The Chip Kelly era for UCLA football has been an absolute roller-coaster. But right now, the ride is still going up after a dip at the start of his tenure.
UCLA is in its last year of Pac-12 play before moving to the Big Ten next season and it needs some players to step up in order to push for the conference crown over teams like USC, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and Oregon State.
Which three Bruins could break out in 2023 and help push for a Pac-12 title?
Jay Toia began his college career by committing to USC as a four-star defensive lineman from Inglewood, Calif., and he even enrolled early in January of 2021. In May of 2021, he entered the transfer portal, and a month later, he committed to rival UCLA.
Obviously that didn’t make USC fans too happy, but Chip Kelly doesn’t care.
Toia has played in 16 games for the Bruins, totaling 38 tackles with three tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. He had a productive 2022 season but I think he’s just scratching the surface. He’s going to turn into one of the best defensive linemen in the Pac-12 in 2023.
With a big 6-foot-3, 325-pound frame, Toia looks poised to wreak havoc on opposing Pac-12 offensive linemen and I think 2022 was just a taste of what he can bring to the table.
J.Michael Sturdivant not only has one of the most interesting names in the country but he also has an elite skill set that’s going to transfer from one Pac-12 program to another.
Sturdivant started his playing career at Cal, committing to the Golden Bears as a top-150 prospect in the 2021 class from Texas.
After playing in three games with no catches in 2021, Sturdivant had a strong 2022 season with 65 catches for 755 yards and seven touchdowns. While that can probably be considered a “breakout” season for most players, I don’t think he’s even scratched the surface. He’s going to become a star on a national level and potentially push for All-American status by the end of the year.
There’s no doubt about it, Sturdivant has the potential to be the best receiver of the Chip Kelly era at UCLA and he should easily be the team’s go-to pass-catcher.
It all depends on who is throwing him the ball.
Who is going to start at quarterback for UCLA? No one knows for sure yet, but the overwhelming opinion is that Dante Moore should be the guy.
There’s no shortage of options at the quarterback position for Chip Kelly and he could choose some guys with experience like Kent State transfer Collin Schlee or Ethan Garbers or he could go with the five-star freshman that he flipped from Oregon in the 2023 class.
Moore, a native of Detroit, was the No. 5 overall recruit and No. 3 quarterback in the 2023 class and Kelly flipping him from Dan Lanning and Oregon was a massive development.
And he should have a better opportunity to start at UCLA than he would’ve at Oregon this season.
I am picking Moore to win the starting job and it’s because of his pure talent. He’s one of the most gifted passers not just in the freshman class but in the entire country. And we’re going to see that very soon.
Moore is going to have a huge freshman season for UCLA.