2020 UCLA Football Season Preview: Linebacker group will likely see less playing time after scheme change-up

UCLA football finally has a schedule for its 2020 season, so Sports editor Jack Perez and senior staff writer Sam Connon will be taking a look at the Bruins’ outlook at each position. From award favorites to comeback stories, Daily Bruin Sports will analyze each position’s depth chart and make predictions for how their seasons could unfold. Next up – linebackers.

Depth Chart

The Bruins lost the heart of their defense to the NFL.

Krys Barnes, who led UCLA linebackers with 74 tackles in 2019, graduated and signed with the Green Bay Packers. The Bruins also lost Josh Woods and Lokeni Toailoa, who combined with Barnes to account for 179 tackles and 10 sacks last season.

While it is a lot of production to make up for, UCLA will carry over a few guys who can start right away. Redshirt senior linebacker Leni Toailoa – Lokeni’s brother – and sophomore linebacker Carl Jones both played in a majority of games last year and should contribute immediately.

The two combined for 57 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks over the course of last season. This does not come close to the numbers of last year’s top linebackers, but more snaps for each player will help them raise their production.

Another player coming back into the fold is junior linebacker Bo Calvert. Deemed ineligible for most of last season, he will look to bounce back from a lost year in which he was only able to make one appearance.

Reinforcements are there for the next couple of years too, but many of the freshmen linebackers on the roster will not see significant time this year. Coach Chip Kelly currently has eight true freshmen and eight redshirt freshmen in his linebacker room, accounting for over 65% of the group.

Scheme Breakdown

Out of all the positions on the defense, the linebackers will probably see the biggest decrease in time because of coach Brian Norwood’s new formation.

Norwood is bringing his 4-2-5 scheme over from his time at Navy, and while the team has raved about the energy his formation brings, it will limit the playing time of the linebacker corps.

UCLA still has a base formation package according to Kelly, but the defense was 129th of 130 teams in the country in passing yards allowed per game. While this does not fall directly on the linebackers, a change needed to be made to try and mitigate the damage through the air.

The 4-2-5 will put an emphasis on stopping the pass by substituting a linebacker for a fifth defensive back. This should help limit passing yards, but it will be that much harder for the linebackers to get playing time on passing downs.

This means Leni Toailoa, Jones, Calvert and every other UCLA linebacker will have to make an impact on rushing plays and short-yardage situations the most in order to earn minutes.

Predictions

The transition will be rough at first.

Going from a system with a solid line of linebackers to one with just two means the Bruins should expect a lot of tight end catches or quick passes to take advantage of a lack of bodies in the middle.

Norwood’s system does work once given time though. In 2019, Navy was 38th in passing yards allowed per game. It was even better on the ground, ranking 10th in the nation in rushing yards per game – a category where UCLA finished 52nd.

Having Calvert back for a full season should also help in order to have one more experienced player out there, so Kelly does not have to rely on guys with little playing time.

Look for the team to still have a solid run defense and improve massively in the passing game, with the linebackers getting more comfortable as the season goes on and registering over half of the team’s total tackles and sacks.