In Reply to: Report: Big Ten 'populating' idea to potentially expand College Footba posted by mh on August 18, 2025 at 08:01:56
This is from a Ben Bolch newsletter, "UCLA Unlocked":
Greg Biggins, the 247Sports.com college football recruiting analyst who is one of the best in the nation at what he does, likes to say that you need dudes to win big.
No one has won a national championship in the College Football Playoff era whose roster wasn’t at least halfway stocked with four- and five-star players. Only a handful of teams have made the title game without meeting that blue-chip ratio — and they’ve been walloped.
“So you’ve got to have dudes, you have to have talent,” Biggins recently told The Times. “Coaching and development is huge, but you take coaching and development with guys who look like [star Ohio State wide receiver] Jeremiah Smith, now that’s a different level altogether.”
As UCLA’s DeShaun Foster prepares to open his second season as the head coach at his alma mater, he’s increasingly replenished his roster with dudes. Transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a five-star talent, and 13 other players who arrived through the transfer portal were rated as four stars either coming out of high school or as a transfer.
While the Bruins’ blue-chip ratio still falls well short of 50%, it’s creeping upward. But as Biggins mentioned, coaching and development also matter. Former UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who received zero stars coming out of high school, is now with the Cleveland Browns after being selected in the second round of the NFL draft.
For the Bruins to have the breakthrough they’re seeking under Foster, they will need both blue-chippers and less heralded prospects to emerge as stars. Here are 10 players who must become dudes for UCLA to succeed in 2025:
Offense
QB Nico Iamaleava: Well, duh. UCLA is not going to have the kind of season it wants unless its quarterback puts himself in the conversation for the school’s best player at the position since Brett Hundley. (Sorry, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Josh Rosen, eight- and nine-win seasons don’t suffice.) Efficiency will tell the story. If Iamaleava exceeds his 2024 accuracy, when he completed 63.8% of his passes and tallied nearly four times as many touchdowns (19) as interceptions (five), then the Bruins will be in business.
OT Courtland Ford: Quickly slotting into the starting left tackle spot in spring practices, Ford projects to have his biggest role since he started the first eight games of the 2021 season at USC. He went on to become a part-time starter with the Trojans in 2022 and at Kentucky in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to UCLA. The hope is that he can provide stability and bolster an offensive line that was a major weakness last season amid several injuries at left tackle.
RB Jaivian Thomas: Jaydn who? Foster likes to point out that Thomas was the top tailback at California last season despite Jaydn Ott receiving much of the hype. There’s a widespread expectation that Thomas will reprise that role with the Bruins as part of a deep group of running backs that also includes Jalen Berger, Anthony Woods, Anthony Frias II and Karson Cox. While each of those players holds promise, Thomas appears to have the biggest upside given his speed, patience and vision.
WR Kwazi Gilmer: Often by Iamaleava’s side getting off the team bus at training camp, Gilmer quickly established a narrative of becoming his quarterback’s go-to receiver. The duo established a strong connection during the short practice viewing window open to the media, Iamaleava often finding the speedy and shifty Gilmer in the end zone. It’s easy to envision Gilmer more than doubling his output from 2024, when he caught 31 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns. Gilmer showed some swagger by saying he wanted to win the Biletnikoff Award that goes to the nation’s top college receiver; now he’s got to back up those words.
TE Hudson Habermehl: After shedding his surfer look, those long blond locks replaced by a far more streamlined hairstyle, Hambermehl yearns to reintroduce himself as a sleeker, more productive version of the player Bruins fans last saw in the spring of 2024. That’s when he suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury that would require two surgeries and more than a year of recovery. Now Habermehl is back, ready to become the team’s most targeted tight end while exceeding his 2023 production (nine catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns).
Defense
LB JonJon Vaughns: Having abandoned his baseball pursuits for football full time, Vaughns needs to slide into a starring role. He’s shown glimpses of promise, particularly during a 2022 season in which he started 11 games and made two interceptions and five pass breakups. Now comes the challenge of sustaining that sort of production while leading a defense that thirsts for new playmakers to emerge at every position.
S Key Lawrence: Perhaps the most energetic player on the team, the Mississippi transfer also boasts plenty of talent thanks to his combination of speed and smarts. Barring a setback from the minor right leg injury he sustained midway through training camp, Lawrence projects to be an opening-day starter. He’ll need to anchor a secondary that’s replacing every starter.
Edge Devin Aupiu: UCLA’s pass rush was meh last season, generating 22 sacks to rank tied for No. 78 in the nation. As a part-time starter, Aupiu made 4½ tackles for loss, including 1½ sacks — decent production given his role and easily the most among returning players. Getting into the backfield more often this season is a must for the redshirt senior.
DT Gary Smith III: Most successful diets don’t end with someone weighing 340 pounds. But after shedding 20 pounds thanks to what he described as clean eating, Smith appears slimmer, stronger and more explosive in his return from the ankle injury that sidelined him all of last season. He posted a video of his squatting a team-high 700 pounds and could combine with fellow interior defensive lineman Keanu Williams to make running up the middle the place where ambitions go to die for opposing tailbacks.
LB Isaiah Chisom: In case Chisom was tempted to get cocky after one season at Oregon State in which he was selected a freshman All-American by The Athletic, he lost out to new UCLA teammate Jalen Woods in the battle to keep his No. 9 jersey. Maybe every time he glances at his No. 32, it will remind him of the work he needs to put in to become a super sophomore.