30 college football players with big shoes to fill in 2017

26

Rick Wade

Defensive Lineman, UCLA

For the UCLA Bruins, they would like to forget the 2016 college football season. The Bruins came into the year with such high expectations, as some publications had them reaching the College Football Playoff. Sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen was coming off a huge freshman campaign, and it looked like they would run right through a seemingly weak Pac-12 Conference.

The Bruins struggled from the get-go, and Rosen found himself on the shelf for most of the season due to a shoulder injury. One shining spot for the team was Takkarist McKinley, who battled shoulder injuries of his own, but still showed enough to be considered a first-round talent in the 2017 NFL Draft. They will need to replace his production along the defensive line, and Rick Wade should be able to pick up the slack.

Wade is a 6-foot-6 defensive lineman who was rated as the No. 6 defensive end in the west by Scout.com during his time in high school. He was a four-star recruit of the Bruins, who was an absolute beast on special teams last season. He will move into a bigger role on the defense in 2017, and the team fully expects him to be able to attack the quarterback the same way McKinley did during his time with the Bruins.

The redshirt sophomore is very versatile, and should be able to play on the edge, as well as in the middle. The Bruins struggled to a 4-8 record last season, but with a healthy Rosen back in the fold in 2017, they should be able to challenge in a very tough Pac-12 South Division. It will be very important to the success of the Bruins this season to get after the likes of Sam Darnold of USC, and Jake Browning of Washington, both of whom may  be up for the Heisman Trophy by year’s end.