Analyzing UCLA football's official two-deep Week 0 depth chart
The Bruins' first depth chart of the fall has arrived.
UCLA football released its official two-deep depth chart Monday night as part of its game notes for its upcoming matchup with Hawai'i on Aug. 28. The Bruins haven't released a depth chart since the week leading up to their 2020 season opener last November.
There were a few decisions of note from coach Chip Kelly and co. this time around, and All Bruins is here to break them all down.
Center
Sam Marrazzo was missing from the new rendition of the depth chart, which isn't a great sign for his availability this weekend.
Kelly talked to the media Monday morning and said his status moving forward is up in the air as he recovers from the leg injury he suffered against Stanford last year.
"Sam's in contact drills right now, he's a kid that we need to evaluate as this week goes along," Kelly said. "We'll talk to the trainers in terms of where they feel he is in this point in time and in terms of the amount of snaps and what we can do from that standpoint."
Based on the depth chart, it looks like UCLA is preparing for life without Marrazzo in the short term. Jon Gaines II is the next man up at center, and after struggling to adjust to the position in spring camp, he seems to have gotten far more comfortable there over the past month or two.
Gaines isn't on the same level as Marrazzo, however, so that is one big missing piece on the Bruins' side of things right off the bat.
Receiver
With Delon Hurt likely suspended for the entire 2021 season, it wasn't all that surprising to see Kam Brown listed as the No. 1 X receiver – we predicted it nearly two weeks ago before the full picture on Hurt was even revealed.
Philips and Loya being the top two guys out of the slot is also predictable and matches what UCLA had last year, as does the Cota-Sykes pairing at the Z receiver.
Allen being the No. 2 X wideout isn't what we expected, but it does make plenty of sense. Even though he lined up in the slot every now and then last season – and he still probably will at times in 2021 – Kelly has spoken at length throughout fall camp about Allen's ability to take the top off the defense as a deep threat.
So while he will probably spend time at the X, in the slot and in the backfield, Allen being 5-foot-9 clearly hasn't scared Kelly away from relying on him outside the numbers.
Raider
As we've seen since the start of fall camp, Bo Calvert has officially been moved from inside linebacker to outside linebacker – more specifically, the defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid raider position.
Calvert physically fits at the spot very well. The media hasn't been able to see any live drills, 7v7s or 11v11s, so we'll have to wait and see how he works at raider at full-game speed.
One interesting domino that fell when Calvert moved to raider was Carl Jones moving down to join the 2s. With how well Jones played there last season, that means good things for the 2s, and it's just another example of how deep this UCLA team is going to be.
Tight End
Based on our early impressions from spring and fall camp, we initially projected Mike Martinez to be the second-string tight end. Then, after another week or two of watching practice, it was clear receiver-turned-tight end Michael Ezeike was getting the most time with the 2s.
The tight end rotation will certainly fluctuate here and there, depending heavily on situations and where the offense is on the field, but the depth chart listed Martinez as TE2.
The back and forth nature of this position battle will probably continue into the season as well, and who gets the most snaps or targets will change on a week-to-week basis.
Quarterback
Another expected move was locked in Monday, with Ethan Garbers being listed as the No. 2 quarterback behind Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
That means Garbers beat out last year's backup, Chase Griffin for the job, something the Bruins hinted towards when Griffin took the field in a scout team jersey at Friday's practice. Garbers has been throwing a better ball than Griffin pretty much every day since spring ball started, so it was really a matter of when, not if, the leap would happen.
There was some speculation that QB2 would include both Garbers and Griffin, but it seems Garbers has won the battle by a wide enough margin where the decision was a clear one for Kelly and his staff.
Nickel, Nose Tackle
The last time the Bruins came out with a depth chart, the position distribution looked a little different than this most recent version.
In addition to the two DL spots, two ILBs and two OLBs, there was also a NOSE position filled by Tyler Manoa and Otito Ogbonnia. NOSE is not on the 2021 depth chart, so those two are now at DL, with Osa Odighizuwa gone and John Ward bumped off the charts.
Last year's depth chart also didn't have nickel – or striker – on it, and Qwuantrezz Knight was simply listed as a safety. Now, Knight and William Nimmo Jr. are officially listed as strikers, the linebacker/safety/nickel hybrid brought in by assistant head coach Brian Norwood last season.
Even with those two not at safety anymore, Elisha Guidry still didn't appear on the two-deep at either safety spot, and neither did cornerback Jay Shaw.
The full depth chart can be seen here:
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