle(being heavier than fat). Let’s just hope that’s the case.
by LongtimeBru on Jul 12, 2010 10:12 AM PDT up reply actions
Maybe a video just on Yandall
I wanna see this kid. He looked big, when he was just hovering over 300, could you imagine 329? WOW…
by LoveMyBruins on Jul 12, 2010 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions
Could be true
Maybe I got to more research on working out and whether Fat turns into muscle or if muscle if built on top of fat?
Lets hope fat turned into muscle, and he gained that extra 29 pounds of muscle!
by LoveMyBruins on Jul 12, 2010 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions
Fat burns off and muscle forms.
You could build muscle and not lose fat. That would be the case if he is eating way more calories than he is burning, but still working out and gaining muscle. If his diet is good and he is working out hard, he should be burning off the fat and gaining muscle mass. Most lineman have a nice layer of fat over their muscle, so it may be hard to tell at a glance how much is fat and how much is muscle.
Case in point, 
Vasili Alexeyev, 345 pounds and looks like he has eaten half of the Philly Cheese Steaks in Philly, is seen in the picture lifting 541 pounds over his head. He definitely has some excess fat, but most of what is underneath is solid muscle.
That...is...
completely ridiculous. WTF?! GET IN MY BELLY!
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
that
is actually sheldon price’s dad. So there is hope for him.
WOW
Thank you…
Well, hopefully that is the case and he’s only 16 pounds away from Vasili Alexeyev!
by LoveMyBruins on Jul 12, 2010 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions
He was an early enrollee
So he has had more time working with Mike L.
Say goodbye to the "Gutty little Bruins!"
OMG these fellows are big, I mean really big.
In his third year it is obvious that CRN has raised the bar dramatically.
The size of our incoming running backs is particularly impressive. Some of their video of workouts and training has been jaw dropping.
Hopefully, this all means a running game, finally. With the Revolver we can only hope to have the success of others in the Pistol formation. If Kevin Prince likes it better, too, maybe he can be the consistent, efficient QB we need to ramp up our offense.
I think our defense is going to be fine. But we need offense to beat teams like Houston and Texas.
The upcoming practice should be very revealing. On paper we look good, real good. Time will tell.
GO BRUINS!
Interesting list
Only reinforces the notion that you can never have too many OL prospects in the program, because you cannot predict what happens once they get into the program. Out of the guys on that list, Saffer and Bohlander wound up being productive starters, with Saffer a four-year starter and Bohlander a three-year starter. Saffer wound up first team all-conference and second team All-American. Two (maybe three) multi-year starters for every five OL recruits — that seems to be the pattern.
The thing is that some linemen come into the program with raw skills and/or a frame that still has a lot of filling out to do. Others basically maxed out their talents and/or fully developed physically in high school. But, regardless, it seems that OL prospects in particular rarely dominate as underclassmen, and it’s hard to project which ones will develop into All-Americans during their junior and senior years.
I think back to our two Outland Trophy winners — Kris Farris and Jonathan Ogden. Farris was a gangly awkward project, who got schooled by defenses on a regular basis when he played as a freshman. He was not a high elite recruit coming out of high school — honorable mention “Best in the West” and mostly regional honors — basically a three-star caliber recruit. Yet, he filled out his frame in college, developed his skills, and basically exploded into a dominating player as a junior.
Jonathan Ogden was a sought after recruit out of the DC area — the equivalent of a four-star recruit. But, he too was not a high elite player — I don’t recall him making any first-team HS AA lists. He was a little bit more polished than Farris coming out of high school, but playing as a freshman, he too had his share of growing pains. It wasn’t until his junior year that we really saw glimpses of the player Ogden would become. And his senior year was just lights out the most dominating run I’ve seen from a Bruin OL. Sad to think of how much more Farris could have developed had he stayed in school for his senior season.
I think that Toledo wound up falling in love with big bodied OL prospects, thinking that some of the raw and gangly 6’7+ 300 lb+ recruits would develop into the next Kris Farris. As I posted elsewhere, the 2001 class is an example of how a big highly touted OL class can go awry. Basically, you had five OL recruits in 2001, with only one full-time starter by the end of their senior years.
Bob Cleary, Ed Blanton, and Mike McCloskey wound up as starters, and IIRC, only McCloskey made all-Pac 10. Colin Barker got injured and took medical retirement, while Matt Mosebar quit football altogether after two years.
Bob Cleary was the most highly touted recruit, but he ended up as a part-time starter. McCloskey was the least heralded recruit, but ended up as the most productive player — making second team All-Pac 10 as a junior. Yet, he wound up not playing his senior year due to a medical ailment. Ed Blanton was the only player from that OL class still starting at the end of his senior year.
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