An Early Look at UCLA Football’s 2015 Roster: Wide Receiver

Sep 13, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins wide receiver Jordan Payton (9) runs with the ball against the Texas Longhorns during the first quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-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. We previewed the running backs yesterday. Today, we’ll continue our examination of the offense with a look at the future of the wide receiver position.

OVERVIEW

UCLA’s offense will likely be more aggressive in stretching the field with its receivers in 2015 due to the inherent assertiveness of Josh Rosen‘s style of play at quarterback, but there’s only so much that an attitude adjustment will be able to change given the personnel limitations of the UCLA wide receiver corps.

Generally, it’s easier for a receiver to run behind a defense after the defense has been manipulated into looking for something else than it is for an individual player to create a big play on his own. For a reference point, let’s use Jordan Payton‘s game-winning touchdown reception against Texas (enlarge to full screen for the best view):

After Brett Hundley‘s injury early in the Texas game, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone adjusted his play-calling to account for Jerry Neuheisel‘s weaker arm and subsequently pounded the Longhorns’ defense with bubble screens and short throws for almost the entirety of the game. However, late in the 4th quarter, Mazzone hit Texas with the deep ball, sending Payton on a hitch-and-go past a helpless Texas cornerback who had been suckered into sitting on the short stuff because UCLA hadn’t shown an inclination to go deep to that point in the game.

That sequence crystallizes what this group is all about: UCLA’s receivers, who are mostly bigger possession receivers, are fully capable of getting behind a defense to become deep threats on a given play due to its design and the situation in which it’s called, but are extremely unlikely to break one or two tackles after a short reception and subsequently take it to the house for 6. And that speed and shiftiness deficiency is likely to plague the Bruins and limit the potential of the offense as a whole in 2015.

UCLA Bruins

PERSONNEL

Unless some new names emerge to become big-time weapons, the status quo seems likely to reign for this group. Much like in 2014, the depth chart will be dominated by big-bodied possession receivers like Payton, Eldridge Massington, Thomas Duarte, and Devin Lucien who will allow UCLA to move the sticks at a steady 10-15 yard rate, but limit its ability to challenge defenses over the top. All four of those players have featured on long pass plays in the past, like Duarte’s big touchdown against USC, but those were plays in which the scheme and specific play design (and Leon McQuay‘s charitable attempts at “coverage” and “tackling”) were more responsible for creating exploitable gaps in the defense than any extraordinary ability of that group to gobble up yards after the catch.

Alex Van Dyke, Austin Roberts, and 2015 4-star committed recruit LJ Reed wait in the wings as the possession receivers of the future and they are all likely to see playing time in 2015, given the extent to which UCLA rotates its receivers during drives, but the largest chunk of snaps seems likely to be gobbled up by the aforementioned returning starters (and rightfully so, until others prove themselves to be superior alternatives).

Devin Fuller returns for his senior season as the starter at the F, or slot, receiver position, but unless he shows an improved ability to avoid or fight through contact and pick up yards after the catch (sensing a theme among the receiver corps?), Mossi Johnson could eat into Fuller’s playing time. Johnson earned more and more playing time as the 2014 season progressed, showing his toughness in breaking tackles, making catches in traffic, and blocking down on bubble screens while exhibiting a knack for getting 8-10 yards out of plays that looked likely to be stopped at 5-7 yards. Most fans would say Johnson outplayed Fuller in the latter part of the season, so this could be a position battle to watch in the offseason if Fuller doesn’t consistently show the coaches the kind of speed he displayed against Utah earlier in the 2014 season:

Quarterback Aaron Sharp (who we will take a closer look at when the quarterback preview is published) has been getting a look at wide receiver on the scout team according to the OC Register’s Ryan Kartje, and word is he has looked very natural at the position and could follow in Fuller’s footsteps in coming to UCLA as a quarterback but ultimately moving to receiver. What happens with Sharp will say a lot not only about Sharp’s skillset, but also that of UCLA’s backup QB options and backup WR options.

Kenny Walker, who is undoubtedly the fastest player on the team, could be the consistent deep threat the team needs in 2015 if he can finally become a consistent pass-catcher and route-runner who the coaches trust to play a larger chunk of snaps. We definitely saw flashes from Walker on deep pass plays in 2014 and, if he can iron out the kinks in his game to become something resembling an every-down receiver, he could become a vital weapon for Rosen in 2015.

Jordan Lasley is rumored to be showing big-play potential on the scout team during his redshirt season and UCLA is hoping that continues to be the case once he’s able to hit the field in 2015. Finally, 4-star committed recruit Stephen Johnson is a dynamic athlete who has the chance to play either receiver or cornerback when he gets to UCLA, but is likely to get his first look at receiver. Johnson runs a legitimate, electronically-timed 4.4 40-yard dash and could emerge as the speedy gamebreaker UCLA needs at receiver if Kenny Walker isn’t up to the task.