Week one of Cal Fall Camp has passed, and with it, all but one of the Bears' open practices for the month of August. There's a handful of things we've seen over the first eight days of practice, as the Bears return after a Sunday off, and here's some of the big things we've learned so far, in 3-2-1 Form.

Daltoso and Coleman with strong performances at Tackle, OLB Depth is There Opposite

In the aftermath of the 2020 season, predicting that Cal would roll toward the 2021 season with Valentino Daltoso and Ben Coleman as their right and left tackles would've not been the first or second guess. Daltoso claimed the right tackle position during the spring, and this fall is the best he has locked anywhere on the offensive line.

"He's really working hard at his trade," offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave noted. "He and Angus work on technique a lot, and you can see that Val is working on some different techniques in pass protection, different ways to skin the cat and being open minded to it."

At a listed 305 pounds, Daltoso is at his biggest, something he credits to strength coach Brian Johnson, with his approach toward injury prevention.

"I think, with coach B this offseason," Daltoso said, "there was a real emphasis on strength training, I'm bigger than I've ever been, I feel really healthy coming into this camp."

"He's so coachable, so bright," OL coach Angus McClure said, "and he has a super-high football IQ. He has a lot of experience playing different positions and he's been here for so long that he understands the OL tradition here at Cal."

With Daltoso getting his start playing multiple positions, he passed that trait onto Coleman, who was looking for a way to get on the field after moving over from defense. The third-year linemen has been impressive at left tackle, but has also played right tackle and center during camp after focusing on guard a year ago.

"He's a stud. He's a baller," Daltoso said. "His move to DL to OL, every fall camp or spring ball we've had since he's moved, he's improved at every step. He's always had that athleticism, but this fall camp coach asked him to play center, he hadn't taken a rep at center all of fall camp, went out and he killed it. He's playing left tackle, he's playing right tackle, and I think what's really cool is the willingness to do that, he's made himself invaluable to the offensive line, to fight for playing time across the offensive line."

"He's able to play multiple positions because of his athleticism," McClure added, "and it's because of his preparation. I can move him anywhere along the board."

For Coleman, it has been about a desire to get on the field. Now, he may be one of the Bears top offensive linemen, and his play may make Will Craig have to earn his spot back at left tackle.

"It's being comfortable with being uncomfortable," Coleman said of his approach. "Playing different positions, being versatile, I think I was trying to find a way to crash my way into this lineup, and I said I'll play any position they want me to do and I'll be able to master them in different ways. That's really helped me to make the jump."

The secret to Coleman's success at left tackle though has been familiarity. Despite coming in as a defensive linemen, Coleman played on offense in high school on the offensive line.

"I played all left tackle in high school," Coleman said, "so when I came in here and they said 'I didn't know you played left tackle,' but it was the only offensive line position I'd actually played. It wasn't more new than people thought it was."

One thing both tackles echoed was the strength of their competition on the edge. The outside linebacker room is deep, something which Daltoso and Coleman have seen firsthand.

"I was talking to Will (Craig) the other day," Daltoso noted, "right now you've got Marqez Bimage and Braxten Croteau as your twos. If they rolled out as the starting linebackers, you'd be like 'we've got some serious outside linebackers.' In one on ones, I'm going against Kuony, who's longer than anyone I've gone against. I'm going against Cam, who's one of the most explosive pass rushers in the conference, he has great technique, great arms, and he cuts the edge. That's where he makes his money, he's so flexible. Then you've got Marqez, a high-motor guy and moves like a flash, then you've got Braxten, setting the edge, moving the pocket. It's every different type of rush and every different type of guy you can want there. It can be frustrating going against that, but that's the kind of stuff that makes you better."

Coleman noted he does have a favorite of the OLBs to go against at this point.

"It's definitely Cam Goode," Coleman said, "we talk every day, as well as KD, just trying to make each other better. We know that's the kind of people we're going against, so every day is a competition."

A Clear QB Hierarchy

While there was the thought that there would be a bit more competition for the backup spot, Cal has a relatively clear rotation at the quarterback position. Chase Garbers is with the ones, Zach Johnson is with the twos, and Kai Millner and Robby Rowell have split reps with the third/fourth teams, with Millner taking a few more.

After a Saturday scrimmage where the quarterbacks didn't go downfield too much and were occasionally hindered by drops (Garbers notably had a deep ball to Monroe Young that was knocked out by Elijah Hicks, along with a wheel route to Collin Moore that hit the TE in the fingertips), but there is a need to continue getting more comfortable. Justin Wilcox noted that all three phases aren't where they need to be at this point, and the quarterback is a big one moving forward.

The Safety Depth is there

Thanks to an extra year of eligibility, Elijah Hicks is back at safety for the Bears, and Cal has developed some safety depth behind him and Daniel Scott. Even with Craig Woodson going down with an injury during Thursday's practice, there's a level of confidence in the first two groups of safeties. Ray Woodie in particular has been as physical a safety as Cal has had in some time, and his willingness to hit in run support has impressed Peter Sirmon.

"He’s got a good understanding," Sirmon said, "given that he was exposed to another program, he understands the serious nature of college football. He’s had a very workmanlike approach to it, he’s come down, he’s a good run player even out of the post, being a good finisher."

In addition, Miles Williams jumped into a role with the first team after Woodie went down and Scott wasn't participating in practice, as he continues his ascent from the spring.

"Miles Williams has really been flashing," Sirmon said, "I’m very encouraged with where he’s developed, he has become a more mature player for us, a more mature person. I think he has tools, he’s twitchy, he’s got length, he can be around the ball."

Behind those two, two younger safeties are in the development pipeline, as they may be in line for more playing time after Hicks and Scott graduate.

"Hunter Barth and Dejuan Butler," Sirmon said"both of those are young players who we need to feed and water, keep developing them, keep them in the weight room, keep them engaged. We need to keep up the culture and when we have reps on special teams, they need to be prepared."

What Does The Defensive Line Rotation Look Like?

In the aftermath of the Brett Johnson injury, Cal is looking at a relatively larger rotation. Luc Bequette and JH Tevis have experience, but they're looking for who can add something to the room.

"Stanley is making progress," Sirmon said, "making plays, big Rick (Correia), Darius Long, some of the younger interior guys, Akili, Derek Wilkins, it has been great to see those guys take steps toward maturation to what we're asking them to do."

The next step is limiting that rotation down, but there's one other piece that the Bears are using. They're running packages with four down linemen, and Ethan Saunders could play into that with the first team.

"Ethan showed a lot of flashes last year in practice and he’s working back," Sirmon said. "The medical staff is doing a good job of making sure in the weight room, on getting him returned to play. He’s a big athletic versatile player for us, and we’re being mindful of what’s best for him health-wise, pushing him as much as we can."

Putting it all together amid injuries

A handful of players have been out with minor injuries for parts of fall camp, including the likes of ILB Mo Iosefa, WR Jeremiah Hunter, WR Tommy Christakos, and LT Will Craig among others. With Blake Antzoulatos going down Saturday, Cal will need Iosefa back, with Hunter and Christakos providing more over-the-top threats and Craig solidifying the depth on the offensive line.

With the Bears not having their full compliment, especially at wideout, some of what they excelled at during the spring hasn't been apparent during the fall. With a need to be more explosive on offense, along with Iosefa and Craig being projected starters, there's still a bit of 'wait-and-see' on both sides of the ball thus far.

True Freshman TEs will contribute ahead of schedule

Both true freshmen tight ends, Jermaine Terry and Keleki Latu, should have a chance to contribute in 2021. Terry's size and willingness to learn early on has set him apart.

"As a bigger body, and he's a bigger body," TE coach Geep Chryst noted, "the days get pretty long and heavy in terms of the workload. He's a hard worker, and I think his best attribute is the ability to bounce back and improve from one day to the next. With Jermaine, we're not worried about where we are now, it's where we're going, he's got a lot of upside and a lot of potential."

Terry has mainly worked as an in-line tight end, something Chryst has said is a difficult transition for a high school player, but he also compared Terry's ability to a 6'9" high school basketball player who has physically dominated prior competition with size.

"I think Jermaine has had that type of physical ability," Chryst said, "but he's got to learn that he has to continue to move his feet and use leverage and momentum as much as sheer strength, because now that we're playing in college, they don't move quite as easily as they did in high school."

While Terry's a little more physically ready at 6'4" and 270 lbs, Latu will likely see use as a red-zone threat. The true freshman had a nice grap over Woodie in red-zone drills, and there's always room for a 6'6" player who can go up for jump balls. Chryst sees him as a compliment to Terry, with plenty of room to fill in his frame moving forward

"We see them as complimentary pieces," Chryst said, "they're not robbing each other's playing time. Keleki has learned the extended wide receiver things, which is what he did in high school, where he was more of a wide receiver that had been brought inside, but we still want to teach him the inline stuff."