Players To Watch For During UCLA Bruins Spring Football

Will and Jamal delve into Deshaun Foster’s 1st spring of football and the UCLA Bruins players they have their eyes on to make huge steps forward on the offensive and defensive side of the ball in 2024.

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The UCLA 2023 College Football commits are Dante Moore, Jeremiah McClure, Grant Gray, R.J. Jones, Luke Duncan, Tre Edwards, Solomone Malafu, Grant Buckey, Ty Lee, Isaiah Carlson, Tavake Tuikolovatu, Donavyn Pellot, A.J. Fuimaono. The transfers from the UCLA Transfer Portal Tracker are Moliki Matavao, Anthony Adkins, Spencer Holstege, Collin Schlee, Oluwafemi Oladejo, Jake Heimlicher. Chip Kelly is the UCLA Bruins Football Head Coach for the 2022 College Football Season but after the 2023 NFL Draft the UCLA Bruins could have more transfers come in and highlights from 2023 NFL Draft prospects. Dante Moore, TJ Harden, Carson Steele, Keegan Jones, J.Michael Sturdivant, Kyle Ford, Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, Kam Brown, Logan Loya, Josiah Norwood, and Ethan Garbers should be playing great for the UCLA offense highlights. Jay Toia, Darius Muasau, JonJon Vaughns, Devin Kirkwood, John Humphrey, Laiatu Latu, Azizi Hearn, Gabriel Murphy, Grayson Murphy, Carl Jones, and Jaylin Davies should get UCLA football Bruins defense highlights 2023.

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Thompson Robinson even one down the sideline and he’s got C over the top down the sideline on the way in touchdown his signature mov and his signature performance one more time 58 y this time you’re listening to the breu and Bible this is your host will Decker bringing

You UCLA football content all throughout the year for La football Network what is up Los Angeles 1090 ESPN Radio it is Friday spring has sprung here officially in Los Angeles getting close to Spring football for your UCLA Bruins a welcome sign after the Pack 12 basketball tournament but man spring football’s here Deshawn Foster entering his first spring as head coach

Of UCL football I got the madman per usual to my right mad man what is going on bro we have football right around the corner for you and a spring game on top of that no it’s so exciting Thriller obviously the the spring practices here

Begin in about 12 or 13 days we’ve got we’re going to have a a spring game at the Rose Bowl eight days prior to that we’re going to have a Friday Night Lights practice which is going to be so epic just can’t wait this is just so

Exciting a turning of the page of the program so much infusion and just a wonderful prod day that we’ve had 10 days ago and just so much energy and enthusiasm in the program so can’t wait to be covering it with you yeah and before we get into our day’s topic did

You see Steph Curry come through the waserman center last yes you had jokovic that you missed but that you know broke I’m still crying over that hashtag too soon yeah anybody that knows me I am the biggest Curry Warriors fan coming from Oakland California rum bro I’ve never

Been more jealous to not be at the wasman center for that Chris Paul was there talking to our new quarterbacks coach you know Dwight out there he was very very cool man so lots of great stuff going on but the topic we came up for for today’s episode we want to break

Down the guys we are excited for spring ball some guys we haven’t seen really stand out on the football field some guys are going to be stepping into new roles some returning players that could make that next step up to All Conference performer and become those UCLA players

We really remember at the end of the day madman I thought this was a very fun exercise what are your thoughts going in uh to us breaking down the top players from Spring oh it’s very exciting will because so much of spring production carries over into the season if we you

Know Circle back the clock about 12 months here a lot of the guys will that we thought were sort of prized for a breakout given how they played in Spring it panned out that way strengths in terms of units of the team it played out that way weaknesses in terms of units of

The team it sort of played out that way so so many of the habits the behaviors the practices matter so much at this particular point in the season because this is sort of what carries over into the season so it’s almost like watching a baby being born this is sort of the

Birth of the 2024 UCLA season in so many ways yeah it’s gonna be a lot of fun and you know I got some names that I’m very excited to be talking about as always I got to give it to my man to the right lead us off man who are you most excited

About coming into Spring football camp for the 2024 season for UCLA yeah well you know I’ll I’ll do this sort of as a as a group of five here and in no particular order but but one guy I’ve got my eye on is is Rico Flores the the

The transfer from Notre Dame and you know kind of the Speedster at 300 yards receiving three touchdowns with Notre Dame last year and sort of coming in now to sort of complement this wide receiving group obviously you and I joked Offline that he’s got some very

Large shoes to fill fill will in in the departure of Kyle Ford and you and I joked obviously Kyle Ford the the guy who I thought was going to play a just a hugely significant rooll on the team last year and had all but 38 yards receiving it felt like on five catches

I’ll always have the five for 38 will to miss but I think Rico Flores steps in here with an opportunity to really be that guy that blows the top off the defense to sort of complement The Possession type of receiver that is Logan Loya and then obviously the

Explosive big body that is J Michael Stan so I kind of want to see how Rico Flores integrates into this system and how comfortable Ethan garbers is with with him yeah I love the RICO Flores comparison I mean this guy was highly touted Notre Dame guy we’re going to

Have to get this into this later in the episode Butler Benton the director of Player Development the GM of Notre Dame football coming to UCLA so that’s gonna be very exciting as well but getting back to Flores a very talented wide receiver I see him more as a slot guy as

Opposed to an outside guy from what I’ve seen early but he can make the tough catches and run the right routes where he’s going to get a lot of targets when he’s on the field lot of promise there you know is three more years of Eligibility to my

Knowledge for UCLA with Rico Flores so just a lot of great things to like man so Rico Flor is a very valuable First Choice here’s the guy I got for you and this is the guy that we saw in Spring football last year Braden Pagan man I

Mean he he was behind a stacked receiving core you know of your Ford your sturdivan your Loya very talented uh I think lya’s going to have a you know an opportunity to go the after this I think sternan is goingon to be a top three round pick in the NFL next year

But with Pagan he was arguably the second best receiver we saw in Spring practice whether that lined up to on the field playing time I mean this guy has one catch in two seasons at UCLA for seven yards against Cal last year but what Pagan brings to table big bodied

Outside receiver 6 foot4 200 pounds and I mean we routinely saw he was making one-handed grabs he was torching DBS Mossing guys with that size such a hard cover out there on the football field and I’m really excited to see if he can take that next step to ultimately being

The guy opposite your laas or your Sturdivant in that situation what do you think about pagan coming in the spring absolutely will you said it best Pagan really stood out last year in the spring when it came to torching the defensive backs who ended up having really good

Seasons when you think about and Alex Johnson when you think about Kamari Ramsey when you think about some of these guys that were on the roster last year and the type of success that Pagan had it was really remarkable he was clearly the number two receiver in

Spring last year after J Michael Stan and you talked about it will it was in a variety of ways whether it was his catch radius and being able to catch some contested back shoulder balls whether it was sort of going across the middle and being able to catch balls in traffic

Whether it was showing some really subtle speed in terms of some move variations and then kind of creating separation down the sideline and then also his ability to have a knack to be open in the Red Zone he did a little bit of everything in the spring let’s see if

It translates now this year on the field and I think what will help significantly is if you recall will he had a great chemistry with Ethan garbers in Spring and so now hopefully with garbers kind of taking that rain and sort of going through it unanimously the qb1

Unquestionably his team no one to sort of look behind his shoulder hopefully now Pagan and garbers develop a chemistry that stays consistent throughout the season and this translates to on the field success yeah so we got two wide receivers off the board with our first two picks madman

Number three lead us to where we’re going for the spring and who we got our eyes on in these open spring practices my yeah well I got my eye on the Georgia Tech transfer KJ Wallace in the secondary and when you talk about what KJ Wallace brings to the table in terms

Of game experience and pedigree from Georgia Tech he had some of his best games against some of the top competition in the country when you talk about the old misses and the georgas and the likes of you know really Top Flight competition Clemson uh to name a few

Really played big in the biggest games and one of the position groups that really sort of separated last year in Spring and stood out was the secondary and now when you look at kind of the secondary turnover when you talk about losing Ramsay and humph Alex Johnson

Terms out when you talk about really trying to figure out who that next captain of the secondary is going to be a void that we haven’t yet Filled from the days of balock you know two years ago can KJ Wallace potentially be that guy on the back end and I want to see

How he matches up with the high level of competition that is in that UCLA wide receiver room how he competes and where he really fits in in terms of Zone scheme cover two cover three whether he’s more bump and run he did a little bit of everything at Georgia Tech can he

Sort of take that next step and serve in that leadership role in the secondary yeah I love Wallis you know another former Notre Dame and Georgia Tech guy coming here a lot of experience he’s going to be back there you know with some very tested corners and I think you

Know spoil alert I’m gonna have another Corner in that conversation coming forward so KJ KJ Wallace the addition of him coming to this was such a need especially with Ramsay and humph leaving for USC so this is a very very big pickup for UCLA so I’m excited to see

How he progresses with his new defense you know Cody Whitfield was the Pack 12 defensive back coach the year last year so let’s see if you can kind of build on that bring these new guys in get them comfortable out there playing and see how they align in Spring ball as they

Head to a big new conference in the Big 10 so it’s gonna be very fun to watch what Wallace does out there I’m G to go defensive back a little later the guy that I have it’s such a need coming into this year because we had such a dominant

Unit last I’m talking about the defensive line you lose the Murphy twins you lose latu latu I mean those guys don’t grow on trees I’ve said that many of times those guys are all future Pros latu if it wasn’t for the Medicals would be a Surefire top 10 pick in the NFL

Draft Murphy’s going to be day two maybe even day three picks the guy that I got and I went back and looked at his recruiting profile colins a champ young is built like nobody I’ve ever seen he’s six foot7 270 PBS mad man this guy went to Miami transferred to UCLA play has

Four years of Eligibility left and you look at the offers and the recruiting profile for that size whether it was your texases your Oregons your michigans like the big name brand schools all wanted this guy and somehow he has winds up at UCLA a year later can’t teach size

Is the one thing my grandpa always said as a college basketball Scout you know size rules all 6 foot7 270 coming with a coach that just put three players in the NFL I am excited to see that especially at a position of need where we need somebody to step up on those Edge

Rushing positions a champ young is a guy that I’m going to have my eyes set on man because size speed uh you know flexibility used to be a basketball player so he’s super athletic I like everything I’m hearing about a champ young to be able to see him on the

Spring practice field is going to be a treat for me just to kind of evaluate him and what he’s going to bring to the table what do you think about a champ young oh I love the a champion uh comp here Will and it’s I’m so happy you

Brought it up because we were so excited about this get about 60 days ago and how much has happened in the UCLA off season since then between chip and Deshawn and Eric benmy and all of the movement that he kind of became the Forgotten guy and

I think that him stepping out on the field with that 67 frame that you mentioned and just that sheer raw athleticism explosiveness to be able to fill those voids I think it’s going to be really exciting to see and we saw that in Spades last year in the spring

Will when we said hm either this front seven is really really good or this offensive line is really really bad but it this this this front seven is sort of living in the back field right now and truth be told both were true it was sort

Of an ant so champong has an opportunity to make an immediate impact here and I think he’s going to do that and as we’ve talked about in modern football modern college football obviously you need to be able to score the ball in this day and age but but the one advantage you

Have on the defensive side is your ability to get to the quarterback and strain pressure and no better than a champong and he’s got some big shoes to fill but he’s got the frame to sort of carry that load what a great pick there will I love it awesome man well champ

Young we got four picks total we’re going to try to go three for three at the very least for this radio segment if we go a little bit long guys make sure to check us out in the breu and Bible we have everything the full episode all

Listed out for you guys number three for Mr madman who are you going with and what well this is kind of an interesting one for me and I think that there’s one guy that has the opportunity to really make a huge name for himself this year

Along the lines of a champong and that’s olun Olo and where he’s GNA be uh you know positioned here and I’m going to cheat a little bit because I think that ol Adel is going to play a very significant role on this team but I don’t know how much we’re going to see

That in Spring you know was kind of like latu last year we knew latu was great but the spring practices had a little bit less physicality in terms of what those guys wanted to do I mean latu was just ready to kill people and just hit

People and just go nuts on people and you could tell kind of chip and Deshawn and everybody else was kind of raiding him in a little bit and I think it’s going to be a similar story with Ola but I think he’s gonna have play a significant role I’m fascinated will to

See how John John Vons is going to be positioned on this year you know is he going to be kind of this hybrid linebacker safety role are you going to put him more in the Box are you going to have him kind of play more coverage he’s so versatile and I think

Last year so much of his baseball kind of came into impacting some of his spring production now he’s got another year under his belt of playing both Sports I think there’s going to be a different mentality and focus coming into football this year and I think again where he’s positioned how he plays

Who he matches up with and where his utilization is best he has the ability to sort of change the complexion of a season given his versatility really excited to see John John bonss this year yeah John John Vons I think there was a you know if we did not get the wallaces

Coming through from Georgia Tech I think there was a real shot he moves to safety and like maybe that’s a better position for him projecting towards the next level if he wanted to take a shot within the NFL so John John Vons is great olad

Deia though man that was a guy that was on my list and I like everything about him you know he came in it didn’t feel like he blew everybody away but that linebacking room was so loaded last year whether it was Kane Madrono or Darius muasa is gonna be playing on Sundays you

Had a loaded room and you know the first game we saw ol de 10 tackle game against San Diego State you’re like man this guy’s gonna get 120 tackles this year not the case the most he had since that game was eight you know he finished the

Bowl game with in a really nice way six tackles three solo tackles in that game but the thing that really stood out to me which makes him a complete freak of nature this guy had three pass deflections at Three 6 fo3 250 pounds we talked about it last year when he was

With DK meaf who came out to the we didn’t know who was who like those guys are just massive human beings you know and I just think the size and speed he can have and if he you know improves upon that coverage this guy can be like

A day two pick in the NFL maybe even day one because he’s one of those guys that if he locks in and has a year he had two years ago with Cal he’s going to blow it away at a combine like environment where the measurables are what you need and at

6’3 250 let’s say he does run like a low four five he’s gonna be on the NFL you know track record to maybe becoming one of those linebackers like a Fred Warner or one of these guys in the coverage game Patrick Queen ran Smith these type

Of guys so I all about o Deja I’m really excited to see what he brings to the table and that leads me to my next pick man very you know this is very obvious but I think it needs to be said like we we have to put him out there garbers

With a new offensive coordinator finally having the starting job I think is massive for him because you look at all the struggles he’s had over the years it’s started at Washington as a four-star Prospect came down to UCLA you know fought for the backup job with Dorian Thompson Robinson

Who came back for an extra year people forget that like was Dylan Gabriel gonna come or not that doesn’t matter garbers was still going to try to compete for that starting job DTR comes back eliminates him from that starting job finally feels like he’s got it last year

They get a five-star true young freshman Dante Moore who for a lot of people you know wanted him to start I would say like 90 plus percent of the fan base wanted this guy to start and it’s one of my big regrets is that I pivoted on this

Last year because in Spring football he was the best quarterback at Spring football for all those practices we saw but everyone’s like if you don’t get Dante it was it was very similar to the Brady Drew Hensen thing if you will where I’m not comparing these guys projecting wise forward but Brady was

The older Statesman he had the locker room the players liked him but they had this new Young quarterback they were scared they would lose him if they didn’t play him and lo and behold it kind of played out very similar where the younger quarterbacks were very inconsistent didn’t get the respect of

The veterans within the locker room and then you have a guy come in like a garbers or Brady who’ been there who put in the work and you saw it paid dividends man that second half against Boise State 9 of 12 156 yards two touchdowns three touchdown performance

Against us USC in the Coliseum I mean come on those are games that you dream about as a quarterback playing college football and making that work I just am so excited to see what he’s going to bring to the table now that he knows he’s the starting job but there’s also

The challenge of hey I’m learning a new you know under a new offensive coordinator this could be a little different for me so just a lot of questions with garbers but all the best kinds because we know he’s going to be great what do you think about garbers no

I that that was going to be my other one will so I’m so happy that we we align there as we tend to do and I couldn’t agree with you more because the dynamic with garber’s last year in Spring it was very interesting it was very obvious to

Your point that he had a greater command of the offense he understood the Playbook more the complexities more there was more decisiveness with his reads and with his balls than was the case with Dante Moore where it became interesting was in off-script type of situations improvisational situations Dante significant ly beat Ethan Garber

So then it became a question of well if Moore just sort of catches up on the learning of the offense this is going to be hard for garbers to beat there was also an interesting dynamic in in the quarterback competition you and I both noticed that garbers would tend to be

Sort of on one part of the sideline Moore tended to be on another part of the sideline there was no animosity but there also wasn’t a lot of camaraderie either and so how that played out in the season while garbers looked like he had sort of mastery of the Playbook as we

Talked about in that opener he lost confidence very quickly on one bad throw and that sort of set him into a bit of a tail spin the first half of the year and then he reclam that in the second half of the Year particularly with SC and

Boise State so I’m really fascinated to see he’s the unquestion qb1 he’s won this team over in the bowl game he’s won the Rivalry game he’s got the Victory Bell in hand how does he go about his business not just learning a new offense

But what is he going to be like from a leadership standpoint how V is he going to be in the Huddle how much is he going to coach up his guys how much is he going to encourage the defense how much of an aura and a presence is he going to

Have as a coach and a leader on the field and that’s what I’m really fascinated to see I think the throws he’s going to be able to make the reads he’s going to be able to learn but how does he sort of translate into the unquestioned leader of this team and how

Do they in turn respond to him because in their response to him he’s going to generate a lot of confidence and selfworth there and that I think is going to take him through the season regardless of whether there’s some early bumps in the road a couple of early

Interceptions or what have you I think that fortification and that confidence in Spring hopefully will carry through so I’m excited to see garbers not just from a wrinkle standpoint with this bemy offense but him taking that final step as the unquestioned leader of this team as the unquestioned face of this program

And as an unquestioned coach on the field yeah and if you’re listening to this on La football radio guys check out the rest of the episode we got you is going to be on the breu Bible make sure to check it out but to your point of

Garbers man the thing that was crazy that played out was when the play broke down more made better plays until it didn’t happen in real time because how many times when it happened and the pocket collaps and more just panicked where you look at Ethan garbers man this

Is the Boise State game three carries 38 yards like he’s not a first read quarterback we all remember the USC game where he ran for a first down on 1 yards which really gave them the momentum in that first half to take the lead so garvers you know for what we saw in

Spring it played out completely different because he was just more comfortable with the system he knew if this doesn’t work and that doesn’t work I got to use my legs whereas Moore was just trying to put catchup the entire year and just never worked out it also

Shows Thriller that as much as I think spring is a tremendous barometer for certain positions but it’s also not really a correlation to other positions because the difference between spring and the game was obviously speed of line play right when we talked about how much is this offensive line going to hold up

In real time how explosive our sort of pass rushes going to be that they’re going to have to deal with right the offensive line wasn’t really tested very much in real sort of compromising situations in the spring so it made maybe garber’s strengths feel a little bit deficient and it made Mor’s

Deficiencies feel like strengths because it wasn’t quite that sort of realtime simulation so that’s also going to be I think a really interesting piece now that there is going to be a spring game quote unquote it’s not just a Spring Showcase it’s not just a collection of drills how does Deshawn Foster Design

Spring practice to lead into a game type of situation and so are those practices now going to be more reflective of game likee scenarios of you’re putting a hat on hat offensive line with defensive line so these quarterbacks and these receivers generate the necessary timing

And urgency that is going to be on the field and I think that’s going to be a really fascinating wrinkle to really just even observe deshun Foster and how he’s going to manage his practices how vocal is he G to be what is his coaching

Style going to be is it to pick guys up is it going to be to chew guys out how is how much is he going to rely on his assistance what is he going to rely on his assistance for and where is he really going to emphasize practice being

So I think a guy to watch even more than the players in so many ways is Deshawn because it’s going to be kind of a window into soul and it’s going to be kind of a window into the soul of the program yeah man and just like with

Garbers it’s just it I’m just happy for him you know what I mean he went through a lot to earn that job and it’s goingon to be fun to watch him I’m excited to watch the backups play it out because in a lot of ways Mt man like Justin Martin

To me felt like the third best quarterback on the roster yet all the playing time went to schle when it hit the fans so does Jmart step up and be you know qb2 kind of what garbers was you know two years ago where is waiting in the wings his time’s going to be

Coming um you know and just things like that so like we have that going on offensive line development just a lot of different positions do you have any more guys you’re excited about because I got a couple more and we can keep this thing rolling absolutely will I mean you know

You you mentioned a few I mean not not in terms of the the opening cut but I think it is going to be really fascinating to see how Justin Martin plays in spring because last year if you recall will so much of our conversation offline was hey is Justin Martin going

To have to transfer here because you know so much of that was well you got garbers coming in you got Dante Moore you’re thinking this is now the future of the program for the next three years you’ve got other recruits coming in schle is there and you know schle is

Going to be sort of a rental for two years because he’s going to law school and doing all of these things and so look how quickly things change where a very talented guy like Justin Martin we were talking hey maybe does he go to Cal does he maybe go to Washington state

Does he go you know to the Mountain West now has an opportunity to step up here we saw some of the deficiencies with schle does schle sort of improve as a pure thrower or does Martin have the ability to pass him and be qb2 and be one unfortunate garbers hit away from

Being the quarterback and playing some really meaningful games in the Big 10 so I think Martin’s development is going to be really fascinating to see how much time he’s put in the film room the weit room in terms of looking at how he wants

To be set up for success and so for me Thriller I think the other guys that I’m kind of looking at a little bit is where do we see kind of the tight end room and you know is this also the year that you know habel and matava is there some

Separation there you know over over spring last year it was pretty obvious that Carson Ryan looked like the most talented tight end in the spring last year if you recall and he was making some huge plays and we were expecting some big things and he delivered and now unfortunately Ryan has transferred to

Utah so what is that battle between habil and matava going to look like and is there going to be some separation you know 18 months ago it looked like habel was maybe going to be that next tight end Ryan then came in and wedged in and

Then over the course of the season when garbers kind of came back into that second wind of his he really liked matava a lot and then at the very end of the season Hill came on in that SC game you know got into the end zone so are we

Going to see some separ there or is this going to be more of a tight end battle through and through and it’s going to be a two tight end system so seeing how those two guys interact and play off of each other who’s going to block more

What what type of routes are they going to run is it seam routes are they going to go across the middle I think that in play is going to be fascinating to watch yeah no those are two very fascinating uh observations you made about the tight end room with maval and

Haill Carson Ryan leaving is a big loss like that’s a guy that yeah you know the numbers it was similar to what Kyle Ford did right every time he got targeted he got he made a play he made a play so you can’t say it wasn’t bad they should have

Thrown him the ball more with Carson Ryan you know I remember the catch he made on fourth down against Utah ironically Utah where he transferred to to keep the game alive like it was a it was a hell of a play by Carson Ryan and the other point is matava and haill I

Think they’re gonna be tight ends by committee coming in on paper but what if one significantly outplays the other that’s the really fun and exciting part about Spring football especially with a new coaching staff at hold you got to re you know earn the you got to earn the

Trust of these new coaches because they don’t know who you are like you got to prove to them that you’re tight end number one or tight end number two so that’s going to be a fascinating battle to watch play out I’ve got a guy for you too man defensively we have talked about

This guy maybe for three years similar to Loyal where it’s like this guy’s gonna break out this guy’s gonna break out Devin Kirkwood man I felt like he really you know progressed at the end of the season last year you know after that Stanford game where he forced a fumble intercepted Caleb

Williams in the USC game made some plays against Boise State where you’re starting to see that potential kind of catch up to where he’s at right now in terms of talent level so I think with Kirkwood Talent has never been an issue it’s always been consistency snap to

Snap how he’s reading it I saw him take a step forward at the end of the season with Cody Whitfield last year and I’m excited to see what they do with Davies and Kirkwood would for my money which could be a top three you know cornerback

Duo within the Big 10 if everything goes right for them next year I mean talk to me about Kirkwood we talked about him for years and I think you know I’m D I’m tripling down I this is my new Kyle Ford man this is my guy like I am putting him

Out there as a guy that I think is GNA hit big this year because of how he finished last season and the progressions he made what do you think about Kirkwood oh God bless will absolutely you know my my five catches for 38 yards is is your interception

Against Washington two years ago you know we he’s teased us ever since then you know with with that one play and we’ve talked about the value of the big corner and being able to kind of grow into his body grow into a physical corner but also sort of grow into sort

Of a mentality of preparation and meticulousness for his craft and and really sort of use his hands well use his hips well and really sort of generate a lot of production on the field I completely agree with you I think different mature at different ages we sometimes forget that we’re talking

About 18 to 22 year old kids here and so some kids are ready at 18 to come in make an impact be disciplined and just do the things they need to do to be successful for others it’s a little bit more of an EV flow I mean we saw it with

Alex Johnson last year you know year six in the program essentially and then have this incredible Renaissance period so I completely agree with you how Kirkwood played particularly against USC with that interception but also just the rest of the way through when you talk about him locking up Todd Washington when you

Talk about him kind of going shot for shot with Brendan rice not backing down and then you look at how he did in the LA bowl and the way that defense really locked things up in the second half can he take that potion can he take those ingredients and translate it over into

The season and I think it’s set up very well for him will because the Big 10 has maybe some bigger receivers some guys that maybe aren’t as Twitchy as were in the case in kind of the traditional Pack 12 and so I think it can fit into his

Body type a little bit more where he can use his strength and his body type to potentially overpower some of these receivers at the line of scrimmage get the requisite leverage that he needs and be able to sort of shut these guys down or be able to get them off script off

Timing off schedule and really disrupt passing play so I totally agree with you it’s all set up for him for a big year and I think it comes down to an element of personal belief I think two years ago he made plays here and there but I don’t

Know if the belief was there that he was ready to be a leader in this secondary and a a Bonafide starter and I think the confidence ebbed and flow now I think he’s in a situation where he believes that he’s he belongs that he’s a leader

He’s a star and let’s see that translate week over week yeah and you know before I toss it back over to you there’s something to be said about guys for UCLA specifically when they have that game against USC like Greg dolage his Breakout game really was the USC game a

Couple years ago he comes back he’s arguably he was my in my opinion the best tight end in the country when he came back for that year even Dorian Thompson Robinson there was a confidence when he started those eight to nine games you know the next season he was a

Legitimate Heisman candidate before it kind of broke off at the end of the year there’s something to be said about balling out against your rival and taking your steps to the next level and Kirkwood you know confidence always looked like an issue for him out there

You know very talented but he’d you know make a mistake and it looked like he got in his head a lot you know similar to how I felt with Klay Thompson earlier in his career with the Warriors kind of pivot to a different sport but when you

Have that confidence going listen I just picked off the number one pick in the NFL draft and I was a huge part of the reason why we beat USC our cross town Rivals that confidence starts to Glow you know like once you have that first achievement you can be a very very

Different person in in the good way like you’re confidence you believe in yourself St more so after seeing the track records of what happened to previous UCLA players when they’ bowled out in that USC game what I saw from Kirkwood in the year I think we could be

In for something nice with Kirkwood it may have taken a while but we could be at that destination right here mad man any more players for you off the top of your head before we wrap this up no will I mean I think we’ we’ve sort of covered

It end to end in a really significant way and I just love the point you made about the power that that USC game has on The Following season and in many ways on a career I mean when you think about even going back pre chip or early chip I

Mean think about what the USC game meant for Joshua Kelly in terms of his signature performance not just from a UCLA perspective but the confidence it gave him to be a very credible NFL player for a few years when you talk about the way Demetri Felton played

Against USC and competed so hard even whether it was wins or losses but put up big numbers and then what that meant for him in the NFL you go even further back look at what it meant for a Jonathan Franklin look at what it meant for a

Brett Hundley look what it meant for a Jordan pyton guys that have played USC really well it’s either translated into some significant confidence the following year or the rest of their UCLA career or their ability to be really solid NFL players I mean you saw the way

Miles Jack played against USC the way Anthony Bar a famously knocked out M Matt Barkley I mean Anthony Bar ended Matt Barkley’s career at USC and you saw what a season he had Kendricks the way he played against SC in route to winning three consecutive games from 2012 to

2014 so the power of that SC game means so much to sort of UCLA culture it also speaks to you know the the most recent interview that DeShaun Foster had this year uh you know with the LA Times where he was sitting in his office and right

Behind him was a bruan bear that was sitting on top of a sign and the sign literally read kill SC and so you know and this is sort of the the highest sign he’s gotten his office right behind him so the power of that game and what it

Means not just to this program but to these individual players confidences is absolutely significant and can’t be understated and I think Kirkwood and the rest could be this next wave you know is it habel is it is it TJ Harden taking that momentum now to be unquestioned rb1

Of course garbers you know is there an opportunity now for a Litany of these players to say we did this with our Rivals we run La now let’s run more than just la going into 2024 yeah man great points great time having you know talking about what we bringing to the

Table in the spring portion of football football’s back baby 365 days a year we got you covered here at Los Angeles football network for your Bruins check us out make sure to like us subscribe on YouTube we’ll be back very soon we’re going to be out there at practices guys

So come up say hello give us your opinions give us where you guys think we should you know pivot to with the podcast I’m interested to hear what you guys got to say man have a blast we will be back very soon Brun Bible