Preview of the 2024 UCLA football positions: Defensive Line

A new era for UCLA football in the Big Ten is approaching. Daily Bruin Sports will preview each of the Bruins' position groups before the season officially starts. Daily Bruin contributor Matthew Niiya continues the series with a look at the defensive line.

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It's the next man's turn.

With the departures, UCLA's defensive line has become a barren landscape ripe for the development of new talent.

The year 2023 witnessed a major turnaround for the Bruins defensive unit, which rose to 92nd among FBS teams in scoring defense the year before and moved up to 14th.

Former defensive lineman Laiatu Latu – winner of the 2023 Lombardi Award – led the team with 13 sacks last season and anchored the defense in the front lines. Later selected with the No. 15 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Latu led a defensive front that wreaked havoc in opponents' backfields and ranked seventh nationally in sacks per game.

Gabriel, Grayson Murphy and Carl Jones Jr. also made it to the pro league. The trio recorded eight, five and two sacks respectively in their final season with the Bruins.

In response to the departure of four key players, UCLA brought in five new faces through the transfer portal.

Redshirt seniors Drew Tuazama, Cherif Seye and Luke Schuermann, redshirt junior Jacob Busic and redshirt freshman Collins Acheampong – a former four-star recruit – will all get a chance to carve out a role for themselves.

UCLA's returnees are also expected to include redshirt senior Sitiveni Havili Kaufusi and redshirt juniors Keanu Williams and Devin Aupiu in the offensive rotation.

Although the Bruins' pass rush is largely shrouded in mystery, their interior defensive line is characterized by more continuity.

Redshirt senior Gary Smith III and senior Jay Toia will serve as the primary run-stuffer in the middle. The duo combined for 51 tackles in 2023 and will provide experienced leadership along the line.

Toia – who briefly entered the transfer portal before returning to UCLA – is positioned as the new cornerstone of the defensive line after starting 12 games for the second straight season. The Inglewood, Calif., native posted career-highs in solo tackles and tackles for loss during his junior season, but he's primed for an even bigger role given the revamped defensive line.

In addition to the losses on the field, there are also changes on the sidelines.

Former defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn was hired for the same position at USC after a year in Westwood. UCLA opted for an internal appointment and named Ikaika Malloe as his successor.

The former defensive line coach immediately added Oregon assistant Tony Washington Jr. to his staff to take over the reins of the front four.

Predictions

There is little doubt that UCLA's defense will not be as productive as its 2023 counterpart. After ranking 7th in the nation in sacks per game, too much talent has left Westwood for UCLA to continue to be a top-10 team in sacks.

While the quartet of Latu, Jones Jr. and the Murphy twins are physically replaceable, their skill and experience is irreplaceable at the Power 5 level. Seye, Schuermann and Busic all previously played at smaller programs – Schuermann hails from Division III Johns Hopkins – while Tuazama and Acheampong played minimally last season.

Acheampong and Busic – an honorable mention in the 2022 All-American Athletic Conference – have compelling arguments to start on the outside, but the position battle is not yet decided.

Numerous departures in the secondary will also put pressure on the defensive ends to generate a consistent pass rush, while the interior linemen will be tasked with slowing down the opponent's running game.

New faces everywhere could mean a step back for UCLA's defensive line from a strong 2023 season.

Send Niiya an email at [email protected] or tweet @MatthewNiiyaDB.