UCLA football: 3 true freshmen who could start in 2024

A new era is coming to UCLA football. The Bruins are headed to the Big Ten but they'll be doing so under a new direction as Chip Kelly left to be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Yes, you read that right, Kelly decided to give himself a demotion and join a more prominent program in the same conference, giving way to DeShaun Foster who had been the team's running backs coach since 2017. While it wasn't the splash hire that many probably would have hoped, the players seemed to love the move by the program.

While Kelly is gone, there are still some talented freshmen joining the program in the 2024 class who could step right in and even earn starting roles right away. Who are they?

3. Isaiah Patterson, 3-star LB

The linebacker position wasn't exactly a strength for UCLA a year ago and with the departure of Darius Muasau, it looks like there might be an opening for a guy like Isaiah Patterson to slide in and earn some snaps as a true freshman.

Does that mean he's going to start right away? Not necessarily, but he could take over at some point this season if he shows that he can be more productive and consistent than Kain Medrano and Femi Oladejo. Both of those guys finished with over 50 tackles last season and had 9.5 combined tackles for loss and 2.5 combined sacks. That's not crazy productive, but it's solid.

Patterson brings a strong 6-foot-3, 235-pound frame to the group and I could see him making an impression on the new coaching staff early on and sliding into that two-deep.

When he's in the two-deep, it's only a matter of time before he gets a start.