NFL Draft Predictions (UCLA Players)

          Besides Super Bowl Sunday and National Letter of Intent Day (this coming Wednesday, February 3rd), the only big football event coming up within the next five months is the 2016 NFL draft, which will begin April 28th. Many senior and junior football players (including fellow UCLA Bruin football players) will join the big leagues and be selected to which team they will play on. There are many key UCLA football players who will enter the draft and hopefully have an amazing rest of their football careers.
          There are 7 rounds to the NFL draft, each round having about 30 players in it. The first round is usually the most highlighted and looked up towards, especially the first overall pick. Last year, the first player selected in the NFL draft was former Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston, who is now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next behind Winston was former Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Trophy that year, but lost the national championship. UCLA's top pick of the draft that year was second round pick Eric Kendricks (45th overall). The last time a UCLA player was picked in the first round was back in the 2014 NFL draft, in which former outside linebacker Anthony Barr was the 9th overall pick. Barr was one of the hard hitters on defense for UCLA. One of his biggest tackles in his UCLA career came against USC in 2012. In that game, he sacked former USC quarterback Matt Barkley really hard. Barkley's shoulder was sprained and it ended the quarterback's college career. If my explanation of that play wasn't so clear, the video to the play is at the end of the post.
          UCLA has two players (both on defense) that are predicted to go in the first round of the draft. Former outside linebacker (can also play running back) Myles Jack is predicted to be among the first five overall picks. Not only can Jack can hit hard on defense, much like Anthony Barr, but he can also pull off some amazing runs, such as the touchdown run in the second video. The other first round prediction is defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Clark was one of the biggest UCLA players on defense this past season. He also had a touchdown of his own: a receiving touchdown in UCLA's season opener against the Virginia Cavaliers.
          Many more Bruins are predicted to go into other rounds of the draft. Offensive tackle Caleb Benenoch and running back Paul Perkins are predicted to go into the third round of the draft. Perkins has been a gigantic factor in UCLA's offense. Through his three years, he has rushed for a total of 3,491 yards, averaging about 1,164 rushing yards per season. This past season, he rushed for 1,343 yards. Perkins knows how to pull off some ridiculous runs, such as the third video down below. Usually, you wouldn't think the play would be a long rush, but when Perkins rips through the defense, he's gone (most of the time). Offensive guard Alex Redmond is predicted to go into the fourth round, and wide receivers Devin Fuller and Jordan Payton are projected to go into the sixth and seventh rounds.
          Even though UCLA is losing lots of talent in football, there is still more coming in for National Letter of Intent Day, when graduating high school football players choose which college they will attend and play football for. In the next post, I will discuss the results of NLI Day. I hope that UCLA will have a great recruiting class and that these players will be well-prepared for the NFL in their future.

The big sack on Matt Barkley by Anthony Barr.

Listen to the crowd's reaction to the hit. (2012)

A replay of a touchdown run by Myles Jack. (2014)

Compare these two tackles by Anthony Barr and

Myles Jack. (2013)

One of the ridiculous rushes by Paul Perkins. (2015)

       
     

The 2016 College Football Playoff Results and Final Rankings

          The College Football season has finally come to a close, with no more games until the next season (2016-2017). In this post, I will mainly talk about the New Year's Six, which are the six big bowl games of the postseason.
          The Chick-fil-A Bowl was the first of the New Year's Six bowls, a matchup between the 9th-ranked Florida State Seminoles and the 18th-ranked Houston Cougars, the highest-ranked Group of 5 team. The Group of 5 is a bunch of conferences that do not produce many powerhouse football teams. The other 5 conferences known for powerhouse football schools make up the Power 5, consisting of the Atlantic Coast Conference (which Florida State is in), the Big 12 Conference (teams from Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas etc.), the Big Ten Conference (most of this conference's teams are in the Midwest), the Pacific-12 Conference (the conference UCLA and USC are in), and the Southeastern Conference (teams from Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, etc.). The Group of 5 conferences are the American Athletic Conference (which Houston is in), Conference USA (around the area that SEC schools are located), the Mid-American Conference (more Midwest teams), the Mountain West Conference (every non-Pac-12 school west of Oklahoma, includes Hawaii), and the Sun Belt Conference (the least watched conference out of them all, almost never has a legitimately good team).
          Anyways, Houston shocked Florida State 38-24 behind their high-powered offense. The Cougars were led by quarterback Greg Ward Jr., who will return to Houston for next season and possibly be amongst the top candidates for the Heisman Trophy. Ward had 238 yards passing along with a touchdown and an interception. He also led the team with 67 yards rushing. Houston finished the season ranked #8 in the AP with a 13-1 record, losing only to Connecticut because of an injury to Greg Ward Jr. As for Florida State, quarterback Sean Maguire threw for 392 yards, but cost the 'Noles with 4 interceptions. FSU finished 14th in the AP with a 10-3 record.
          Later on New Year's Eve, the College Football Playoff began. Top-ranked Clemson and 4th-ranked Oklahoma squared off in the Orange Bowl. Clemson trailed 17-16 at halftime, but pulled away with a 37-17 victory over the Sooners. Oklahoma was outscored 21-0 in the second half. They were led by quarterback Baker Mayfield, who had 311 passing yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Clemson was led by quarterback Deshaun Watson, who had 187 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception. Oklahoma finished the season at #5, with an 11-2 record.
          After the Orange Bowl finished, the Cotton Bowl (the other Playoff semifinal) began. It was a matchup between #2 Alabama Crimson Tide and #3 Michigan State Spartans. Instead of being a close MSU win as predicted, Alabama completely shut down Michigan State 38-0 to go for their 4th national title over seven seasons. The Crimson Tide were led by quarterback Jake Coker, who threw for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns. Michigan State senior quarterback Connor Cook struggled in his final college game, tossing 2 interceptions and a total of 219 passing yards. Michigan State finished the season ranked #6 (one spot below their preseason ranking) with a 12-2 record.
          On New Year's Day, #7 Ohio State and #8 Notre Dame squared off in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes of Ohio State built an early 28-7 lead before Notre Dame scored to cut the lead to 28-14 at the half. OSU pulled away with a 44-28 win. The Buckeyes were led by quarterback J.T. Barrett, who had 211 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception. Ohio State finished at #4 with a 12-1 record. Notre Dame was led by quarterback DeShone Kizer, who had 284 passing yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Notre Dame finished 11th with a 10-3 record.
          The granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl, was also played on New Year's. This was a matchup between #5 Iowa ad #6 Stanford. However, this game was nowhere near close. Heisman runner-up Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey caught a pass and ran 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game. Quarterback Kevin Hogan ran for an 8-yard touchdown and then Quentin Meeks picked off Iowa QB C.J. Beathard and took the ball back 66 yards for a touchdown. Stanford had a 21-0 lead, but they were far from finished. Not even a minute into the second quarter, Iowa punted only to see Christian McCaffrey return to punt back 63 yards to the end zone. Stanford led 35-0 at halftime. Iowa tried to come back, but still lost 45-16. Christian McCaffrey broke the Rose Bowl record for all-purpose yards (368). He was also the first player in Rose Bowl history to have at least 100 yards receiving (105) and rushing (172). Iowa finished 9th with a 12-2 record while Stanford leaped to #3 with a 12-2 record as well.
          The Sugar Bowl was another blowout. Number 12 Ole Miss crushed #16 Oklahoma State 48-20. The Rebels were led by quarterback Chad Kelly, who threw for 302 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception, which was on the first drive of the game. Since the interception, Ole Miss rolled to a 34-6 halftime lead. Oklahoma State finished the season all the way down at #20 with a 10-3 record, with a 3-game losing streak to end the season. Ole Miss joined the top 10, sitting at #10 with a 10-3 record.
          The national championship game, Alabama vs. Clemson, was tied at the half (14-14). The rest of the game was a close one, but Alabama clinched their fourth national championship in the past seven seasons, defeating previously-unbeaten Clemson 45-40. Clemson had more offensive consistency, but couldn't pull away with the championship. Deshaun Watson threw for 405 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception as Jake Coker threw 335 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Heisman-winning Alabama running back Derrick Henry (He will go into the NFL draft later this year) ran for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns. Alabama finished atop the top 25 with a 14-1 record while Clemson sat at second, sharing the same record as Alabama.
          So here is the final AP top 25:
1. Alabama (14-1) (Southeastern Conference)
2. Clemson (14-1) (Atlantic Coast Conference)
3. Stanford (12-2) (Pacific-12 Conference)
4. Ohio State (12-1) (Big Ten Conference)
5. Oklahoma (11-2) (Big 12 Conference)
6. Michigan State (12-2) (Big Ten Conference)
7. TCU (11-2) (Big 12 Conference)
8. Houston (13-1) (American Athletic Conference)
9. Iowa (12-2) (Big Ten Conference)
10. Ole Miss (10-3) (Southeastern Conference)
11. Notre Dame (10-3) (Independent, not part of any conference)
12. Michigan (10-3) (Big Ten Conference)
13. Baylor (10-3) (Big 12 Conference)
14. Florida State (10-3) (Atlantic Coast Conference)
15. North Carolina (11-3) (Atlantic Coast Conference)
16. LSU (9-3) (Southeastern Conference)
17. Utah (10-3) (Pacific-12 Conference)
18. Navy (11-2) (American Athletic Conference)
19. Oregon (9-4) (Pacific-12 Conference)
20. Oklahoma State (10-3) (Big 12 Conference)
21. Wisconsin (10-3) (Big Ten Conference)
22. Tennessee (9-4) (Southeastern Conference)
23. Northwestern (10-3) (Big Ten Conference)
24. Western Kentucky (12-2) (Conference USA)
25. Florida (10-4) (Southeastern Conference)

Part 13: UCLA vs. Nebraska (Foster Farms Bowl)

          The UCLA Bruins football team traveled up to the site of the 50th Super Bowl, Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, to play in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl. They played against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who had 5 wins and 7 losses before the game. UCLA had 8 wins and 4 losses.
          In the first quarter, the Bruins hit the scoreboard on their first drive, finished with a 1-yard TD rush from running back Paul Perkins. Nebraska answered with another 1-yard TD rush, this time by Imani Cross. The two teams both punted on their following drives, tied at 7 by the end of the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen threw a beautiful 60-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kenneth Walker, who was the fastest receiver on the team. Later, Rosen threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to running back Nate Starks. The Bruins had a 2-touchdown lead (21-7), but blew that as Nebraska scored two touchdowns to tie the game at 21 at the half. Before the end of the half, there was a bad targeting call on Nebraska defender Nate Gerry, as this finished off his playing time for Nebraska this season.
          The third quarter was when everything started to get really bad for UCLA. Nebraska took their first lead of the game on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong to WR Stanley Morgan. The extra point was blocked, but that didn't stop the Huskers. Later, they kicked a short field goal to take a 30-21 lead. The game practically ended early in the final quarter of the season. Tommy Armstrong ran for a touchdown and the Huskers led 37-21. By this point, UCLA allowed over 300 yards of rushing from Nebraska. A 9-yard touchdown pass from Rosen to WR Jordan Payton cut the score to 37-27. The two-point conversion was successful and the score was 37-29. Later in the quarter, during the waning 2 minutes, Rosen threw a Hail Mary attempt, which would be the final pass of Rosen's freshman year at UCLA. That resulted as an interception in the end zone and a touchback. Nebraska finished the game off with a 26-yard third down rush from fullback Cethan Carter.
          UCLA football finished the season with 8 wins and 5 losses, 4 of which were upset losses. An upset loss is when a team loses to another team that is ranked below them. This usually happens when a top 25 team loses to an unranked team. UCLA's upset wins came against then-#20 California (40-24) at the Rose Bowl and then-#13 Utah (17-9) in Salt Lake City. Their upset losses were against Arizona State (38-23, UCLA was ranked 7th) at the Rose Bowl, Washington State (31-27, UCLA was ranked 19th) also at the Rose Bowl, USC (40-21, UCLA was ranked 22nd) and Nebraska (talked about in this post). The Bruins' other loss was against then-#15 Stanford (56-35, UCLA was ranked 18th) up in Northern California.
          As of the end of the season, many key players for UCLA will either graduate from the university or go into the NFL draft early. Here is a list of key Bruins who will leave the team:

WR #7 Devin Fuller (graduating, going into NFL draft, possible 6th round pick)
WR #9 Jordan Payton (graduating, going into NFL draft, possible 7th round pick)
PK #15 Ka'imi Fairbairn (graduating)
TE #18 Thomas Duarte (going into NFL draft, possible late-round pick)
P #19 Matt Mengel (graduating)
RB #24 Paul Perkins (going into NFL draft, possible 3rd/4th round pick)
LB #30 Myles Jack (going into NFL draft, already left UCLA, possible 1st round pick)
OL #51 Alex Redmond (disqualified from Foster Farms Bowl due to hiring an agent, going into NFL draft, possible 4th round pick)
LB #51 Aaron Wallace (graduating)
C #54 Jake Brendel (graduating, going into NFL draft, possible 2nd round pick)
OL #74 Caleb Benenoch (going into NFL draft, possible 3rd round pick)
DL #97 Kenny Clark (going into NFL draft, possible 1st round pick)

          Like said in the list above, Myles Jack and Kenny Clark are both predicted to go into the first round (first 30 or so players) of the NFL draft. Each player in the list has been a key part to UCLA football for the past 3 or 4 years, each having at least 25 starts in their careers as Bruins.
          There has also been a coaching change for UCLA. Running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu was promoted to offensive coordinator since former offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone left to be the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M. Speaking of Texas A&M, the Bruins will travel to College Station, Texas and open next season against the Aggies on September 3rd, 2016. Quarterback Josh Rosen will return for the Bruins and hopefully, starts off strong. At the same time, the Bruins need to avoid having bunches of injuries like the past season. I am really excited about next season. Gooooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!!!!