2024 UCLA Football Preview | Louisville Injury News | Starting QBs Named in Boise, SDSU

number 33 UCLA preview plus injury news some starting quarterbacks named and other notes from across the country on good morning college football hello and welcome to episode 83 of good morning college football from from campus to canton.com I am Nicholas Ian Allen of CFB Winning Edge and campus to Canton thank you so much for joining us today we are just five days now from the beginning of the 2024 college football season week zero kicks off this Saturday so a small sampling of matchups to uh get the season started but couldn't be more excited as we are now in the final home stretch uh ready to start playing actual college football games at the end of this week so on that note we are of course uh working our way continuing through our preview Series going to be wrapping up very soon wanted to to do uh the number 33 team in our team strength power rankings UCLA today we'll have the number 34 team Florida in our power rankings on Wednesday and then uh we will be transitioning to our full week zero preview on Friday so most weeks uh we will preview games probably a little bit earlier maybe in the the midweek show um at campus canton.com if you're interested in our CFB Winning Edge projections week by week uh one they're always available in our team profiles 2024 team profiles are available to um the C2C Winning Edge and all 22 tier members at campus.com um but we also talk about our projections on The cfp Winning Edge podcast and we will uh on this show during the week on good morning college football but a little bit later in the week then they are officially released to our members at campus deanton so um as we started last year those weekly projections for uh both uh the matchups you know our point spread projections for all three models will be put in the campus to Canton Discord in the C2C Winning Edge tier chat um also our stat projections for our player stat projections those will be updated uh and and put in those uh in that chat as well on the Discord each week and those will both happen on Tuesdays so Tuesday each week you'll be uh available to uh see our game projections for projected point spreads uh totals all that good stuff as well as our stat projection all in the campus toan Discord so if you haven't already uh if you're interested in that sort of thing um we hope that you'll consider a membership at campus toon.com again the C2C Winning Edge uh tier and the all 22 tier get access to those projections but you can join campus to Canton for as little as$ 299 per month and get access to a wide range of content written on the site as well as tools all sorts of data to get you ready here in the the final stretch if you're looking at a last minute uh College fantasy football league if you're looking to you know do waiver uh the waiver wire ads and drops and and things like that once the season kicks off those will also continue to be very helpful there still a little time if you're getting ready for uh your uh campus Canton League your Debbie League what have you uh campus Canton is a of course a great place to get all the information you're looking for uh to prepare for those as well um but then just you know General college football also and of course uh thank you so much for tuning in today on the campus YouTube channel we very much appreciate if you were able to like this video subscribe to the channel that really helps a lot and again we'll be continuing to bring you a wide range of uh content not just good morning college football but all the other great shows on the campus Canon Network here on the campus toon YouTube channel as well uh so let's dig into a little bit of fall Camp news uh before we get to that UCLA preview and if you're here just to uh you know for us to discuss the Bruins uh the the news portion is generally taken the first you know 15 minutes or so of uh these previews today it might go a little quicker than that because despite the fact that uh you know Saturday was a big day for scrimmages across the country um they uh you know as most teams are transitioning they don't play until week one they typically um you know used this last uh Saturday before week zero about you know two weeks out from uh kickoff of their first game to sort of Turn the Page and uh you know scrimmage for mostly the second time for most teams uh take a good look at maybe some young players some some quarterback or other position competitions and then uh once you know the the week changes over starts prepping for that week one opponent specifically so uh pretty busy weekend the closer that we get to um those games kicking off it can be a little more difficult to get news from these scrimmages um of course there are beat reporters and and team sites all kinds of folks out there doing great work trying to track down as much information as possible but in most cases it's it's uh not that easy there are some uh you know scrimmages that are open to the media some that are open to the public um or you know sometimes it's it's you know small media viewing window sometimes they might announce you know a scrimmage or a practice or what have you is going to be open and and then sort of change direction later that's actually what happened at UCLA on Saturday head coach deshun Foster said he wanted to uh not have another vanilla practice wanted to sort of ramp up the in intensity uh intensity excuse me and uh you know do some uh more focused work it sounded like looking ahead to the season so um sometimes things like that happen and and teams have to change direction a little bit or or uh the folks that cover these teams have to to change direction a little bit and and find information elsewhere but a little bit of news did come out unfortunately the perhaps biggest impact uh injury-wise Louisville wide receiver Colin Lacy the transfer from South Alabama came in with very high expectations um was going to be a starter for the cards this year uh huge uh you know productive numbers at South Alabama last season where it was targeted 119 times for 91 catches 1316 yards and seven touchdowns for the Jags last year um early thoughts were maybe he would emerge as that top Target for Louisville this year a lot of the Fall Camp news was suggesting that perhaps uh Chris Bell seemed a little more likely there's also some positive Buzz um about incoming transfer jakori Brooks from Alabama well for at least the first six to eight weeks of the Season Brooks and Bell are definitely going to be featured more than Colin Lacy who unfortunately suffered a broken collar bone and will be out for a couple of months for Louisville uh if our records are correct and I I believe that they are uh Lacy does have a ret season available to him so perhaps depending on how his recovery goes this season if he's ahead of schedule I'm sure louisv will want him back as quickly as possible and and he'll be able to make an impact this season but um if he's going to miss you know the first two months of the Season September and October perhaps uh you know they they don't rush him back maybe he gets in four games in the regular season preserves that red shirt here if he uh is you know interested in in coming back for a fifth season in college football uh Lacy was a uh 2020 recruit and played as a true freshman in 2020 so um it's possible that that I might have have uh misspoke there so if he doesn't have a red shirt uh season this is a little difficult sometimes to to keep track of um then then perhaps he'll be you know come in play as much as he can and and uh then move on to uh his his professional career so we'll we'll see if we can find out a little bit more information on that once the season is is underway but this is an impactful uh loss for Louisville wide receiver you know there's there's Talent there's certainly potential in this Louisville offense but um Chris Bell was the only returning starter Jaden Thompson sounds like he's likely to to step in and and take uh starter type reps Jimmy Callaway returned as well he's a senior um you know maybe the the influx of tight ends that Louisville brought in including Mark Redmond or projected starter uh but also Isaiah Cummings jelil Skinner maybe we'll see um you know the the likelihood of playing multiple tight ends at the same time was already I think fairly high for Louisville but maybe we'll see even more of that with uh Lacy not going to be fully available at the beginning of the season so unfortunate news there coming out of Louisville but um perhaps some positive news if not a little surprising in some cases there were some quarterbacks named primarily at a group of five schools that we came across but uh late last week uh or perhaps this was Saturday uh Jake Garcia was named the starter at East Carolina a little bit of a surprise even though all reports stepen iGo does a great job covering the Pirates for the 247 site uh Hoist the Colors sounded like um Garcia and Kon Hower also a transfer from the power for level Jake Garcia spent last season at Missouri Hower at Michigan State um but Hower even though they were splitting uh especially early on when when we got a little more detail I believe um they were like rep for rep and you know Hower with the ones one day Garcia with the the ones the next day and then flip-flop flip flop um and so there was seemingly very little if any separation but my understanding was Hower maybe had just the slightest of leads because he was taking you know he he took the the day one uh first team reps and didn't really sound like anything of note or that we were aware of it happened to uh cause Garcia to be able to separate however um coming out over the weekend new news that Garcia is going to get the start week one against Norfolk State uh the FCS opponent there where East Carolina going to be a heavy heavy favorite in that matchup so assuming Garcia's going to play well wouldn't be a surprise if Hower gets some action also um but then certainly the the degree of difficulty goes up a bit week two at Old Dominion also uh week three hosting appalachin state so back-to-back Sun Bel teams there uh both of whom coming off of bowl season App State definitely in the mix for uh you know among the sun Bel favorites and then at Liberty uh so a really difficult even though there are no power for opponents in the non-conference schedule schedule at all for East Carolina this season uh pretty difficult collection of non-conference matchups in those four first four weeks of the season so we'll see how Garcia does getting that starting nod for East Carolina a team that I think really will have an opportunity to bounce back from uh two and 10 season 1 and seven in AAC play East Carolina I do think has legitimate bow hopes um and you know really upgraded at the quarterback position multiple starters who could or you know multiple players who could uh be starters in this East Carolina offense uh elsewhere boisey state uh just late last night Sunday um the Broncos news came out I believe Pete thill was among the first I think this was confirmed uh pretty quickly by local uh beat reporters and and then Spencer Danos and head coach um of the Broncos that Maddox Madson a real surprise uh was named starting quarterback for the opener against Georgia Southern uh like at e Carolina it had been a close competition but think um until you know the the last maybe week or so leading into this announcement uh the the general you know consensus perhaps an assumption uh but understandably so I think that Malachi Nelson the five-star uh transfer from USC rro freshman was expected to be the starter um Nelson had gotten a lot of positive buzz in interviews with with local media um it sounded like early on in a lot of the reports was taking those first team reps a lot of you know positive news coming out of the spring uh but Madson you know let's not forget was a player who had wrestled the starting job away from ton green who transferred and and very quickly uh won the job at Arkansas so in the SEC green you know there's a lot of uh high hopes for him and and the Razer backs this season or that he's going to be able to step in know Bobby patrino the new offensive coordinator at Arkansas very uh complimentary of green uh in the spring in the fall and Madson played his way uh you know into the starting job last season before going down with a season ending injury and then green you know returns to the the top of the depth chart leads the Broncos to uh Mountain West Championship but um Madson just you know wouldn't go away once he got fully healthy uh just able to uh compete day in and day out it sounds like with Nelson and and by time a decision needed to be made ahead of that week one trip to Statesboro um sounds like uh Matson had done enough to to separate himself from uh Malachi Nelson and and so you know their thoughts that Nelson oh will he transfer again right now sounds like he's saying all right things uh and uh will continue to compete for this job would not surprise me if we see Nelson get some significant snaps uh you know in the the first month of the Season much uh you know a different uh first game situation for Boise State than East Carolina um we do have the Broncos favored at Georgia Southern but not by very much and honestly our projections our individual players ratings um are much higher on Malachi Nelson given his high uh recruiting rating from uh you know all the the major sites Madson relative uh unknown you could say in in some ways on the recruiting Trail before emerging there at boisey State as um a legitimate Contender for the the starting job and and eventually named starter in both the last couple of Seasons um but much lower rated in terms of that recruiting rating when we adjust for experience and production U Madson is you know mid-70s uh in his overall player rating it's not exactly the same as the college football 25 EA Sports video game but um built with that in mind um so very similar and in you know how you can view our player ratings compared to the video game if you're more familiar with it but malikai Nelson you know is right around an 86 better than FBS average again based on that five-star pedigree and and perhaps he was um you know don't want to label anyone overrated but it it does seem like you know didn't play very much at U USC transferred uh out to a group of five school it it's possible that you know right now his 86 rating and the way that we calculate it um probably a little bit too high it's also very possible that madx M Madson is is underrated um because sounds like he went out and beat uh Malachi Nelson for this job beat out ton green although uh you know very very uh short term I think only got one start uh last season before going down with injury after beating out ton green eventually so um that's a that's a real possibility there perhaps uh madx Madson should be you know low 80s something like that in our uh player ratings but as of right now this move did hurt our Boise State uh uh power rating just a little bit they're still the top team in the Mountain West but uh down to 57th nationally which which uh you know little bit of a little bit of a drop um after moving from Maddox uh excuse me from Nelson to Madson but a lot of Playmakers for boisey state ashon ginty of course uh the wide receiver group has gotten a lot of real positive uh Buzz since the spring and and into the fall it's a very deep group Latrell CES had a huge scrimmage it sounds like the former five-star Chris Marshall uh had an excellent uh spring haven't heard as much about him this fall but the addition of Camp camper um you know Austin bolts still there penetration has has gotten a lot of Buzz too so uh with with Madson running this offense still should be um a boisey State team that looks like the team to be in the Mountain West and a very very uh exciting offense potentially as well at San Diego State also in the Mountain West Pete THL of ESPN report reported that true freshman Danny O'Neal uh will get the nod over Florida State transfer AJ Duffy for the azex um O'Neal highly rated uh freshman recruit especially for the Mountain West had been committed to Sean Lewis the new Aztec head coach when he was the offensive coordinator at Colorado uh followed Lewis to San Diego State so a bit of a you know handpicked op there Duffy had come in as a former fourstar you know understandably expected to be the favorite uh coming into the season but uh again some of the the sort of uh you know rumors and and uh little bit of uh activity behind the scenes what we're hearing uh late last week or so sounded like O'Neal was really making a push for this job and and ends up uh winning it it sounds like so at least a Texas A&M Commerce in week one prior to uh San Diego State hosting Oregon State in week two um that true freshman Danny O'Neal is going to be the starter for the Aztecs uh speaking of Oregon State there were some conflicting reports on Sunday about the quarterback situation in Coralis uh the one that got a lot of uh you know activity uh first Harry Edgars uh described as the dean of Portland Sports uh tweeted out that sources uh quoting here from that tweet sources tell me that Ben go Branson is the likely starter for uh Beaver football's opener versus Idaho State on August 3rd or 31st excuse me but promising red shirt freshman gabari Johnson should see some playing time too and could win the starting job at some point through the season uh Nick dashel of The Oregonian um late late Sunday maybe even early Monday morning depending on where you are uh tweeted there's a rumor on social media saying Bingle Branson is osu's likely 2024 starter and Johnson make it time a source close to the program told me that is 100% inaccurate no decision has been made on a starting quarterback so this QB battle could go uh really in in one of three different directions uh last week we discuss briefly um that uh it it sounded like based on the the you know previous scrimmage uh that javanni McCoy the transfer from Idaho maybe still had a slight lead in this battle uh bingo Branson there has been sort of a steady drum beat about um him you know having a real shot to uh reclaim what was once his starting quarterback position but also on the note of John johs son it sounds like in most reports uh you know we we follow the the sites at 247 and Rivals and and you know The Oregonian dasal as well um there there's been a lot of excitement around big plays that Johnson has made but sounds like you know maybe just uh whether it's grasping you know the full uh compliment of the Playbook also he had a you know injury uh in the spring that for whatever reason seemed less likely that he was going to be able to get the nod but did seem like maybe you know long-term and you know high ceiling and and big play ability and all that Johnson certainly seemed like he was going to uh be a factor here but um I don't know we'll see the updates over uh the the weekend indicated you know that that McCoy had just as good if not better stats in the uh you know most recent media viewing periods and scrimmages and and things like that um that all three of these quarterbacks are taking first team reps so um I don't know it's it's you know quite possible that this report from Edgars you know turns out to be correct uh it's also possible that it was premature um you know dasel I certainly uh trust his reporting and and you know these could be different sources who who who knows I don't know all the details but um it sounds like as of right now nothing official uh even though there was a report that that gold Branson had emerged as the likely starter maybe he will be but but I think perhaps uh might be just a little bit too early couple of other final notes before we turn to UCLA here uh at Kent State Devin kman is going to be uh the starting quarterback again According to Pete theml that was a slight surprise we' previously projected Tommy owski uh for uh the flashes to to be the projected starter uh and Marshall picked up a new quarterback on Sunday after previously losing Mitch griffi the transfer from Wake Forest earlier in the year who stepped away from football uh North Texas transfer Stone Earl has joined the Thundering Herd so uh might be a little late for him to factor in as a starter right away but Marshall uh still in the market for a transfer quarterback so we'll see how that uh ends up uh working out and and if Earl ends up getting some playing time uh this season all right getting ready to switch gears here talk a little bit about the UCLA Bruins who uh are 33rd in our projections as far as our our team strength ratings go uh but among the teams that we have discussed so far this season in these top 33 uh ratings and and ranking you know preview shows UCLA has by far the the most modest expectations I think that's that's pretty fair um you know Florida coming up next uh will be in the same ballpark perhaps given their their toughest schedule in the country but UCLA uh as of this morning the regular season win total posted by DraftKings just five um there's I think understandable uh understandably low expectations for the Bruins uh the way last season and sort of the Chip Kelly era uh played out just a little bit strange you don't often see a power four head coach in a you know top 25 top 35 type job in college football uh don't often you know resign and and leave voluntarily to go take an offensive coordinator job elsewhere and Kelly was pretty uh intent on doing that sounded like interviewed for lot of um you know NFL offensive coordinator jobs before eventually ending up at Ohio State uh just didn't really want to be a head coach anymore the timing wasn't great um you know tapping deshun Foster created I think a lot of positive energy at UCLA getting somebody who really wanted to be there Foster has been on uh staff for a long time had actually left for a job in the NFL before getting this head coaching opportunity um but had been at UCLA for a long time played there as well uh prior to his NFL career and somebody with you know real uh long-term ties to the program and again wanted to be there wanted this job that's something that was pretty clear that Chip Kelly did not so uh on the one hand that's you know good for the program long term uh on the other Foster is just a firsttime head coach and and our way of uh incorporating that into the projections we do have a head coach rating uh we do give a generic rating to firsttime head coaches kind of a you know FBS average uh type type deal just sort of plug that in until we learn how this team performs on the field our team performance ratings do Drive our head coach ratings um and so there's a you know step down as far as moving from Chip Kelly um who certainly you know the the immediate success at UCLA was not there it took a little while to kind of get things turned into more of a winning Direction still a little bit uh falling short of expectations at times uh but nevertheless Chip Kelly more proven as a head coach more experienced certainly um and deshun Foster first time doing it first time uh you know he was running backs coach so not saying you have to be a coordinator immediately to uh find success as a head coach Sween is a great example um turned into the greatest era of Clemson football eventually after you know he had very limited uh play calling you know history and and his background uh if any at all had been wide receivers coach so uh it can work out certainly um but there are usually some Growing Pains here and there and and the the potential for uh deshun Foster to to struggle a little bit early on with some of the you know nonf football aspect is is definitely um part of it however my personal opinion is a lot of these uh other um you know ranking systems a lot of maybe expectations out there including this win total I think in in some ways are downgrading UCLA just a little bit too much um so that's just a a little bit of a hunch um the schedule is very tough number five in our of schedule rankings uh so that's not necessarily a great situation for a firsttime head coach to to step into a lot of unfamiliarity with the move to the Big 10 um but maybe this UCLA team uh has the potential to to surprise some folks a little bit we're definitely over spoiler alert we're over the the five wins uh but how do other people see UCLA or other projection systems I should say because most people you know aren't talking about UCLA all the uh you know post spring top 25s that we've referenced no UCLA mentions unless it's you know in the Ohio State blurb uh about uh Chip Kelly moving on or you know the the USC blurb with deanton Lynn the defensive coordinator who did such a remarkable job for the Bruins uh moving to you know moving across town to to USC so no mentions in uh you know any of those uh National media top 25s that that we've referenced in a lot of our previews but the projection systems that that rank all 134 teams certainly have UCLA uh beta rank is the highest with the Bruins at number 32 so only one spot higher than us but there is someone out there or is a projection system out there a little bit higher on UCLA than ours uh SP plus Bill Connelly and ESPN have UCLA at number 37 ESPN's football power index have the Bruins at number 40 uh the k Bo ratings have UCLA 44th and then Phil Steel's power pole uh has UCLA number 50 um they're you know losing a former five-star sigy a quarterback Dante Moore seemingly at least on paper a little bit of a hit at the quarterback position but as David hail of ESPN pointed out in his piece that uh you know assigned tier rankings to all 134 FBS quarterbacks where UCLA was in tier 14 among the lowest of any team that we've discussed if not the lowest so far um still what hell said about garbers perhaps uh gives a little bit of reason for optimism or at least not despair uh he wrote here in the piece garbers had a brutal opener last year against Coastal Carolina and was quickly benched but when he returned to action in week eight he looked much improved in the five games he started and finished UCLA was 4- one the lone lost to number 11 Arizona throwing 10 touchdowns and just one pick so if Ethan garbers is entrenched as the starter sounds like he is Eric benm is the new offensive coordinator there at UCLA so I think reason to be excited there considered for a long time um you know a a head coaching candidate in the NFL uh somebody who you would think is going to be able to come in and and put together a a very uh difficult offense to defend Ethan garbers give some continuity consistency at that quarterback position has appeared in 26 games in his career ranks relatively high in our uh quarterback ratings he's an 89 as a player on that note going to go ahead and present here our share my screen our 2024 team profiles for you uh go in just a little bit zoom in here UCLA 33rd in our team stre strength power rankings as you can see eighth in the Big 10 so even though they're you know knocking on the door of a top 25 uh ranking still a lot of work to do with that very difficult Big 10 schedule um but a team that uh roster strengthwise you know little lower in the in the mid 40s overall and on offense and defense last season played like a top 25 team especially uh you know had a lot of success on the defensive side of the ball number three in defensive team performance 16th against the pass 12th against the run but a lot of the individual statistics uh very very solid 17th in scoring defense against FBS opponents only in the regular season only top 10 in both yards per play allowed and points per drive that points per Drive number coming from Brian foro BCF toys.com where garbage time is filtered out there their n uh UCLA was ninth in points per Drive allowed last season 24th in yards per attempt against so limiting big plays through the air pretty well 18th in success rate against according to college football data.com and number 10 nationally in CFB data's EPA per play equivalent they call it PPA uh so the defense really really carried the way for UCLA last season little bit unexpected for most you know Chip Kelly coached teams where uh he of course made a big name for himself as an offensive play caller early on had a lot of great offenses uh at Oregon when he was head coach there known for offensive Innovation throughout his career so offensive numbers a little bit disappointing uh 92nd in scoring offense last season 77th in yards per play 82 in points per Drive 75th in yards per pass attempt 79th in success rate and 85th in that EPA per play equivalent but if you look on the margins look at the net numbers uh much better more in the range of uh you know that that top 40 type team overall uh 51st in scoring margin 344th in net yards per play 40th in net points per Drive 48th in net yards per pass attempt 33rd in net success rate and 38th in EPA margin taking a look at who's coming back and who's not sharing our cfp W Edge returning production database uh the Bruins 95th in overall returning production and this number is adjusted for incoming transfers so um if we look at just raw returning production who's coming back who's not that's it uh UCLA would be 85th overall 53rd on the offensive side of the ball 110th defensively the numbers not much different but a little bit worse uh 95th overall adjusted for transfers uh 70th on the offensive side of the ball 108th defensively so 95th overall 15th in the Big 10 that helps explain a lot of the modest expectations uh for UCLA this season there several Big 10 teams who rank relatively High uh in returning production overall uh but I think just you know this is another element of the uh total you know year of transition that we're seeing at UCLA not just the coaching staff not just uh changing conferences uh not just the additional travel that's going to really uh you know increase for UCLA as it has to make trips across the country uh fairly consistently but the roster and the turnover there um without a huge influx of incoming production uh UCLA on the on the low end as far as a lot of these numbers go Dante Moore was the uh leading passer last season tied with garbers for the team lead in touchdowns uh didn't take care of the football as well as garbers did at least as far as interceptions go Moore had nine picks last season also slightly worse in yards per pass attempt a good bit worse in completion percentage so again garbers if he's firmly entrenched as the starter that might end up being a good thing to uh just bring a little bit more consistency there because Moore of course got plenty of uh playing time Colin schle also brought in uh quite a bit uh mostly as a runner but uh had some opportunities there as well but it's going to be Garver garbers at least to start this season it sounds like for UCLA so perhaps uh again that that could end up being a positive as far as the rushing attack goes losing Carson steel early to the NFL uh is is a a bit of a loss but he and TJ Harden uh pretty evenly shared the workload very similar numbers Harden is back with uh 827 yards a team leading eight touchdowns on the ground on 156 carries uh so expecting Harden will have a heavier workload going into this season but Anthony Atkins plays more of a a fullback role but running back Army transfer is back Keegan Jones plays some W actually listed here as a wide receiver uh but plays running back as well uh he returns garvers not as uh you know productive of a runner as Colin Schley uh but not not a statue not a negative uh as far as rushing production go so be curious to see if he's going to be able to uh produce a little bit add to that rushing attack um that you expect is going to be sort of where uccla leans uh with bmy and and with Foster Now sort of The Architects of that offense uh Jaylen Berger kind of an interesting name transfer um played you started his career it was Wisconsin transferred to Michigan State dealt with injuries um he is uh going to be in the mix I think as as running back two taking a little while to get up to speed uh fully healthy um and acclimated to being a late addition to that UCLA roster but um think that that he's going to be in line for uh you know a decent amount of work as probably the number two running back um and certainly should be more productive than he was last season for the Spartans uh the receiving core looks to be in in decent shape top Target Logan Loya is back Jay Michael Sturman is uh you know maybe the the most uh the player with the highest ceiling long term there for UCLA um also hearing you know some some more Buzz about uh the uh Junior Titus uh Mia atimalala uh who's who's been a spring standout in the past but uh sounds like he's emerging is a a real contributor a potential starter even uh maybe competing with Rico Flores Jr the Notre Dame transfer for uh that third uh spot in the the starting lineup the tight end position's been hit hard by injury uh Hudson habil is going to be out for the year for uh UCLA that leaves um Maliki maval as the the likely starter he was the most productive uh receiving tight end last season for UCLA um Carson Ryan transferred out to Utah uh but you know Bryce Pierre coming in as a transfer uh likely to to um play some significant snaps as well uh for this UCLA offense the offensive line loses to full-time starters Duke Clemens out of Eligibility Bruno Fina transferred out they do bring a full-time uh starter as a transfer in Alani m Hale uh coming in helps offset those two losses but three full-time starters return uh Garrett diorio did did Georgio and my apologies to anyone for uh mispronouncing a name but um dealing with a little bit of a an injury so far in uh fall camp and and in the spring actually suffered an ankle injury um so keep uh keep an eye on his availability but uh as I understand I think he's probably likely to to uh be back and available this season uh on the defensive side of the ball again lot of turnover a lot of players running out of Eligibility including leading tackler darus Darius musal who was a productive pass rusher but the most productive pass rusher uh in a big big loss for UCLA Leu latu uh 64 pressures last season 20 point 12 sacks uh big big loss as far as creating pressure the losses of uh Gabriel and Grayson Murphy as well so that UCLA defense could really uh put pressure on the quarterback um that that's going to be missed this season uh losing losing players like that but in decent shape as far as linebacker goes with Kane Madrono uh coming back Ojo as well in the secondary lost some key players to trans ER to UCLA UPF front lost multiple uh impactful players on the defensive line Carl Jones Jr the Murphy's as well as latu all uh categorized here as as defensive lineman but more you know Edge Defenders uh did get Jay TOA back um and and that was huge because TOA briefly in the spring entered the transfer portal but returned quite quickly uh and he's perhaps the best player on that UCLA defense uh so getting him back certainly something to to build around but on that note how does this work for the season this year sharing the team profiles again UCLA as we said 33rd in our power ratings 45th in roster strength so there's certainly room for improvement this isn't the most talented team we've seen at UCLA certainly not the most talented team in the Big 10 uh but there are uh you know some some areas where UCLA shows some strength if we just look at our raw recruiting data uh the average 247 Sports composite rating on the offensive side of the ball UCLA ranks 33rd uh top 30 at the quarterback position top 20 at wide receiver Top 40 on the offensive line that's that's something you can really work on and and build around the running back room uh you know kind of the the low group there 61 first in average 247 composite rating but that might be the strength of the offense uh you know what we're expecting expecting TJ Harden to be able um to be you know a productive runner in a full-time job there Jaylen Berger if he uh steps up and is it is healthy I think that running back room should be a strength of this UCLA team defensively little bit lower in those raw numbers but a real strength looks like in the secondary top 15 in those Raw Talent numbers uh and then you know defensive line and linebacker little closer to FPS average uh 59th and 49th respectively but those numbers are are you know pretty similar to our position strength rankings where uh we adjust for experience in production so uh the the defensive line looks a little better on paper the linebacker group looks a little bit better on paper the secondary not quite as good as as that top 15 raw uh you know ranking would indicate but still a top 40 group on paper but right around 40 on offense on defense and overall in our average position strength ratings uh 40th nationally problem is moving into the Big 10 lot of very talented teams a lot of experienced teams as well um more like the 10th most talented uh roster in that new conference so um going to rely on a lot of transfers coming in some pretty interesting names to me uh you got some transfers from lower levels there's a division three transfers and Edge rusher uh Luke shman who here uh you know the the way we calculate it and and we try not to go crazy when there are um uh you know players who are super productive at a lower level we know it's going to be a bit of a transition moving up but there's a lot of excitement of a player like shman who rates is a 97 in our player ratings just based on what did uh on the field at Johns Hopkins uh prior to this so um curious to see how how you know he works out Jacobus as well uh transferring in from where is he uh uh Navy right so so uh you know UCLA as as they were with Chip Kelly not afraid to you know take a uh take a flyer or you know go out and and find a player who who uh has maybe you know some measurables has some uh production at a place that you know the the strength of schedule uh competition uh not as high but see if it translates to uh the power four level but uh a lot of transfers are going to be making an impact or expected to in the secondary three of our five projected starters or first year transfers one each at linebacker and on the defensive line but then multiple uh Edge Defenders drew tama's a late edition there for UCLA he's well traveled and been at South Carolina recently UAB also in his past but um it's it's uh going to be a mix going to be a mix between uh some experience couple of starters returning on the defensive line you linebacker and defensive back there with Kane Madrono and and jayen Davies but then going to the transfer portal trying to to fill those holes fairly quickly it might work it might not our numbers are a little more positive we have a projected win total of 6.16 that is our official projection that is going to be uh counted you know did we get it right did we get it wrong we are on the over usually uh you know we have a we have a decent track record overall or 60.4% on all FBS win total projections dating back to uh 2021 when we started doing it this way for all uh FBS teams we do a little bit better I don't have the exact number um but a few percentage points higher when we see a difference of plus or minus one full win which if you remember that DraftKings win total is five so we are over uh one win higher for UCLA 6.16 um but I understand why there's a lot of uh hesitation and and expectations are modest because again top five strength of schedule LSU in the non-conference um Oregon you know uh Pack 12 former Pack 12 now uh Big 10 rival there getting them early on is going to be tough as well as pin State play USC as always and then you know some of these teams maybe not the uh the the heaviest hitters in the Big 10 uh but Indiana's going to be improved Minnesota is going to be tough ruter is is kind of a buzzy uh Darkhorse team in in the big Tim this year kind of I even saw them as as maybe a a playoff cont I'm not quite there uh but I think Kirk herbstreet said that right so um a tougher recers team a Nebraska team that is um uh you know looking to to take a step forward Iowa consistently one of the best defenses in college football Washington went to the national championship game last year H much much different Washington team but um going to be going to be difficult there so uh it it's going to be tough for UCLA especially early um if if the Bruins don't start out two and 0 against Hawaii and then Indiana which that game is is uh you know we do have UCLA favored but I think that's probably going to be pretty close to a tossup because Kirk edti knows what he's doing and and I think has uh that Indiana team believing already that it can be very competitive so if UCLA is not two and0 in those two then things could go sideways if uh the Bruins end up going 0 and three as probably expected in that next stretch of at LSU home against Oregon and at Penn State uh that's one of the toughest three game stretches any team is going to face this season with two of those games on the road um that's that's going to be very very difficult for UCLA to win even one of those games so uh two and three in the first five games is probably your most likely outcome one and four is certainly possible um but then you know from there the the rest of the schedule has winnable games but they're also losable I've seen some I don't remember I think this was uh I don't know one of those just sort of generic sites uh that that put out some uh predictions and and had UCLA as a two and10 team um I don't think that's very likely at all but it could happen especially if that Indiana game doesn't turn out how you want you get beat up in those LSU Oregon Pinn State matchups back to back to back um and then lose a lot of coin flips I mean I think this UCLA team is going to be very competitive I think it certainly can get to Bow eligibility um I'm not going to overreact to deshan Foster's Big 10 media uh day performance where he kind of froze and and uh you know didn't have a a great uh you know opening state for uh his his new team there at UCLA um I think that yeah every first time head coach especially at this level you've never done it it's difficult um there going to be a few Growing Pains but um I don't see this season being a disaster for UCLA I think that the Bruins will be competitive I'm fairly optimistic that that we're going to be on the right side of that wind total projection um but you absolutely could see especially if injuries hit you know the depth is not great at UCLA at several positions um and then they're just a there there are winnable games especially in the second half of the Big 10 schedule but there are a lot of losable games there as well so it certainly could go sideways and this UCLA team ends up as a four- win team maybe even a three- win team two wins man that seems really unlikely but it it is it is in the realm of possibility so um this this is going to be a very interesting team to watch it's going to be a team that just because I root for our numbers I'm going to be rooting for a bit it it seems like we're probably going to be on UCLA a lot week to week compared to the odds makers in the market that would be my guess um but uh it's a a pretty interesting team and and certainly a a program in transition very curious to see how it plays out in year one at the Big 10 so that's going to do it for us today uh hope everyone has a great start to your week we will be back on Wednesday for Florida preview and then on Friday we will have that week zero preview and then we'll start getting into uh the swing of things as far as the college football season kicking off which it will do uh on Saturday it's game week so uh again that's going to be it for us uh hope everyone has a wonderful Monday uh we will be back on Wednesday for good morning college football until then I'm Nicholas Ian Allen of camp can.com and cfp Winning Edge take care