Returning players edition Donavyn Pellot

Donavyn Pellot was a three-star recruit coming out of high school and came to UCLA in the 2023 season. He played very sparingly that season as a freshman and then missed all of 2024 with an injury. Before playing a little more this past season in 2025. Recording 19 tackles on the season for the Bruins linebacking corps. He was a redshirt freshman and now has three years of eligibility remaining. Being seen as a intriguing player with Bob Chesney coming into the mix now. A defensive minded head coach could be exactly what he needs.

Pellot is 6’2 and 215 pounds, he possesses good muscle but is on the smaller end for a linebacker. But it does give him the opportunity to play in a box safety role. He has good speed sideline to sideline and is an above average tackler. He can improve on coverage skills, but having three years of eligibility remaining will help him refine his skills. If he ultimately decides to stay all three of those seasons at UCLA. With the transfer portal era, you can never predict what is going to happen with players.

UCLA will have openings at linebacker. Which will give many players the opportunity to compete for snaps. Pellot will be right in that mix and could land a starting spot. The Bruins have added quite a bit of talent to their team in the transfer portal. Which will lead to them having a much better defense. A guy like Pellot can help in pass rushing situations while improving his coverage skills to play in obvious passing downs. Isaiah Chisom’s departure creates a lot of open snaps at linebacker as well.

UCLA will lean heavily on their defense to improve their 2025-win total from three. They have all the pieces in place to do so. Pellot being a part of that mix can make a strong case to be a large factor in those talks. Chesney and Colin Hitschler should be able to maximize his full potential. He decided to stay and not hit the portal and now we wait to see how that decision plays out starting with the 2026 season.