UCLA Football Receiver Chase Cota Enters NCAA Transfer Portal

The four-year starter announced he'd be leaving the Bruins, but not to declare for the NFL Draft.

The Bruins have lost another one of their top pass-catchers.

UCLA football receiver Chase Cota announced he would be entering the NCAA transfer portal on Monday, he disclosed on Twitter. Cota spent the last four seasons with the Bruins and was one of the earliest recruits to commit after coach Chip Kelly got the job after the 2017 season.

Cota has one year of eligibility remaining.

Thank you UCLA🐻👨‍🎓 pic.twitter.com/3XDpZ0fdji

— Chase Cota (@ccota_) January 17, 2022

With Cota gone, UCLA will now be without it's three most reliable targets in 2022. Receiver Kyle Philips and tight end Greg Dulcich declared for the NFL Draft earlier in January, and now as Cota follows them out the door, 119 of the team's 163 catches by non-running backs need to be replaced.

Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and running back Zach Charbonnet are back for another round, but Philips, Cota, Dulcich, running back Brittain Brown, left tackle Sean Rhyan, left guard Paul Grattan and right tackle Alec Anderson are all leaving.

The new-look offense does has several options to fill Cota's shoes, though, as two receivers have already joined the program via the transfer portal – Duke's Jake Bobo and UCF's Titus Mokiao-Atimalala. Internally, former Texas A&M transfer Kam Brown and running back-turned-receiver Kazmeir Allen are returning, while Josiah Norwood and Logan Loya have a chance to pick up more targets. 

Consensus four-star freshman Jadyn Marshall signed his national letter of intent during the early signing period in December, so he is in a position to contribute earlier on as well.

Cota was once a four-star prospect when he was coming out of South Medford (OR) in the 2018 class. He came in alongside Thompson-Robinson, Philips, Dulcich, Allen and Anderson in that cycle, in addition to other key contributors coming and going this offseason.

Across his four years in Westwood, the 6-foot-3 wideout didn't miss a single one of UCLA's 43 games, drawing starts in 26 of them. Cota ends his career in blue and gold with 883 yards and six touchdowns on 67 catches, and he ranked No. 2 or No. 3 on the team in receptions among receivers every season he took the field.

The Bruins have now had 13 players enter the portal, and Cota is the 10th who is from out of state. Quarterback Parker McQuarrie is from New Hampshire, edge rusher Myles Jackson in from Georgia, defensive lineman AJ Campbell is from Ohio, punter Luke Akers is from Tennessee, safety DJ Warnell is from Texas, defensive lineman Tyler Kiehne is from New Meixco, offensive lineman Beau Taylor is from Nevada, receiver Keontez Lewis is from Illinois and defensive lineman Tiaoalii Savea is from Nevada. Cornerback Shamar Martin, quarterback Kajiya Hollawayne and defensive lineman John Ward are all from California.

The technical rules in terms of scholarships and transfers are complicated enough in a normal year, but with super seniors still a thing and COVID-19 eligibility extensions being granted across the country, it gets even more messy. Essentially, schools are allowed to add up to 25 new scholarship players each cycle, but that number goes up for every outgoing transfer.

That figure maxes out at 32, however, and with 13 players in the transfer portal, the Bruins are far past the point where they cannot replace additional departures should any more players declare their intentions to leave the program.

Catch up on all the transfer market news related to UCLA at All Bruins' transfer portal tracker.

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