Alief Taylor OLB Joseph Ogunbanjo to Sign with Cal

In a commitment much anticipated, hoped for, and direly needed considering the month of January, Alief Taylor OLB Joseph Ogunbanjo announced that he will sign with Cal over Baylor and Utah this morning. At a signing announcement this morning, the Houston linebacker pledged with the Bears, giving him their 21st and likely final commitment in the 2018 class.

Ogunbanjo came for his Cal visit back on January 19th, and two things stood out. The first part was a goal that Justin Wilcox had laid out for him, that he could play, if not start, during the Bears first game against North Carolina in September. The second thing was that he wasn't taking other visits after his Cal visit. That goal had to play a big role in his commitment.

Ogunbanjo joins a linebacker class that should restock the Bears' depth at the position, joining Nick Alftin, JH Tevis, Louis Bickett, Colt Doughty, and Chris Fatilua at the spot.

Now with some thoughts, our Nam Le.

Nam's Thoughts:

This is the sixth – and final – member of the linebacker recruiting class. Long rumored but now official is the signature of one Joey Ogunbanjo, a 3-star prospect from Houston, Texas.

A 4.0 GPA student with 8 Power-5 offers – including Utah and both Arizona schools – Ogunbanjo tallied 18 TFL (12.5 sacks) and 4 forced fumbles this year, and will join an outside linebacker crew still preparing for life after Cameron Saffle.

He’s quite promising on the tape, which begins with a long, lanky frame that looks like it can fill to 230 quite nicely. On the field, Ogunbanjo’s most apparent trait is his general speed, which extends from sideline to sideline very consistently. Watch him run down player after player from yards away, and he looks like he’d be a good fit roaming around here in the blue and gold. He’s also pretty solid at changing direction, flipping his hips on the zone read, and otherwise chasing guys down for losses or creating pressure, evident from less than a minute in. His start – once he gets going – is really impressive.

There is often a worry with converted DEs that they may not be able to play with their hand off the dirt – that they may struggle in space, but this appears to not be the case with Ogunbanjo, who has some experience as an LB just on the tape, although not as much outside of pursuit and pass rush. The highlights of him in coverage are far fewer, but this staff can conceivably scheme him in early as a rush package guy while he comes around as a complete OLB. For that reason, it’s not farfetched to think he’ll be in the mix to play right away, behind that group of Alex Funches and Cameron Goode.