UCLA Football: Early Look at Bruins' 2015 Roster

The 2015 season will bring with it one considerable change for the UCLA Bruins roster: After two years of playing one of the younger rotations in the Pac-12, UCLA will be among the most veteran teams in college football.

"We're an extremely young football team," head coach Jim Mora said after the Bruins' regular-season finale against Stanford last month. "We are still developing." 

That development takes a crucial step with next year's lineup. 

Running back Paul Perkins, the first Bruin to lead the conference in rushing since Karim Abdul-Jabbar in 1995, was just a sophomore in 2014. 

Perkins will be back and could run at some more history as a junior. And he's just one prominent returner for the UCLA offense. 

Several key contributors to a receiving corps that produced 3,222 yards in 2014 have eligibility remaining, starting with leading target Jordan Payton. 

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Should Payton return for 2015, he'll head a unit that should be among the nation's very best considering it also returns Devin Fuller, Thomas Duarte, Eldridge Massington and Kenneth Walker.

Like the receiving corps, the Bruins offensive line in 2015 will look an awful lot like the 2014 version, just more experienced.

Jake Brendel is a redshirt junior, Simon Goines is a junior, Conor McDermott is a redshirt sophomore, Kenny Lacy is a redshirt freshman, and the trio of Alex Redmond, Caleb Benenoch and Scott Quessenberry are all sophomores with two years of starting experience. 

Redmond, Benenoch and Quessenberry are part of an important class to the UCLA football program's immediate future. 

They were among the 18 true freshmen who saw playing time in the Bruins' 10-win 2013 campaign and will be upperclassmen in 2015.

Linebacker Myles Jack is the star of that group, entering his third season starting at linebacker.

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Along with Jack, the linebackers return 2014 breakout performer Deon Hollins. Hollins became UCLA's most effective pass-rusher, filling the void left on the outside by first-round NFL draft pick Anthony Barr.

The Bruins have another huge gap to fill at linebacker next season, as they did replacing Barr this past campaign.

Eric Kendricks is on his way out after capping an outstanding career with the Butkus Award. Kenny Young figures to be the leading contender to take Kendricks' spot in 2015.

Young saw significant playing time as a true freshman, coming on particularly strong late in the campaign. He fits the mold of a player that Jack said can break into the rotation. 

"If you're one of those guys that feels like you can make a difference, Coach Mora has no problem playing freshmen," he said. 

Mora's willingness to play freshmen immediately means the cream of UCLA's 2015 recruiting crop will find prominent roles from the outset of next season.

Among that cast of newcomers who could vie for a spot is 5-star quarterback Josh Rosen. 

The celebrated prospect out of Southern California prep powerhouse St. John Bosco should be a top contender for the job redshirt junior Brett Hundley is likely to vacate. Asiantii Woulard will also figure prominently into the equation. 

The 2015 campaign will be Woulard's third in the program. He spent the last two working primarily as a scout-team player and came to UCLA with 4-star fanfare out of Winter Park, Florida. 

Along with Rosen, UCLA added another 5-star recruit to the 2015 class just last month: defensive end Keisean Lucier-South.

Lucier-South is another Southern California product and a potential immediate addition to a defensive line that is shaping up to be one of the conference's most talented.

The unit returns Kenny Clark and Eddie Vanderdoes next season as well as midseason addition Takkarist McKinley.   

McKinley progressed quickly in 2014 and could fill the void that senior standout Owamagbe Odighizuwa leaves. After all, as McKinley described himself in October, he is "a little Owa." 

The Bruins secondary will remain largely in tact. Junior Fabian Moreau and redshirt sophomore Ishmael Adams, UCLA's starting cornerbacks in 2014, should both be back.  

So, too, should a returning Randall Goforth. The Bruins lost Goforth early in the season, which opened an opportunity for freshman Jaleel Wadood to make an impact—which he did, making seven starts. 

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics courtesy of CFBstats.com. Recruiting rankings and information via 247Sports.