UCLA Football: Survival of the Defense-Linebackers
How the LB Depth Shakes Up
Like I said before the Bruins have tons of functional, athletic, and talented depth but that depth is short on experience.
UCLA only brought in one linebacker in this recruiting class and although he is filled with promise I expect Rahyme Johnson to redshirt this year.
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Krys Barnes, Breland Brandt, and Lokeni Toailoa make up the depth at OLB, OLB and MLB respectively. I honestly have a hard time seeing how UCLA is able to keep them from seeing the field. Toailoa has demonstrated an underrated ability to cover ground and is a major weapon for Tom Bradley’s defense.
Barnes is a an athletic marvel. When he sees it he flat out goes and gets there with intention to do harm. He played in the middle of the defense a ton in high school but has the it factor that would allow him to move to any one of the three positions and in my opinion would thrive as a 3-4 OLB.
Brandt played all over the defense in high school from DL to LB and even FS. His best chance to see the field might be on third down or obvious passing downs although if he continues to carry his solid spring into fall camp, he may push for more playing time.
Toailoa has been impressive from all accounts especially since many had pegged him as a potential thumper and not a guy you’d like to throw out in coverage. However he’s been able to demonstrate he’s not just a two down guy. He’s gonna press Young for time on that defense and will be a really solid rotational player this year barring any injury.
I included Mique in the “who’s new” group because well, he didn’t play last year. After an interesting spring Juarez was seemingly gone from the program. This year he’s returned and looks like he has every intention of playing. He’s also added a bit of weight (putting it kindly) and will need to reshape his body over the next few months to get back to the player he was. A standout freshman year would likely have pushed him into a starting role or even the two deep but right now he’s having a hard time staying in the second group.
A surprising name to add the linebacking corps is Brandon Burton who has been working at LB during spring practice. Reports are positive on the move and he’s a guy that could move down into the box and give the Bruins a little more flexibility defensively a la Holiday.
This group could be crazy good or could see a regression with so many green guys on the field. My money is on pretty darn good.
Next: UCLA Football: Survival of the Defense-Defensive Line
Tune in next time where I’ll be breaking down the defensive backfield and how a surprise transfer out of the program will shake things up.