The secondary has long been the strength of the UCLA Football defense. Despite losing multiple players from the secondary, the safety position will again be a strength with new starter Adarius Pickett.
Randall Goforth, Jaleel Wadood and Tahaan Goodman had long been fixtures at the safety positions for UCLA Football. Two of those three are gone this year. It isn’t just the safeties that need addressing as the Bruins lost CBs Fabian Moreau to the NFL Draft and CB Marcus Rios to graduation. To make matters more dire projected starter at CB Johhny Johnson transferred early in Spring.
You’d think with all of those losses the Bruins would be in full panic mode.
They do return starters CB Nate Meadors and S Jaleel Wadood and have impressive freshman CB Darnay Holmes waiting in the wings but the potential star of the show is new projected starter at safety, Adarius Pickett.
A special teams ace and defensive back reserve, Pickett has seen time at all four positions in the backend. He hasn’t just seen time but made the most of it as well.
But let’s get to why exactly Pickett will shine in 2017 for the UCLA Football Bruins.
First off he’s earned his time and had the chance to learn behind experienced players in the secondary. He’s also learning from DBs coach Demetrice Martin who has long made this UCLA secondary one of the better ones in the nation.
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Secondly Pickett won’t be asked to carry this unit. Wadood and Meadors are veterans who will take some of the weight off of his shoulders. Pickett will be allowed to play his role without being forced to try and do too much. When players press the action and try too hard to make plays that’s when they give up the big ones.
The last thing working in his favor strangely is addition by subtraction. While Goforth and Goodman were experienced, both had their limitations. Goforth wasn’t built as your prototypical safety and could freelance too much leading to big plays. Goodman was not as strong in coverage and wasn’t always a secure tackler. Pickett is an upgrade in all of those areas. He also has notched 4 interceptions in two seasons of play.
Oh and let’s not forget that as a former candidate to move to RB, Pickett was used to being hit by defenders. He’s a guy that seeks out contact and loves to lay the big hit on ball carriers. His skill as an offensive player shows up in his ball skills as well.
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The UCLA Football secondary will be another fun unit to watch in 2017 given all the talent back there. We’ll get to see exciting freshmen, experienced veterans but what I’m most looking forward to is the big time play Pickett will bring.