UCLA Football: Grading the 2017 Bruin starting wide receivers

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Sep 3, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins wide receiver Eldridge Massington (82) makes the catch infront of Texas A&M Aggies defensive back Armani Watts (23) during the second quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /

Now the Bruins may open up a number of games going with four WRs on their first snap of the game but this piece is predicated on them only having three starting wideouts which brings us to our last man in the lineup, Eldridge Massington.

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Massington is an interesting case to study because I’m a height/weight/speed guy and he checks those boxes. He ran track in high school but after tearing his ACL before getting into college he never seemed like the same player.

He also seemed to never really put it all together and his 2014 season was the best of his career thus far. That was his last year without Rosen as his QB.

His route running leaves something to be desired and the routes are not nearly as crisp as you’d expect from a player who has been in the program for this long.

Despite being one of the taller receivers on the UCLA Football roster Massington has never been a viable red-zone threat nor has his speed really come to fruition making him a deep ball specialist. Now that might all be different in 2017 with Massington showing off his wheels in a recent Instagram post running the 4x100M. If his speed is truly back the Bruins could have a major weapon outside.

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Of course that is dependent on the reoccurring theme of drops and Massington was as guilty as anyone of dropping balls. He has to clean that up and sharpen his routes. I’m giving this WR spot a C-.