New UCLA pass rusher makes The Athletic's Bruce Feldman's 'freaks list'
· Yahoo Sports
Who’s the freakiest player on the UCLA Bruins’ football team? According to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and his College Football Freaks List, it’s James Madison transfer Sahir West. Feldman ranks the players based on their freakish athleticism, with South Carolina wideout Nyck Harbor topping his 2026 list.
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West has yet to play a snap as a UCLA Bruin but expectations are very high after West won the Freshman of the Year award for the Sun Belt Conference. West was a key contributor for a Dukes’ team that reached the College Football Playoffs, as he put up seven sacks and 14 tackles for losses in 14 games.
Feldman has West as the No. 34 “freak” in the country, and there’s plenty of reasons to believe that his best football is still ahead of him. After appearing in two games in 2024 during his redshirt season, West broke out in a major way under Bob Chesney at JMU.
“Argubly the most talented of the JMU transfers Bob Chesney brought with him to Westwood, the junior (whom Chesney had originally recruited to Holy Cross when he was head coach there) had a dominant season in 2025, earning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors,” Feldman wrote. “The 6-3 281-pound West ran a hand-timed 4.78 40 this offseason and also squatted 600 pounds.”
The combination of size, speed and strength is what lands West on Feldman’s list. UCLA has been under-manned in the trenches over their first two seasons in the Big Ten Conference, the addition of West will help the Bruins in that department.
West was one of two Bruins to make Feldman’s freak list, being joined by his quarterback, with Nico Iamaleava coming in at No. 67.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: New UCLA pass rusher makes The Athletic's Bruce Feldman's 'freaks list'