Everything you ever wanted to know about Cal Football

[GoldenBears]

Sup guys - I'm bored and have a few days before school starts so I figured I'd post about Cal's team this year. I've got a bunch of buddies on the team, and I went to the Spring Game as well as a few practices last week and the scrimmage yesterday... some thoughts:

QBs: I really don’t think that Nate Longshore is quite as good as the critics say. He’s a great guy, he’s a poised and confident leader and he is a good college quarterback and will be extremely successful this year, but people suggesting that he’s the best QB in the Pac-10 or that he’s a top pro prospect are off base. He has absolutely zero mobility, cannot throw on the run and doesn’t really laser the ball like A-rod could… he does alright because he is so tall, but in drills with rollouts he struggles.

On the other hand, he looks a lot more comfortable in scrimmage situations, and he’s getting better at reading defenses, which seemed to be his problem in the past. He really went through an awful funk last year through Arizona, USC and Stanford and I was begging for him to get yanked, but then he blew everyone away against A&M. Hopefully he’ll be more consistant this year.

The backup QB battle is probably the most compelling in camp. Riley has looked better all spring and summer, and Kyle Reed looked awful in practice last week throwing horrible picks and missing some easy passes, but Reed was absolutely brilliant in the scrimmage yesterday. He is very mobile, scrambled away from the rush on numerous occasions, delivered pinpoint passes, had one great scramble and touch pass to the back of the endzone and really looked poised and confident. Apparently, he still hasn’t mastered the playbook. Kevin Riley showed mobility as well and at times has looked like the best quarterback on the team. I’d give the nod to Riley for backup, but if Kyle Reed can continue to play the way he did in the scrimmage, he’ll be hard to keep out.

Also, Brock Mansion appears well on his way to becoming the QB of the future – he just LOOKS like a quarterback and directs the team like he’s been there before. Brian Van Meter is still really solid, and I hope he gets to travel this year.


WRs: DeSean Jackson is ridiculous. Everyone knows how fast he is and how great his moves are, but his hands are like glue. Hawk and RJ are just so solid it’s absurd – all three of them are going to play in the league, and I really don’t see how anyone can argue against Cal having the best WR’s in the nation this year. LC has looked really good at times, causing me to declare that he would for sure be a pro, but he has disappeared at times too. He definitely has the talent to take over games, and is more than adequate at WR… I feel like he’s more of a gamer than a practice player. The underclassmen WR’s didn’t look very impressive, so after this year there might be some falloff. Hopefully we can pull in some new recruits this fall.


RBs: In a word: stacked. All the buzz is about how USC is overloaded with young talent, but Cal is pretty much the same. Justin has been looking so solid, and showed how good he could be last year. He will be one of the best primary backs in the Pac-10… probably second only to Jonathan Stewart at Oregon.

What’s surprised me is just how good the four freshmen are. James Montgomery is TOUGH and runs a lot like Justin. Shane Vereen has been getting a ton of reps, and he is really solid and tough as well.

But the gem of the bunch is state 100 meter champion (10.36) Jahvid Best. Holy crap… this guy exploded every time he touched the ball – he’s faster than DeSean, and while he is a little too skinny and needs to be put on weight, it’s going to be impossible to keep this kid off the field. He looked good covering punts, running the ball and catching swing passes. His moves are ridiculous too, the crowd was oohing and ahhing every time he touched it, because he was snapping ankles left and right. This guy will get burn, and he will be a difference maker. I cannot wait to see him in a couple of years.

Every time that I’ve asked people on the team about the freshmen, the first guy they mention is Best… he’s got a really bright future.

OL: Looks very, very solid. Tepper and Mack are absolute monsters, and every time the 1’s were on the field they pushed people around. It’s kind of hard to say how good they are, since lines can only be judged relative to DLs but for what it’s worth, they are way better than our DL at this point. Nate’s going to need protection, and he will get it.

At tight end, Craig Stevens is solid. He’s good good hands and he’s probably the best blocking tight end in the country – I know for a fact that he has the best weightlifting #s and he’ll be a day 1 pick.


DL: Not so hot. The weakest link of our team last year, and while people say they’ve improved, I am not so sure. We’ve got a few good individual players, but as a unit they just haven’t gelled yet.

Linebackers: Best unit on the team, and that’s saying something considering how good our WR’s are. Some of the defensive guys were telling me that one of the reasons uneducated eyes like mine think that our DL is so bad is that the way our defense is designed is for the DL to eat up space and blockers and let the backers make all the plays… if that’s true then it definitely works. These guys are all over the field and they are MEAN. Pac-10 has some pretty awesome linebackers this year, it’s going to be fun to watch.

Secondary: hard to judge, since our WR’s are so good. Thomas DeCoud is the best athlete on the team, and he will play on Sundays without question – the guy is an absolute specimen. Syd looks really solid, and he will be a reliable cover guy, but the second and third corners are still up for grabs. I think the unit will be average overall, which hopefully will be good enough.



Special Teams: are special. I’ve said it before, Cal has the best special teams in the country and it’s no debate. Tom Schneider was PERFECT under 40 last year and PERFECT on extra points and was 7/15 from deep and hit one from 55. You already know about DJ the best punt returner in the country, but what you might not know is that our punt team is among the nation’s best. Andrew Larson and the long snapper Nick Sundberg are already pros and they are so solid. We are going to net 40 yards a punt this year. Also, we have this freshman punter who looks good too, and Jordan Kay the backup kicker is extremely solid and gets a lot of practice work. We don’t really have a backup long snapper though, and it has showed in practices and scrimmages when Sundberg doesn’t snap.

Kickoffs are going to be a much bigger deal this year, and Tom is looking great. He put every single kick 2 yards deep into the endzone, and our cover team is solid. Return is going to be good too, I hope they put Jahvid back there and let him show what he can do.


Coaching: the offense looks a lot better in Tedford’s hands than it did with that spread junk last year that just didn’t work with Nate. We are still going to use a lot of shotgun and quick passes, but we’ll go back to running the ball, pounding it strong side and letting Craig Stevens mash people.

The thing that people don’t know about Cal is that they are PHYSICAL. People assume that Pac-10 teams are about finesse and passing, but Cal (and for that matter, USC, Oregon State and UCLA) is going to hit you in the mouth and try to dominate you.

Last year, the team was really embarrassed when they got outmsucled by Tennessee, and they showed their true stuff when they literally and figuratively beat the living snot out of A&M. (Anyone remember Stepehen McGee talking trash to Daymeon Hughes and they getting erased off the face of a planet by Bishop a few plays later?)



Predictions: Cal beats Tennessee, but loses 1 or 2 Pac-10 games because the conference is just way too deep this year. @ UCLA, @ Oregon, @ UW and even ASU are going to be really, really tough. We play USC for the conference title, and I really feel like this is the year that we get them. They aren’t as good on offense, we’ve got the athletes to match it, Tedford has ALWAYS given USC problems, and we’ve got them at home.