WATCH: Chip Kelly praises UCLA transfer addition Jake Bobo
The UCLA Bruins added a big wide receiver in the NCAA Transfer Portal during the offseason in former Duke Blue Devils star Jake Bobo. As the Bruins gear up for Saturday’s spring game, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly heaped some serious praise on Bobo, recalling a telling conversation with his former head coach David Cutcliffe.
“Jake’s been outstanding,” Kelly said. “Really pushed himself to wide receiver one right now. I talked to David Cutcliffe extensively about him. When he said the statement to me that the three best practice players he’d ever coached were Payton Manning, Noah Fant, and Jake Bobo, we knew he was the type of kid we wanted.
“Led the ACC in catches, kid can make contested catches because he’s a strong, big, physical target. He’s smart, he’s intelligent. I know Dorian and all our quarterbacks are happy they can look out wide and see No. 9 out there.”
Bobo comes to UCLA after being one of the ACC’s top wide receivers last season
Bobo has been playing college football for four years, and the 2022 season will be his fifth. As a freshman at Duke, he played in ten games, bringing in ten receptions for 167 yards and a touchdown. He then caught ten passes for 122 yards in six games as a sophomore in 2019. Over the past two years, Bobo has turned into one of the ACC’s best wideouts.
In 2020, Bobo caught 32 passes for 358 yards and a touchdown in 11 games. This past season, he had 74 receptions for 794 yards and a touchdown in 12 games.
As Kelly said, Bobo’s value to UCLA has come far before any games have been played. He is very strong in practice, which is something that was attractive to Kelly when browsing the portal. Both of UCLA’s leading receivers in terms of receptions last year – Kyle Phillips and Greg Dulcich – are now in the 2022 NFL Draft. That opens up a big opportunity for Bobo to make a giant impact on the Bruins offense right out of the gate.