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UCLA Football: 2 Special Teams Transfers Set to Visit This Weekend

The Bruins are in need of some help with the special teams units...

Jason Fray

Rose Bowl -- UCLA
Rose Bowl -- UCLA / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

We've seen it time and time again.

Since the sport was created, football games can be determined by the smallest of details. The area of special teams does not get a lot of notoriety. However, it's wildly important for any football team.

Possessing a lame punter could result in gifting the opposition supreme field position. An inconsistent long snapper may lead to the timing of a field-goal attempt be way off -- thus resulting in a missed opportunity to add three points.

UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster clearly understands this premise. With spring football coming to a close, he's had plenty of time to assess all units on the team. Based on two official visitors coming in this weekend, it's clear the Bruins want to strengthen their group of special team performers.

Northern Arizona punter Brody Richter will be coming to Westwood this weekend on an official visit. He will be joined by South Alabama long snapper Travis Drosos.

To be frank, the special teams unit wasn't prioritized very much by former head coach Chip Kelly when it came to recruiting. He decided to bypass adding scholarship kickers for the most part, which led to inconsistent play from the position via a fleet of walk-on athletes.

The 6'3" punter averaged a respectable 43.0 yards per boot last year for the Lumberjacks. Drosos was a multi-year starter for the Jaguars. He was a member of the team that played versus UCLA in the Rose Bowl two years ago.

Drosos would represent an upgrade at the position for UCLA. Last year's starter, Beau Gardner, transferred to Georgia in the offseason. Richter seemingly would have a real shot at starting from the jump, too. He'd be battling versus walk-on Chase Berry.

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Jason Fray
JASON FRAY

Jason Fray is a proud native of Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA in 2011, he's written for a number of publications -- including Bleacher Report, FOX Sports, Saturday Down South, and New Arena. In his downtime, he enjoys writing scripts, going to shows, weekly pub trivia with the boys, trying the best hole-in-the-wall food spots around town, and traveling (22 countries & counting). 

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