How Did These UCLA Transfers Perform in 2024? Part 7

The 2025 college football season is looming which means UCLA Bruins fans will finally get their first look at some of the Bruins' incoming transfers from the offseason.

DeShaun Foster went to work in the transfer portal in his first full offseason as Westwood's head coach and lured 29 transfers to cultivate the 20th-ranked transfer class in the nation on 247Sports' transfer ranking board.

In this new UCLA Bruins on SI series, we're going to dive into each transfer and how they did last season, including a few evaluations from national college football analysts.

In part seven, we take a look at three integral additions to UCLA's depth chart -- Julian Armella, Aaron Williams and Scooter Jackson.

Julian Armella, Redshirt Junior TR IOL, Florida State Seminoles

Armella is a former four-star talent out of Florida. It didn't take long for the Bruins to acquire the former Seminole; he announced his transfer commitment quickly after visiting Westwood. Armella is projected to start for UCLA at right guard.

"UCLA continues to add bodies in the Transfer Portal, and whether Armella lands at tackle or guard, he's coming in at a position of need. The important thing to understand here is that Armella is not an absolute, day-one, surefire starter, so the Bruins probably still need to really hone in on a couple of starter-level players on the offensive line. What Armella adds, really, is more depth as well as a player with the potential to compete to start if everything goes well for him. Right now, UCLA really lacks P4 talent on the offensive line, especially at guard." -- Bruin Report Online Staff

Aaron Williams, Redshirt Freshman TR CB, Louisville Cardinals

Williams comes to Westwood with the chance to compete for some serious playing time. He was a four-star, 92-rated recruit out of high school and was deemed an elite prospect during the process. Hopefully, he can recapture some of that spark with UCLA.

"UCLA taking Williams is, to be candid, taking a flyer. He was a much-heralded cornerback recruit out of high school but then was set back by the injury and, after two years at Louisville, couldn't make a dent in the Cardinal cornerback depth chart.  UCLA has quite a few spots open for 2025 -- so scholarships aplenty.  It can gamble a few on guys the coaching staff has had a relationship with who are returning home to SoCal and want to resurrect their career -- or in this case, establish it." -- Bruin Report Online Staff

Scooter Jackson, Junior TR CB, Utah Tech Trailblazers

Jackson was a three-star, 83-rated high school prospect who increased his rating as a transfer (now a 85 rating). Last season with Utah Tech, he had a 72.7 PFF defensive rating with 37 tackles and one interception in 10 games for the Trailblazers.

"UCLA continues to rebuild in the secondary, and the Bruins have basically replaced every departed body at this point. Whether this group ends up better than last year's will largely depend on the safety group, but at this point, we're inclined to take this cornerback depth chart over what UCLA had last year, particularly if Kanye Clark returns from injury prior to the season. UCLA has some intriguing upside at corner now (guys like Robert Stafford and Aaron Williams), as well as players who have performed already in college programs (Andre Jordan, and now Jackson). Combine that with the guys we liked among the younger crew from last year's recruiting cycle and the cornerback group has the potential to be one of UCLA’s best and deepest positions next season." -- Bruin Report Online Staff