Chip Kelly goes in depth on what makes J.Michael Sturdivant a 'special' addition to WR room

UCLA coach Chip Kelly believes transfer receiver J.Michael Sturdivant brings a skillset that the Bruins have yet to see in his five seasons in Los Angeles. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Sturdivant transferred from California this offseason and figures to step right up in a UCLA receivers room looking to replace its top two options from this past season.

So far Sturdivant has separated himself this spring due to not only his size, but also his speed. Kelly called him one of the “fastest guys” on the team and explained why that blend of physical tools makes him so unique.

“He’s a special player,” the coach said. “The one thing I don’t think you guys get to see that we’ve seen since January is just his work ethic. His approach to everything. He’s really serious about football and he’s really serious about daily improvement.

“He’s got a really unique skillset for a guy that tall and long to run that fast. He’s right up there with the fastest guys we’ve got on this team. He’s run 22-23 miles an hour. Right on the edge of 23. I think he can go 23, but we backed him off when we were testing because he’d already run as many high speed yards as we had. If he ran again, maybe he would have got to 23 but we don’t need to do that right now. But he can really go.”

Coming out of Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, Sturdivant was a four-star prospect. He ranked as the No. 121 overall player and No. 20 receiver in the 2021 class according to the On3 Industry Rating, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Sturdivant played just four games mostly on special teams as a true freshman at Cal but had a breakout season in 2022. He led the Golden Bears in receptions with 65, turning that into 755 yards and seven touchdowns to earn first team Freshman All-American honors from the Football Writers Association of America.

“He tracks the ball very, very well,” Kelly continued. “He’s physical. He’s everything you want in a receiver. I don’t think we’ve had that speed on the perimeter in a while. Then to add the length to it, he’s a unique combination and we’re really, really excited about how he’ll fit in to what we’re doing.”

UCLA’s offense was among the best in the country last season, ranking fourth with 503.6 yards per game and eighth with 39.2 points per game. However, the Bruins lose quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and running back Zach Charbonnet in addition to their top two pass catchers.

Five-star freshman Dante Moore is the frontrunner to replace Thompson-Robinson under center, but Ethan Garbers and Collin Schlee are also in the mix. But no matter who ends up with the starting job, Chip Kelly is confident they can develop chemistry to J.Michael Sturdivant and keep the offense humming in 2023.

“All of those quarterbacks can make the throws that are necessary to get the ball the J-Mike,” he said. “We’ve had some guys with speed, don’t get me wrong. Kam (Brown) can fly. (Kazmeir Allen) can fly. We just haven’t been around somebody that tall and long that runs that fast. We’ve had some other guys that can run that fast, but they’re not as tall and long as him. That’s the unique combination that I think he brings.”