Tag Archives: Jim Mora

Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks named to Lott watchlist

Posted on by
Reply

UCLA linebackers Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks were both named today to the Lott IMPACT Trophy’s 42-man watch list. The award, founded in 2004, is given annually to a college defensive player for both on-field performance as well as personal character. Eleven Pac-12 players made the latest list, but Cal’s Dante Hughes is the conference’s only winner — though Arizona State’s Pat Tillman and Stanford’s Owen Marecic both received honorary trophies.

Barr ranked second nationally with 13.5 sacks in 2012, and is projected as a top-10 NFL draft pick entering his second season on defense. Kendricks led the Pac-12 with 150 tackles, the most by a Bruin since Jerry Robinson’s school-record 161 in 1978.

The complete watch list is below the jump, with Pac-12 players bolded. Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Owamagbe Odighizuwa out for 2013 season

Posted on by
3

The defensive line, one of UCLA football’s most battered units this spring, just suffered its biggest loss. Defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa will likely miss the 2013 season after undergoing his second offseason hip surgery.

The Los Angeles Times first reported the news Tuesday that Odighizuwa had the operation for a frayed rotator cuff in his right hip. Once the five-star gem of the Bruins’ 2010 recruiting class, he had sat out all of spring practice while recovering from surgery on his left hip.

Coach Jim Mora said last Monday that Odighizuwa was healing well, but needed to get his right hip checked. The 6-foot-3, 265-pound end was a likely successor for Datone Jones, who recently became UCLA’s first first-round draft pick since 2006. Odighizuwa finished with 44 tackles, 3.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries last season, and will have one year of eligibility left after if he redshirts this fall. He totaled 32 tackles through his freshman and sophomore years. Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

UCLA football post-spring: Defense and special teams

Posted on by
11

Defensive line

Can UCLA’s defensive front survive the loss of a first-round pick — the team’s first since 2006? Cassius Marsh, pegged as a third-round talent in some early projections, now succeeds new Green Bay Packer Datone Jones as the Bruins’ best defensive end. By most observations, he’s matured since 2011, a year that saw him storm out of spring practice and later suspended two games for an October brawl at Arizona.

“Sometimes, he may stop on that line, but not over it,” said defensive line coach Angus McClure. “I call it a ‘controlled insanity.’ You want to go to that line but you don’t want to go over it. Certainly, he’s learned to manage it.”

The rest of the line, however, is a muddled with injuries. Owamagbe Odighizuwa and Ellis McCarthy both sat out spring while rehabbing from their respective hip and knee surgeries, while nose tackle Brandon Tualiaupupu tore his ACL in mid-April. Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

UCLA football post-spring: Offense

Posted on by
12

Quarterback

Be happy that you have one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. Brett Hundley isn’t flawless, but not many players in the country have the same level of tantalizing potential. (I don’t think he’ll leave, but if Hundley declares for the 2014 draft, SI already has him as the No. 8 pick.)

A superlative freshman campaign — 3,745 yards, 29 touchdowns against 11 picks — proved that the 6-foot-3 dual threat is the quarterback the Bruins have long sought. Perhaps the biggest knock on him was his decision-making, whether that meant not throwing the ball away when he needed to or not sliding at the right time. In spring, he looked like he corrected some of that, drawing cheers from his teammates once when he slid on a scramble.

He also took 52 sacks last season — second-most in college football, and something that did start to affect him later in the fall. Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Johnathan Franklin’s draft wait ends, joins Datone Jones in Green Bay

Posted on by
Reply

Johnathan Franklin’s draft wait finally ended at the 125th overall pick, going to Green Bay as the fourth round’s 28th selection. UCLA’s career-leading rusher was the seventh running back off the board, and joined first-round pick Datone Jones as new Packers. It is the first time an NFL team took two Bruins in the same draft since 2006, when Jacksonville took Marcedes Lewis and Maurice Jones-Drew in the first and second rounds.

Franklin’s slide didn’t attract as much attention as USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who also fell to the fourth round, but — widely rated as a top-three tailback — he will likely to be one of the best values of the draft.

“One of the things I love about Franklin is the way he can pass-protect, which is rare,” said NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. “When you pay Aaron Rodgers the money you just paid him, you want to protect him.”

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Packers take Datone Jones with 26th overall pick

Posted on by
3

UCLA’s first-round drought is finally over.

The Green Bay Packers took defensive end Datone Jones with the 26th overall pick of the NFL draft Thursday night, making him the first Bruin to go in the opening round since tight end Marcedes Lewis in 2006.

“If I was still coaching in the NFL, I would want Datone Jones on my team,” UCLA coach Jim Mora said this week.

Jones — a 6-foot-4, 283-pound defensive lineman — was one of several pass rushers taken in the first round. A versatile player who has seen time both as an inside and outside defender, he projects as a versatile lineman who can be useful in various schemes. The Packers were a popular landing spot for Jones in various mock drafts, and offer him an ideal situation as an end in their 3-4 defense.

He was also the fifth Pac-12 player drafted Thursday night.

“He’s my sleeper of the first round,” ESPN analyst Jon Gruden said. “He has NFL skills. … The Packers need a dominant inside defender. Good pick.”

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Where will Bruins go in NFL Draft?

Posted on by
Reply

DATONE JONES, DL
Size: 6-4, 283
Expected to go: Late 1st round

You can read more about Jones in today’s story on his draft prospects, but suffice it to say that the talented defensive end will likely become UCLA’s first first-round product since Marcedes Lewis in 2006. He impressed through fantastic post-season performances at the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine, and has even drawn comparisons to seven-time Pro Bowler Richard Seymour. A team like Green Bay at No. 26 or Denver at No. 28 could snatch him up.

JOHNATHAN FRANKLIN, RB
Size: 5-11, 195
Expected to go: 2nd round

Franklin reminds me of Shane Vereen, whom the Patriots took as a second-round pick out of Cal. Vereen rushed for 251 yards and three touchdowns in his first regular season. After running atop the UCLA record books, “The Mayor” could easily eclipse those numbers if he ends up on a team that doesn’t use as deep a backfield rotation as New England.

“You can use him in the passing game,” said Chris Burke, NFL writer for Sports Illustrated. “You don’t have to plan to pair him with someone else who’s a better blocker or a pass-catcher. …

“You’re not gonna give him the ball and expect him to move the pile five yards. If you can get him outside, let him find the hole and make the one cut, he certainly has enough speed and shiftiness.”

JEFF BACA, OL
Size: 6-3, 302
Expected to go: 5th round Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Offensive guard Alberto Cid to take medical retirement

Posted on by
1

UCLA offensive guard Alberto Cid will likely take a medical retirement after suffering multiple concussions. The rising senior and former Citrus College transfer has missed nearly all of spring camp, and Tweeted yesterday that he thinks his career is over.

Cid started seven games in two seasons with the Bruins, including December’s Holiday Bowl loss to Baylor. He was listed as a starter at the beginning of spring before being sidelined.

“We’ve had discussions. As of last night, he was sitting down with his family and discussing where they wanted to go,” head coach Jim Mora said today. “I haven’t talked to him yet this morning. If that’s what he tweeted, and it’s the official Alberto Cid Twitter page, I guess I’ll address it on Saturday when I talk to him.”

» Rising sophomore linebacker Kenny Orjioke stood out to Mora as one player who has stood out over the latter half of spring camp.

“He’s still 17 years old,” Mora said. “He’s still maturing, but you’re starting to see it. … All of a sudden, he looks like an outside linebacker who can play and help you win at this level. We’re hoping he keeps developing.” Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

UCLA adds new speaker system; drones to follow?

Posted on by
2

Drones?!

Should you spy a strange contraption hovering over Spaulding Field in the future, don’t panic — it may be the latest in UCLA’s embrace of technology.

The Bruins rolled out a new sound system on Wednesday, but head coach Jim Mora said that won’t be the team’s last high-tech addition.

“The next step — and we will get to it, it’s just going to take us a while — is they’ve got these drones now that can hover over your practice field with a video camera,” Mora said. “What we eventually want to do is get a drone because that’s another perspective.”

Tennessee tried a similar idea last week, using what looked like an eight-pronged helicopter at its spring practice. An upgrade on the cable-suspended Skycam used in television prospects, the “drones” also require that UCLA amp up its fundraising efforts. A Cinestar Octocopter, used in the film industry, can cost around $10,000. Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Jim Mora: UCLA’s Devin Fuller in ‘mold of Percy Harvin’

Posted on by
1

At what point does hope trend into fantasy? Praise into hyperbole? On the topic of rising sophomore Devin Fuller, Jim Mora ventured this week into that hazy, indeterminate zone.

“I think I’ve said this before and it’s not fair to either guy, but I think he’s in the mold of a Percy Harvin,” the UCLA head coach said. “A guy that can play running back if you need him to, can play slot, can go outside.”

Fuller still has a ways to go before he reaches the same tier as Harvin — an eventual Pro Bowler who had over 3,500 all-purpose yards in three years at Florida — but the suggestion isn’t outlandish, ceiling-wise. Since arriving at UCLA as a quarterback who then turned into a 145-yard receiver, he has proved himself to be one of the most impressive Bruins in spring camp (This becomes especially true if you’re looking for someone that’s not an established star.) Continue reading →

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email