UCLA Football: 10 Bruins Added to Senior Bowl Watchlist

Will any of these Bruins end up playing in the Senior Bowl?

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Ten UCLA football players have been named to the Senior Bowl watchlist ahead of the 2024 season. The Senior Bowl annually gives select NFL draft prospects the chance to compete against one another in front of NFL scouts and representatives and make a strong impression before the draft and NFL combine.

1️⃣0️⃣ Bruins named to the @SeniorBowl Watch List 👀

ℹ️: https://t.co/SZqRuI94OJ #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/xOu47bELkF

— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) August 21, 2024

A total of 859 prospects were added to the 2025 Senior Bowl watch list, compared to the 720 players named to the watch list last year. Ole Miss has the most players of any program on the watch list, with 21. The event will take place next year on Feb. 1 in Mobile, Alabama.

At the 2024 Senior Bowl, former UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu was the only player to represent the Bruins in the game. Latu, who was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and finished fourth in the FBS with 13 sacks, became the first defensive player off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts selected Latu No. 15 overall.

On this year's watch list, offensive lineman Josh Carlin, wide receivers Logan Loya and J. Michael Sturdivant, linebackers Kain Medrano, Oluwafemi Oladejo, and Joseph Vaugh, tight end Bryce Pierre, and defensive linemen Gary Smith III, Jay Toia, and Keanu Williams were the 10 Bruins included on the list.

Carlin makes the list as he transitions to playing center along the offensive line. Loya and Sturdivant finished the 2023 season as UCLA's two leaders in receiving yards, combining for 1,252 yards together. The list also includes Pierre, who is a new addition to the Bruins after he transferred to the program from Arizona State.

On the defensive side of the ball, Medrano, Toia, and Oladejo are expected to be three of the team's leaders and best players for the upcoming season. The Bruins also brought in Vaughn from Yale this offseason, with him, Smith, and Williams helping fortify a Bruins' front seven that lost many of their best players in 2023, including Laiatu Latu, Grayson Murphy, Gabriel Murphy, and Darius Muasau.

Several of these Bruins were also added to other 2024 preseason watch lists. Sturdivant was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose watch list, and Oladejo was named to the Butkus Award watch list.

The Bruins begin their season on Aug. 31, with their first game of the year at Hawaii.