UCLA’s Randall Goforth makes the shift from safety to cornerback

The shuffling in the UCLA secondary has brought Randall Goforth home.

A little massaging on the back end was needed when cornerback Fabian Moreau was lost for the season with a broken foot. Goforth, a safety, shifted to cornerback against Arizona on Saturday.

“I was a cornerback before I was a safety, back in my Long Beach Poly days,” said Goforth, a junior. “It’s kind of going back to my roots.”

Goforth remains one of the vital players on a defense that has lost three veterans, with defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes (knee) and linebacker Myles Jack (knee) also out. He is involved with getting the defense lined up each play.

His move to cornerback will not affect that. But there are subtle differences to his job now.

“You just see the field differently,” Goforth said. “I’m just guarding my side now.”

The coverage techniques are more or less the same, but, he said, “You have different reads in the middle of the field compared to being on the island.”

Goforth’s move created a need for safeties. Receivers Mossi Johnson and Jordan Lasley were shifted to defense last week. Johnson saw some time at safety in the Arizona game.

“Mossi is a natural athlete,” Goforth said. “We can put him at safety, cornerback, running back, receiver. Safety is big for us right now. We need him back there.”