In the final four weeks leading up to the kickoff of UCLA football’s 2019 season, Sports editor Sam Connon and staff writer Jack Perez will be taking a look at the Bruins’ outlook at each position. From award favorites to comeback stories, Daily Bruin Sports will analyze each position’s depth chart and make predictions for how their seasons could unfold. Next up – the defensive backs.
Depth Chart
The Bruins had a spotty season in the secondary last year.
And now they’re without safety Adarius Pickett and cornerback Nate Meadors, who both graduated at the end of last season.
Pickett had almost 50 more tackles than any other Bruin with 123. Meadors led UCLA defensive backs with two tackles for a loss while recording one interception and two pass deflections.
Even with the two future NFL players boosting the unit last season, the Bruins ranked 88th in the country with 245.5 passing yards allowed per game – their third-worst mark of the century – and 60th with 11 interceptions.
UCLA’s No. 1 corner will once again be junior Darnay Holmes, the former five-star recruit who picked off three passes in each of his first two seasons in Westwood. Holmes deflected eight passes and forced two fumbles in 2018 after picking up three pass breakups and failing to force a fumble in 2017.
Junior Quentin Lake was a regular starting safety in 2018, picking up two interceptions and 67 tackles across from Pickett. Redshirt sophomore Elijah Gates started six games at corner last year but still managed to rank seventh on the team in tackles with 38.
Holmes, Lake and Gates have their starting roles locked in, but the remaining corner and safety jobs will be filled by committee and younger players.
Junior corner Mo Osling III is the most experienced Bruin looking to win a starting spot in camp after playing 10 games and recording nine tackles in 2018. He will likely split time with redshirt sophomore Jay Shaw – who deflected two crunch-time passes in the 2019 spring game – as coach Chip Kelly’s slot corner.
Sophomore safety Stephan Blaylock appeared in all 12 games last year, picking up 22 tackles as a reserve in 2018.
Fifteen of the team’s 18 defensive backs are underclassmen with Holmes, Lake and Osling as the lone outliers. The Bruins boasted an identical age distribution in 2018, meaning Kelly’s balance of new and old should be pretty similar in 2019.
Redshirt freshmen corners Patrick Jolly Jr. and Rayshad Williams are the early favorites to step into larger roles while freshman safety William Nimmo Jr. and corner Shamar Martin were Kelly’s top-two DB recruits last winter.
Scheme Breakdown
Picket would often be the only safety on the field for defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro in 2018.
Lake was used plenty, but he would line up all over the field – on the line, in the slot, man-to-man – while Pickett constantly patrolled the middle of the field. Lake could be moved into Pickett’s role based on experience alone, but it is more likely that Azzinaro will keep him where he succeeded last year.
Without an every down ball hawk, Azzinaro may have to adapt to his weapons and rotate Blaylock, Nimmo and others as the safety opposite Lake. Blaylock boasts a similar 5-foot-10-inch frame to Pickett, but Nimmo is nearly three inches taller, meaning the two could be used situationally rather than interchangeably.
Holmes and Gates will be matched up with the top two opposing receivers while Kelly and Azzinaro will likely use Shaw and the linebackers in zone coverage to cut off routes underneath.
The success of UCLA’s pass coverage, however, will be dependent on the team’s pass rush.
The Bruins’ linebackers and defensive linemen – especially the latter – rarely got to the opposing quarterback in 2018, making coverage tiring and difficult for the team’s defensive backs. If Azzinaro can design a dynamic pass rush that can regularly break into the backfield, his technically-sound corners will be able to limit damage outside the numbers as well.
And with 10 DBs measuring in at over six feet, the unit should have the physicality to stuff routes in the slot and provide dynamic assistance to the team’s pass rush and running defense as well.
Predictions
Holmes has been one of the Bruins’ biggest pieces in the secondary since he stepped foot on campus, and that won’t change in 2019.
He took a big step forward in 2018 and he will cement himself as a top NFL prospect this coming fall.
Holmes is on the preseason watch list for the Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation’s most versatile player. His nomination has a lot to do with his ability as a return specialist, but he is starting to gain a reputation as a shutdown corner as well.
A big season with five interceptions and 10 pass breakups could be enough to justify Holmes as a first round selection.
Lake won’t completely make up for the loss of Pickett in terms of production and playstyle, but he could break 80 tackles in a more integral role this season.
As a team, UCLA’s pass defense will likely tread water in the national rankings. While the unit may break up more passes and force a few more turnovers with well-rounded man-to-man coverage on the outside, the Bruins will surely miss the consistency of Pickett and Meadors over the middle and in the slot.
They may hold opponents to a lower completion percentage, but with major question marks in the pass rush and over the middle of the field, the Bruins could end up allowing more home run plays in 2019.
