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UCLA Football: What Jaelan Phillips’ departure means for the Bruins

By Mike Regalado

PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 01: Desmond Ridder #9 of the Cincinnati Bearcats runs from Jaelan Phillips #15 of the UCLA Bruins at Rose Bowl on September 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 01: Desmond Ridder #9 of the Cincinnati Bearcats runs from Jaelan Phillips #15 of the UCLA Bruins at Rose Bowl on September 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Over the weekend it was announced that sophomore DE/LB Jaelen Phillips was leaving the program due to a medical recruitment. So where does this leave UCLA football’s defense?

Sometimes we can’t see what life has in store for us. Sometimes we have a clear path to our goal and sometimes something disrupts us from that goal. That seems to be the case for former UCLA football defensive standout Jaelan Phillips.

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Phillips was expected to be one of the more skilled players that would help take the Bruins’ defense to a new level, the only problem is, he couldn’t stay healthy enough to make an impact. Unfortunately, the injuries that he endured have in fact been the cause of his decision to medically retire from football.

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in addition to this, Phillips will leave UCLA to pursue an education in music production, a program which UCLA does not carry. So just like that, the Jaelan Phillips story ends. But where does that leave the Bruins on defense?

UCLA tried to get more aggressive on defense this past year, but injuries and exits took a toll on depth. It really affected UCLA’s pass rush which landed squarely on the shoulders of Keisean Lucier-South, but he could not do it alone.

The Bruins were also without Mique Juarez, another potential edge rusher. Without these quality pieces in place to disrupt their opposition, teams would have plenty of time to either throw the ball downfield, which put a strain on the DBs or could not completely contain the run.

Though UCLA made massive improvements with run defense, they were not elite. In 2018, UCLA only managed 1.25 sacks per game, which was only good for 118th in the nation. They were also only able to get 4.6 tackles for a loss per game, good for 112th in the nation.

The inability to put pressure on opposing offenses is something that has to be figured out by next fall. The top choice will once again be KLS, who had a team-high in sacks (4.0) and TFLs (11.5) last season, but he can’t do it all. Osa Odighizuwa, Krys Barnes, and Lokeni Toailoa helped out, behind the line of scrimmage, but they are not true pass rushers.

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So among the revamped roster, DC Jerry Azzinaro has to find someone that has that ability to shed blockers and sprint after the QB and ball carriers. If he cannot do that, then we are going to see a lot of the same in 2019.