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UCLA football alumni compete on winning team in Senior Bowl in prep for draft

After rushing for 668 yards and five touchdowns in UCLA football’s 2020 season, running back Demetric Felton scored a touchdown in the Senior Bowl on Saturday. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)

By Sam Connon

Feb. 2, 2021 4:45 p.m.

NFL teams had one shot to look at prospects in person prior to April’s draft, and two Bruins made sure to bring home hardware and national praise with all eyes on them.

Running back Demetric Felton and defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa – UCLA football’s only two departing seniors – took part in the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl over the past week. The event lasted six days and culminated in a full game between draft hopefuls Saturday in Mobile, Alabama.

Felton and Odighizuwa were on the winning side, as the National Team held on late to beat the American Team 27-24 and each managed to put up highlights of their own.

After practicing and running drills as a wide receiver for most of the week, Felton scored the game’s opening touchdown by hauling in a short pass from Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger and running it in from 13 yards out.

Odighizuwa was the first of the two to make an impact play, however, as he slipped past Alabama’s potential first-round left guard Deonte Brown on the opening drive of the game and picked up a strip sack on Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond, who wound up winning Senior Bowl MVP.

The Senior Bowl game itself was broadcast nationally on NFL Network and drummed up conversation all over Twitter on Saturday, but that was just the curtain call for the pair of Bruins.

Felton earned National Team Wide Receiver of the Week honors before Saturday’s game after impressing opposing defensive backs, and he was also one of Pro Football Focus’ top NFL Draft risers by the end of the week. The running back/receiver hybrid also logged the third-fastest top speed of any wideout at the event, maxing out at 19.61 mph.

Lining up outside the numbers isn’t anything new for Felton, considering he played his first three years of college ball as a receiver before making the move to the backfield ahead of his redshirt junior season. Felton ranked second in the country in receiving yards among running backs since 2019 with 753, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see him beat top-ranked corners in his route trees over the course of the week.

Odighizuwa’s performance drew a lot of attention as well, with Pro Football Focus giving him a higher grade than any other defensive player at the Senior Bowl. The offensive linemen he faced in drills also voted Odighizuwa the National Team Defensive Lineman of the Week.

(Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
(Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)

The Bruins’ 2019 tackles for loss leader beat interior linemen all week long, whether it was on run plays or designed dropbacks, and he led both teams in quarterback pressures during Saturday’s game.

Following their Senior Bowl performances, Felton and Odighizuwa are both slotted to be mid-round picks, the same area former UCLA players and 2020 Senior Bowl participants Joshua Kelley and Darnay Holmes were taken in last year’s NFL Draft. Holmes was picked 110th overall, and Kelley went two picks later at No. 112.

But while Holmes and Kelley had the benefit of appearing at the NFL Scouting Combine last February, the league has changed the format of the event because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Instead of a full week of in-person analysis, coaching and one-on-one interviews, there won’t be any activities in Indianapolis this winter.

Felton and Odighizuwa may get the chance to perform for teams again should UCLA host a pro day, but there have yet to be any details on how or when one could occur in Westwood.

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Sam Connon | Alumnus
Connon joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2017 and contributed until he graduated in 2021. He was the Sports editor for the 2019-2020 academic year, an assistant Sports editor for the 2018-2019 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country, men's golf and women's golf beats, while also contributing movie reviews for Arts & Entertainment.
Connon joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2017 and contributed until he graduated in 2021. He was the Sports editor for the 2019-2020 academic year, an assistant Sports editor for the 2018-2019 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country, men's golf and women's golf beats, while also contributing movie reviews for Arts & Entertainment.
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