Welcome from BIG Ten Media Day! I had the opportunity to ask UCLA Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster, who he has his eye on to fill the production and leadership void of the Bruins’ decorated fearsome foursome from last season, namely, Kain Medrano, Femi Oladejo, Jay Toia, and Carson Schwesinger – all of whom were taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Here are the players that come to the top of the list in Foster’s response:
UCLA Bruins Head Coach DeShaun Foster Names 2025 Impact Players
JonJon Vaughns
The man who’s played in parts of the past five seasons in Westwood was emphatically the first name that came to Foster’s mind.
Vaughns has always shared his time and his heart with the baseball diamond as a terrific outfielder, but this is now the first offseason he’s dedicated to the gridiron. Expectations are sky high that he will exceed his 2022 production of 53 total tackles and two interceptions.
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The best version of Vaughns is a dual linebacker-safety threat that you can put all over the field, a la Derwin James, coupled with the leadership role of captaining the Bruins’ defense from the secondary, in the mold of Stephan Blaylock from a few seasons ago.Â
Gary Smith III
Smith, who missed all of the 2024 season with injury, is expected to play a pivotal role in replacing the dominant Jay Toia on the interior defensive line.
After two seasons at Duke, Smith had 39 total tackles and three sacks over the 2022 & 2023 seasons for the Mighty Bruins. DeShaun Foster is leaning on Smith, and his 6’2, 315-pound frame, to take that production drastically to the next level and fortify a UCLA defensive line that is perhaps the team’s biggest question mark heading into August 30th against the Utah Utes.
Keanu Williams
You can’t replace Toia with just one person – and Williams will need to serve as the twin tower side-by-side with Smith, anchoring both sides of the interior.
At 6’5 and 310 pounds, Williams has NFL size and, coupled with above-average athleticism, should be a prime candidate in drawing repeated double teams, thereby opening up disguised pressures in the Ikaika Malloe scheme.
With all the physical gifts any defensive line prospect could dream of, this is the season Williams will have to put it together and exponentially build on his career stats of 20 career tackles with 1.5 career sacks over parts of four seasons with UCLA. DeShaun Foster is certainly banking on it.
Isaiah Chisom
Chisom has perhaps the biggest shoes to fill – taking the reins from reigning Butkus Award and Burisworth Trophy semifinalist, Carson Schwesinger, and his ungodly 136 tackles, four sacks, and two interceptions from last season.
Fortunately for Chisom, he’s perhaps the Bruins’ most decorated incoming player (yes, including Nico Iamaleava) after a terrific season at Oregon State to the tune of 75 tackles and one forced fumble.
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At 6-feet, 218-pounds, Chisom has elite horizontal speed that will be paramount in establishing support for setting the edge defensively.
Kanye Clark
The one person DeShaun Foster was sure to mention in the secondary was Clark, who’s poised for a breakout season as a redshirt sophomore.
The 175-pound defensive back from Sacramento has all the tools to be a lockdown corner in the BIG Ten, given he was a three-sport star in high school with skills from each that are paramount to college football stardom.
He has the track star speed, the basketball player agility, and the football physicality to be the Bruins’ next great star. If he evolves into the player Foster believes he can be, the win ceiling on this 2025 campaign dramatically rises.Â
That’s all for now – LAFB Network has all the BIG Ten Media Day coverage throughout today, and let’s see what other pearls of wisdom Foster and company drop in the afternoon session.Â
Go Bruins!