An Early Look at UCLA Football’s 2015 Roster: Running Back
Sep 25, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Paul Perkins (24) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
With only the bowl game against Kansas State still remaining in UCLA‘s 2014 season, it’s a good time to begin looking at what’s to come for the Bruins in 2015. Today, we’ll begin our examination of the offense with a look at the future of the running back position for UCLA football.
Paul Perkins will return as Running Back #1 on the depth chart to defend his Pac-12 rushing crown. He isn’t likely to take a huge leap in skill level at this point, but he’s already outstanding as is. If Perkins could become a tiny bit faster so that he could take some of those long runs on which he gets tripped up from behind and turn them into touchdowns, he would truly transform into Johnathan Franklin 2.0.
UCLA Bruins
Perkins will be backed up by the bruising Nate Starks, who is likely to take a leap as a sophomore in 2015 after a full offseason learning the offense and working out under strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi‘s training regime. Starks emerging as a consistent option in short yardage and red zone situations would be a huge boon to the offense and not only take that burden off of Myles Jack, but also open up the play-action passing game in those situations.
Physical freak Nate Iese will return as UCLA’s H-Back, but despite his unquestioned productivity when called into action, Iese was an underused weapon in the UCLA offense this past season. We will see in 2015 whether Iese’s production levels are just inherently limited by the offensive scheme or whether having a quarterback like Josh Rosen who is more willing to look over the middle to find receivers will result in Iese becoming a much greater part of the offense.
If he commits to UCLA, 5-star running back Soso Jamabo (Plano, TX/East) would act as a versatile weapon who is valuable catching balls out of the backfield and in the slot while he acclimates himself physically to becoming an FBS running back. Steven Manfro returns from an ACL tear, but isn’t likely to see huge amounts of playing time given the superior talent in front of him on the depth chart.
Craig Lee remains a wild-card in the running back deck. Lee is the fastest and most electric running back currently on the roster, but has had trouble picking up the playbook and fundamentals of the position like pass protection. If the light turns on in Lee’s head and he begins to fulfill his sky-high potential, then he could be a transformational weapon for this offense because he would provide the speed and home-run hitting ability that the offense currently lacks and desperately needs.