Defensive Line
Ulysses Aburto*, Carson Drake*, Datona Jackson^, Siale Liku, Dovid Magna*, David Vardanian*
Back on signing day, UCLA pulled a rabbit out of their hat in the form of Jackson and Lilu, both of whom should see plenty of time on the field next year. Jackson has a jump on the competition as he is a JUCO transfer, meaning he already has college experience which will help him to assimilate into the defense quickly. But luckily, UCLA was able to bring in four other defensive linemen who will immensely help with depth.
Linebackers
Barret Albright*, Connor Barbato*, Adam Cohen*, Jonny Garnett*, Hayden Harris, Kayden Hoal*, Anthony James*, Noah Keeter, Erich Osteen*, John Ward
The linebacking group is a big concern as there will be several players graduating after this season, leaving this position group a little bit bare. Back in February, UCLA was only able to bring in Harris, Keeter, and Ward, but adding six more walk-ons will help with that. Additionally, Ward was another early in enrollee and already has one spring under his belt which will help him get a leg up in position battles this fall.
Defensive Backs
Carl Jones, Sharmar Martin, William Nimmo, Kaleb Tuliau*, Jelani Warren*
UCLA signed a nice collection of defensive backs with Jones, Martin, and Nimmo signing in February. All three of them are quite talented though it remains to be seen how much playing time they will get as the secondary is already pretty deep. But just for some added measure, the coaching staff brought in two more walk-ons.
Punters
Wade Lees^, Carson Olivas
Olivas comes in as a walk-on and already has experience with UCLA as he participated in spring, but he might be utilized as a back up as the Bruins landed graduate transfer Lees just over a month ago.
It was going to be hard to replace Stefan Flintoft, but they did an excellent job in landing Lees who not only locked up his BA, but also his masters, meaning he is a pretty smart guy. Now the Bruins have both experience and talent at this specialty spot.