UCLA Football: Which three players benefit the most from Chip Kelly?

2. Caleb Wilson

You don’t typically think of the TE position when you think of Chip Kelly offenses. Instead you often think about running back position, wide receivers and even the QB threats that those Oregon offenses had at their disposal.

Colt Lyerla, Ed Dickson and David Paulson weren’t just glorified safety valves. All three were players that could take the dump off pass and make something happen with it. They could threaten the seam of a defense and be major factors in the outside run game. Wilson was already proving to be the real deal at the TE position for the Bruins before foot surgery ended his season prematurely. He had developed a great rapport with Rosen but at the tail end of 2016 was becoming a go to target for then backup QB forced into the starting role, Mike Fafaul.

That indicates to me that Wilson isn’t just a system guy or a guy that will disappear in a new offense. He’s too talented and valuable than that. A better blocker than all three were at this point, I expect Wilson to be a go-to target for whoever QB is starting for the UCLA Football team in 2018. He’s going to have to be especially considering the Bruins will be thinner in the receiver position next year with Darren Andrews to set to graduate and Jordan Lasley potentially declaring early for the NFL draft.

The Chip Kelly offense never produced a TE with at least 50 catches in a season. Much of that is due to the design of the offense and the run heavy lean of the offense but in only five games this year Wilson was able to rack up 38 catches for 490 yards and one score. You better believe that Kelly will install some wrinkles in this offense to take advantage of his new toys.