UCLA Bruins: 5 Players to Watch in 2026
By Owain Jones
The UCLA Bruins should be excited for the 2026 college football season. Bob Chesney has been hired as a proven program builder, hungry to deliver success.
And the only way is up. UCLA won three games last season, but the record only tells part of the story. The Bruins lacked consistency on both sides of the ball and never established a clear identity under DeShaun Foster with one of the conference’s toughest schedules.
However, Chesney arrives with a rocketing reputation. His success at James Madison was built on discipline, player development, and getting the most from the transfer portal.
Meanwhile, the 2026 schedule has been much kinder and allows UCLA to make progress quickly, with bowl eligibility being the expectation rather than the ambition.
These five players will tell us whether UCLA is moving in the right direction.
UCLA brought Nico Iamaleava home because he is a game-changer.
The former five-star recruit has never lacked talent. Arm strength, mobility, and the ability to create outside structure have been obvious since he was one of the country’s top recruits. What he was missing in 2025 was the offseason preparation and the consistency that separates exciting quarterbacks from winning ones.
The circumstances didn’t help last season. UCLA averaged only 18.2 points per game (126th in the FBS) while asking Iamaleava to operate behind a limited offensive line against one of the toughest schedules in the country. Too often he was trying to rescue drives rather than run an offense.
But that should change under Chesney.
His offenses have always been balanced, efficient, and designed to put the quarterback in favourable situations rather than asking him to create miracles every Saturday.
Everything UCLA wants to achieve this season starts with Iamaleava becoming comfortable, and he now has the time and the playmakers to take the next step.
Wayne Knight was the engine room for Chesney’s offense at JMU in 2025.
The star running back ranked seventh nationally in 2025, rushing for 1,373 yards, adding another 397 receiving yards, and finishing with a school-record 2,039 all-purpose yards. Whether it was inside zone, screens, or special teams, James Madison found ways to get the ball into his hands because he consistently changed games.
That versatility, chain-moving consistency, and dynamic playmaking will change the way UCLA functions offensively.
The Bruins averaged fewer than four yards per carry in 2025, forcing Iamaleava into too many obvious passing situations. Knight should ease that burden while giving Chesney a player who already understands the tempo, terminology, and expectations of his offense.
Brian Rowe Jr. is one of the more interesting additions on UCLA’s roster because he projects as an exciting playmaker who showed during the spring exactly why he was sought after in the transfer portal.
Nineteen receptions as a true freshman at South Carolina won’t grab many headlines, but UCLA isn’t recruiting the stat line. It’s recruiting the traits that allowed Rowe to get on the field so early, believing a different role and a different offense can unlock considerably more.
That makes 2026 an important season for both player and program.
The Bruins need more explosiveness around Iamaleava, while Chesney needs to show his staff can identify young transfer talent before everyone else does. If Rowe develops into a dependable target, he’ll be one of the first genuine building blocks of UCLA’s new era.
Sahir West arrives at UCLA as a proven disruptor and producer.
Chesney watched him develop into the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year at James Madison, recording 14 tackles for loss and seven sacks during one of the country’s best freshman defensive campaigns. There is very little projection involved here because the coaching staff already knows exactly what type of player it is getting.
That familiarity matters because UCLA struggled to consistently affect opposing quarterbacks last season.
Whereas West has already shown he can win one-on-one, create negative plays, and finish drives behind the line of scrimmage. Those are traits that translate regardless of conference, and they should allow the Bruins to become far more disruptive without constantly relying on pressure packages.
Sammy Omosigho, LB
Sammy Omosigho could quietly become one of UCLA’s most important additions, and the defense has been built around the incoming Oklahoma transfer.
The former Sooners linebacker played every game last season, finishing fifth on the team with 50 tackles despite working within a rotation. More importantly, he arrives having played in Brent Venables’ defense, where communication, discipline, and understanding your assignment are non-negotiable.
Those qualities will become invaluable for a renewed defense, learning new systems, and integrating multiple transfers.
Omosigho may never lead UCLA in sacks or interceptions, but if the Bruins become a more organised, fundamentally sound defense in 2026, don’t underestimate the influence of an experienced linebacker who has already played at the highest level.
OWAIN JONES
COLLEGE FOOTBALL & NFL DRAFT ANALYST
OWAIN jones COVERS EVERYTHING college football & NFL DRAFT. COMING WITH PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE, OWAIN was PREVIOUSLY a writer for pfsn and WAS THE NFL DRAFT EDITOR AT NINETY-NINE YARDS WHERE HE CREATED DRAFT TALK. YOU CAN FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @OwainJonesCFB