Bear Essentials: Jake Curhan

Moving forward with the Bear Essentials series, taking a look at a new name on the offensive line, projected starting right tackle Jake Curhan

Previous Bear Essentials: P. Mekari | Goode | Robertson | T. Mekari | QB Spot | D. Brown | RB Spot | Looney

Of the projected starting linemen for the Bears, Curhan is the youngest, a redshirt freshman (who enrolled early in 2016) out of the football hotbed that is Redwood High School (producer of Pete Carroll, Robin Williams, and the guy writing this). Nonetheless, Curhan worked his way up a year ago, taking advice from the now-departed Steven Moore and Aaron Cochran and becoming more mobile at the tackle position.

Now, the 6'6" and 325 lb right tackle finds himself starting, not unexpectedly as he was getting second team reps to end 2016, but he's the least experienced lineman in a relatively inexperienced group. That being said, Curhan's improved physically over the last year and a half at Cal, something that you could see flashes of nearing the end of 2016 and something that's getting to be more consistent in 2017.

The video above is a bit limited in what it shows of Curhan, but at around the minute mark, you can see the development of his stance and balance. The drill is focused on controlled movement in pass protection, and Curhan has been working on not leaning in his technique and using his strike to create distance. It's exactly what he needs to do to help protect a first-time starter at QB, and Curhan fits the mold physically of what you want from a tackle.

In the run game, Curhan's been solid, as run blocking was something he excelled at coming out of high school, though technique is still a learning point with him. Working with offensive line coach Steve Greatwood certainly helps in that respect. Cal needs him to be effective quick to get the run game off the ground, and the physical tools are already there luckily. It'll be the coaching and the technique that'll help determine things, though Curhan noted to GoldenBearReport during the spring that he knows he has to prove himself.

“At the end of last year, I thought I would be in a position to be competing to run with the ones, because towards the end I was starting to run with the twos in practice, and I think last year, again everything is built on last year for me, just the year redshirting and getting to watch stuff, and I think that also just helped build my confidence. Running with the ones is, right now we’re low on tackles and you have that extra pressure to do well knowing that there aren’t that many of us and we’ve got to do the best we can. It’s the pressure of needing someone at that spot, plus running with the ones you boost yourself up, like ‘okay, I’ve got to be able to fill this spot’. It’s not panic, it’s the idea that the team needs me to be able to fill this position, so I’ve got to be confident and be able to do that and do the best I can.”