UCLA Football Official Depth Chart: Week 1 vs. LSU

Taking a look at the official two-deep released by coach Chip Kelly and his staff ahead of the Bruins' matchup with the Tigers

Author:
Sam Connon
Publish date:
Sep 2, 2021 2:35 PM EDT

The Bruins have released their latest two-deep depth chart.

UCLA football announced its 29 starters and 29 backups for its upcoming game against LSU as of Monday. Coach Chip Kelly has made it clear that these lineups can shift drastically before their kickoffs on Saturdays, but it is at least an insightful look at where things stand for the Bruins at the moment.

There were a few decisions of note from Kelly and co. this time around, and All Bruins is here to break them all down.

Running Back

Brittain Brown is still RB1 ahead of Zach Charbonnet, which was expected, but stands in contrast to who had a better performance against Hawaii in Week 0.

The expectation before the season was always that Brown and Charbonnet would be used in a 1A-1B scenario. In the season-opener, Brown had more than twice as many carries as Charbonnet, but Charbonnet racked up almost triple the yards per carry and two more touchdowns.

Based on the score, field position and what kind of looks the LSU defense is giving the UCLA offense throughout the night, Charbonnet could very easily end up with more touches than Brown this time around. However, if Brown can hold down the starting job even after Charbonnet posted an award-winning and near-viral performance, the coaching staff must have a lot of faith in the super senior ball-carrier.

After all, his 78 yards and a touchdown on 6.0 yards per carry last week were far from disappointing.

Center

Once again, Sam Marrazzo was missing from the two-deep.

Jon Gaines II started in his place a week ago and was part of an absolutely dominant performance for the Bruins up front against the Rainbow Warriors, so he clearly has what it takes to be a Division I center. LSU isn't Hawaii though, and the Tigers' big bodies will add in a whole new set of wrinkles for Gaines to pick up as he adjusts to center.

Marrazzo has continued to progress in practice and even started snapping to different quarterbacks later in the week too. Kelly wouldn't lock down his status Wednesday morning, so there's still a non-zero chance he makes his return to the field Saturday.

Depending on which way Marrazzo's health leans come game time, UCLA will either have a center making his second-ever start at the position or one coming off an injury who hasn't played at full speed in nine months.

Right Guard

One of the major changes from last week's depth chart came at the right guard position, with Atonio Mafi jumping Duke Clemens in the two-deep.

Mafi actually got the start over Clemens against Hawaii as well, so this change must have happened during the midweek practices leading up to that game. Mafi, Kelly and other players and coaches we've talked to this week have insisted that the starting right guard position does not hold a lot of weight since the Bruins plan to rotate heavily in the Rose Bowl heat anyways, but it is still an interesting development that they would make this swap official.

If Marrazzo gets back this week, or even after the Bruins' upcoming bye, Gaines could disrupt the lineup in several ways. Whether he'll simply be a backup to Marrazzo and left guard Paul Grattan or join the right guard rotation remains to be seen, but he was the team's starting right guard a year ago. Expect this interior line group to get shuffled up a bit if or when Marrazzo makes his return.

Linebacker

The two starting linebackers and their two backups did not change from Week 0 to Week 1, only their positions did.

On the hard copy of the depth chart provided to the media at the Rose Bowl last week, Kain Medrano was listed as Caleb Johnson's backup, while Ale Kaho was second-string behind Jordan Genmark Heath. This time, Kaho was pegged to back up Johnson and Medrano slid over to act as Genmark Heath's No. 2.

That means Johnson and Kaho are going to play the Will this week, with Genmark Heath and Medrano playing the Mike. Kaho and Medrano are probably the Bruins' two best linebackers in pass coverage, while Johnson and Genmark Heath are the more physical of the bunch, so it will be interesting to see how the four players are each used in different capacities and bases.

The full depth chart can be seen here: