You’d be hard pressed to find a UCLA Football fan that isn’t over the moon about Chip Kelly‘s hiring. Those who vividly remember what those Oregon teams were capable of are beyond ecstatic imagining their Bruins that dominant. Recruits are excited as well. But what positions actually benefit the most from the Kelly hire?
Explosive offense, aggressive defense. That’s what the UCLA Football team should look like under newly hired head coach Chip Kelly. Of course the idea the Bruins will become thoroughly explosive in all facets of the game doesn’t just get the fan base giddy.
Recruits and of course current players have to get excited playing in an offense that produced college stars like, Darron Thomas, D’Anthony Thomas, LaMichael James, Josh Huff and Jeff Maehl. While those guys all had varying degrees of success in the NFL they dominated the college landscape.
Now let’s set some ground rules, this list will only include players that are actively on the UCLA Football roster and also those that I believe will not declare for the NFL Draft early nor look to transfer. So there will be no incoming recruits or players who will likely leave school before the start of the 2018 season.
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Also, players can play offense or defense since this list is going to look at who benefits from Kelly and his hire which also includes the hires he makes. Alright, enough wasting time, let’s get to the list.
1. Soso Jamabo
Yes I know Soso Jamabo might be an obvious selection but hear me out. Jamabo was one of the top recruits in the 2015 signing class and together with QB Josh Rosen and DE/LB Keisean Lucier-South, was expected to take the UCLA Football program to new heights. More on KLS later.
Alas that wasn’t to be the case and despite some very nice flashes as a freshman, Jamabo hasn’t been the factor the Bruins had hoped he would be. Injuries have robbed him of playing time and he’s fighting for carries in a very crowded backfield. Worse though is the fact that he has been miscast in the UCLA Football offense.
No I’m not going back to clamoring to move him to wide receiver. While I still believe he could make a huge impact out wide catching passes, it’s Jamabo’s abilities in space that really are the driving force in my calls to change his position. In UCLA’s more pro-style run game in 2016, Jamabo struggled to get going behind an offensive line that was more suited for spread concepts than power ones. He was having to deal with two or three defenders in the backfield before the handoff was complete.
2017 was far more successful for him but he still missed games with injuries and battled for carries against Bolu Olorunfunmi and later in the year, Brandon Stephens. Now those two guys will return in 2018 so it isn’t as though there will be fewer mouths to feed but the offense should provide plenty of opportunities to Jamabo because he reminds me of a certain player I’ve seen before in Kelly’s offense.
Though not nearly as big as Jamabo but just a little faster, former Oregon Duck Kenjon Barner runs with the same type of smooth gait that you see from Jamabo. Both are capable of running between the tackles and bouncing to the outside and both are more than able to break ankles of would be tacklers in space with cut after cut.
It isn’t their running ability and style carrying the football that make them so similar. They both are dangerous receivers out of the backfield and because of Jamabo’s size and speed he’s a mismatch in the open field. Too fast for most linebackers but bigger than most defensive backs, Jamabo should see a major revitalization of his UCLA Football career and that has to get the fans excited.