DeShaun Foster shares where Jalen Berger stands in adjustment to UCLA
Jalen Berger will be at UCLA eventually as head coach DeShaun Foster estimated about a week before their running back is practicing.
Berger committed to UCLA out of the transfer portal in late-July following stints at Michigan State and Wisconsin. Going into his fifth season, this could be the reset Berger needs and Foster is certainly excited.
But the head coach didn’t want to put a timetable on Berger’s readiness.
“I think maybe about a week and a half or so,” Foster said. “I don’t really want to put dates on him because … he’s doing a great job. He’s strong and I just want to see him just get really back to it … I don’t want him to get in shape with practice. I truly want him to be ‘back.’”
Berger spent two seasons in both East Lansing and Madison, entering his fifth year of college football. In just five games last year, the running back accumulated 93 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. An injury kept him off the field and then a coaching change occurred, leading to a second portal entrance.
The 2022 season was where Berger showed he was capable of being a school’s lead back. Michigan State handed him the ball 148 times, more than double anybody else on the roster. Berger went for 683 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
As a member of the Class of 2020, Berger was a four-star recruit out of Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 3 overall prospect in the state, the No. 18 running back in the class and the No. 142 overall prospect in the class.
“Then we’re just excited to add depth with another player that’s been in the Big Ten,” Foster said of Berger at Big Ten Media Days. “He’s been at two other schools, and we’re just excited to have Jalen in our program and get him up to speed once he gets into training camp.”
UCLA averaged 197.9 rushing yards per game last season, the 16th-most in the country and most in the Pac-12. The Bruins boasted four backs in their rotation averaging at least 5.1 yards per carry. Now, in his first season as head coach, Foster will continue to put an emphasis on UCLA’s ground game, and that’ll include Berger at some point.
“We run the ball really well,” Foster said. “Coach [Chip] Kelly did a really good job of running the ball. I was excited about that. I want to make sure we don’t lose that.”