UCLA Football Official Depth Chart: Holiday Bowl vs. NC State

Taking a look at the official two-deep released by coach Chip Kelly and his staff ahead of the Bruins' matchup with the Wolfpack.

The Bruins have released their latest two-deep depth chart.

UCLA football (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12) announced its 29 starters and 29 backups for its upcoming bowl game against No. 18 NC State (9-3, 6-2 Pac-12) as of Tuesday. Coach Chip Kelly has made it clear that these lineups can shift drastically before their kickoffs on Saturdays, but it is at least an insightful look at where things stand for the Bruins at the moment.

There were a few decisions of note from Kelly and co. this time around, and All Bruins is here to break them all down.

Offensive Line

There were a few changeups of note all over the offensive line, even if the five starters are the same ones who suited up for the regular season finale against Cal.

Lucas Gramlick is making his first appearance on the two-deep all season, despite running with the 2s in fall camp and a good chunk of regular season practices. It isn't like Gramlick is going to get any offensive snaps as the second-string left tackle, barring injury to Sean Rhyan, but a new name is a new name.

Garrett DiGiorgio had been listed as the backup left tackle for most of the season, and even held down both the second-string left tackle and second-string right tackle roles against the Golden Bears, but now he is just the backup right tackle.

Bruno Fina is the backup center, a spot that previously belonged to starting right guard Jon Gaines II. Josh Carlin, who spent a large portion of the year as the backup right tackle, is Gaines' backup at right guard.

The game of musical chairs again hasn't impacted the starters, but it is notable to see who is getting put where, even if it won't have a big impact on the game itself. Interior lineman Beau Taylor is the only one from the group who has entered the transfer portal, while graduating guard Baraka Beckett and tackle Patrick Selna are still notably not on the two-deep.

Defensive Line

Otito Ogbonnia is the only Bruin who has made his decision public when it comes to the NFL Draft, declaring earlier in the month and announcing he'd be sitting out to rehab from an injury in the meantime.

Taking his place as one of the two starting defensive tackles isn't his backup, Tyler Manoa, who is still listed as second string, but rather true freshman Jay Toia.

Toia played in all 12 regular season games this fall, but started the year mostly as a reserve and special teams player. In the last seven contests of the year, though, Toia notched eight tackles and a pass breakup.

The defining moment of Toia's season may have been the video of him threatening students in an elevator at a Halloween party, and Toia faced internal team discipline without getting suspended or held out of practice.

AJ Campbell, Tyler Kiehne and John Ward have all left the program via the transfer portal over the past few weeks, and Sitiveni Havili-Kaufusi and Quintin Somerville remain out with injuries. That means the interior defensive line is really lacking depth and bodies, and there will certainly be a lot of rotating going on in those two positions.

Toia will be among those players getting a boost in snaps, and he is in a position to actually pick up his first career start at the college level.

Outside Linebacker

One of the most surprising developments from the transfer portal was when edge rusher Myles Jackson entered just one day after the end of the regular season.

Jackson had made six tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss in seven games in 2021, his first year back from a season-ending knee injury in 2020. He had a strong hold on the second-string spot behind Mitchell Agude all season long, and with Agude possibly moving on to the NFL next year, he was in line to become UCLA's starting edge rusher.

Alas, he entered the portal anyways and is deciding between Indiana, Liberty, East Carolina and nearly a dozen other schools who are vying for his services.

With Jackson out of the picture, another true freshman has stepped up to make his first appearance on the two-deep this year – Devin Aupiu.

Aupiu was a late addition to the 2021 recruiting class, playing spring ball at Notre Dame and only enrolling at UCLA once fall camp had gotten underway. Regardless, the 6-foot-5 linebacker was immediately eligible and appeared in each of the final six games of the regular season.

With only five tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss to his name at the collegiate level, stepping into a role that will give him more snaps of game action could show how Aupiu fits into the defense moving forward. Aupiu doesn't currently have a position coach, with Jason Kaufusi leaving for Arizona early in the bowl prep schedule and Washington's Ikaika Malloe not joining the staff officially until the new year.

Defensive analyst Clancy Pendergast, the former Arizona Cardinals, Cal and USC defensive coordinator, is working with Aupiu and the outside linebackers for the time being, so maybe the shift in staff could line up nicely with Aupiu's emergence on the field.

Safety

Another departing transfer, safety DJ Warnell, opened up a key spot on the second team defense.

The role as Stephan Blaylock's backup has gone to Mo Osling III, who had been playing cornerback all year and in most of the past few seasons in Westwood. Kelly has long aimed to have several corners and safeties who can play both positions, though, and Osling has been one of those guys in practice through the back half of the season.

Osling, from what we've seen in practice since the end of the regular season, has already stepped up as a safety, and his ball skills and coverage instincts translate really well to the position.

Even before Warnell departed, safety depth was a concern for the Bruins. When Blaylock and Quentin Lake were both injured for a time earlier in the season, UCLA's secondary went from bad to worse, and Warnell and Kenny Churchwell III got torn apart in the one-sided second half against Arizona State on Oct. 2.

Now, Lake and Blaylock are back to full strength, and adding a talented veteran defensive back like Osling could go a long way in deepening the rotations and providing solid backup options against a pass-happy team like NC State.

Punter

The only starter who entered the transfer portal this month was punter Luke Akers, leaving the Bruins without a scholarship player on special teams or a true punter to step up in his place.

Looking forward to next year, preferred walk-on commit Chase Barry seems to have an early edge on the starting job, being ranked as a five-star recruit by several kicking and punting specialist camps. For the time being, however, UCLA is going to have to come to another solution.

Kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira is currently listed as the starting punter now as well, but Kelly said he hasn't put much thought or attention into the public two-deep and decided not to tell the media who his starting punter would be when pressed about it Wednesday. Kickoff specialist RJ Lopez and reserve kicker Ari Libenson are the other options to replace Akers for the Holiday Bowl.

Picking a replacement could prove even more difficult with special teams coordinator Derek Sage reportedly gearing up to become the next offensive coordinator at Nevada, but it is unclear when he would start should he accept an offer. If Sage isn't in Westwood by the time the Bruins head down to San Diego to face the Wolfpack, the punter spot could be one of the biggest question marks that night.

The full depth chart can be seen here:

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