The can’t-miss moment of the NFL Combine was SBNation’s glorious video of linemen running the 40-yard dash to “Chariots of Fire.” UCLA’s Jeff Baca makes an appearance 20 seconds in. Watch it if you haven’t already.
If you’re looking for something more substantive, here are the results from the Bruins’ workouts. Continue reading “NFL Combine Roundup” »
The UCLA offense’s most-missed departure is busy bumping his NFL stock. Yesterday, Johnathan Franklin finished in 4.49 seconds, ahead of Oregon’s Kenjon Barner and behind only three other tailbacks at the NFL Combine.
Not a bad follow-up to a season that ended with All-American and Doak Walker finalist honors. What will the Bruins do next fall without their all-time career rushing leader?
In Andy Staples’ SI.com story, quarterback Brett Hundley weighed in.
Hundley might be a bit biased since he played with redshirt freshman tailback Paul Perkins at Chandler High in suburban Phoenix, but Hundley believes Perkins has the tools to be the next great UCLA back. “He’s under the radar a lot,” Hundley said. “But I promise everybody that he’s going to be a monster.”
Jim Mora has said he expects to replace Franklin by committee — Damien Thigpen, Jordon James and Steve Manfro all touched the ball last year — but did name-drop Perkins as a promising player a few times throughout the season. The 5-foot-11, 192-pound back was named to Arizona’s all-state first team as a senior, and also played some safety at Chandler.
The NFL Combine’s first set of workouts took place Friday, and former UCLA tight end Joseph Fauria participated with 17 bench press reps — tied for 10th at his position.
Saturday is when the real fun begins, as offensive linemen and tight ends do their field work. Running backs, quarterbacks and receivers will also compete in the bench press. Here are the rest of the Bruins in Indianapolis this weekend, with ratings and analysis from their profiles on NFL.com.
DL Datone Jones — 85.6 — “Going forward, Jones needs to do a better job of anchoring, or disengaging once his intial surge is halted. However, his immense physical talent and extremely productive senior season should make him an early selection.”
Pro comparison: Cory Redding Continue reading “NFL Combine drills start Saturday” »
UCLA offense vs. Baylor defense: Although they give up more yards than every team in the country except Louisiana Tech, the Bears aren’t the second-worst defense in the college football. Baylor has won four of its past five games because it suddenly discovered the ability to force turnovers. In that span, the Bears grabbed 11 of their 18 interceptions on the season. (Meanwhile, quarterback Nick Florence threw just two picks.) However, this still doesn’t mean that Baylor is a particularly good defense. Only two teams in the Big 12 give up more yards per play than the Bears, which partly negates the argument that their numbers are bad due to the offenses they face.
Though Brett Hundley has thrown a pick in three of this past four games, he is still just 60 yards away from Cade McNown’s single-season passing record and could crack that by the end of the first quarter. Johnathan Franklin could conceivably get 300 yards to hit 2,000 on the season. (Great stat, courtesy of ESPN: Franklin averages 4 yards after contact on fourth-quarter rushes. He averages just 2.1 per carry in the first three quarters.) Edge: UCLA
Baylor offense vs. UCLA defense: Florence isn’t the superstar Robert Griffin III was Continue reading “Holiday Bowl: How do UCLA and Baylor match up?” »