Now just over halfway through spring practice, coach Jim Mora has added chemist to his list of titles, experimenting with some of his more athletic pieces to produce new offensive sets.
One scheme that has received a lot of attention recently is a “wildcat”-type package that features rising sophomore wide receiver Devin Fuller as a quarterback, with the potential to have Fuller either take off running or pass to one of four additional receivers on the field.
In two plays in the set on Monday night, UCLA’s offense showed there are still some kinks to work out. Play one resulted in a false start, followed by a fumbled snap in play two.
“Today wasn’t that good,” Fuller said. “We had a fumbled snap and miscommunication with the offensive line, but just (repeating) it (is key). That was just my second time ever doing it, so we’ve just got to rep it and get better.”
Experimentation aside, the rising sophomore should see plenty of time as a slot receiver this season and hopes to work on fine-tuning some of the more nit-picky aspects of his receiving technique in the closing days of spring practice.
“I have decent speed and stuff like that, but it was the little things in my routes I had to change,” Fuller said. “I’m slowly learning. I don’t have them all down, but as the time comes, I’ll try to get it down.”
A perfect Fitts
Rising freshman defensive end Kylie Fitts has been sidelined recently with a sprained ankle and has been wearing a boot the past couple practices.
While the young lineman has missed time during a period designed to give him a head start, Mora feels Fitts is still getting something out of what could have been the final semester of his senior year of high school.
“I don’t know that it’ll hold him back that much,” Mora said. “He’s sitting in all the meetings, and he’s really smart. We’d certainly like him to be out here and I know he’d love to be out here, but he’s still getting a jump on things just by being here.”
Compiled by Andrew Erickson, Bruin Sports senior staff.