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Bear Essentials: Tony Mekari

Continuing our Bear Essentials series, marking some of Cal's most important pieces for a successful year, this time featuring the projected nose guard starter and elder Mekari brother, Tony Mekari.

Previous Bear Essentials: P. Mekari | Goode | Robertson

Much like his younger brother, the elder Mekari is going to have to play up for the Bears to have success in 2017. As the newly minted nose in Cal's move to a 3-4, Mekari becomes a focal point of the defense, one that needs to hold up linemen to give the middle linebackers the opportunity to clean plays up.

How He Got Here:

Back in January of 2013, Mekari flipped his commitment from Arizona to Cal, signing with the Bears a month later.

Mekari redshirted as a true freshman, but has been a fixture on the defensive line ever since.

Achievements:

Mekari has played in 36 out of the 37 games the Bears have played over the past three seasons, starting 21 (10 in 2016). He has career totals of 66 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss (-24 yards), 2.0 sacks (-13 yards), one pass breakup, one pass defended and five quarterback hurries.

Mekari also was the Cal representative on the Pac-12 All-Academic first team a year ago.

Now:

Mekari spent the spring playing both the nose guard spot, and sliding over to one of the defensive tackle spots when the Bears switched to their 4-2-5 nickel package. He's also able to play at one of the defensive end spots, though with Zeandae Johnson emerging as a starter that's less needed at the moment.

Why He's Important:

The nose guard spot in the 3-4 is, in my opinion, one of the most difficult to transition to from a 4-3 defense. The nose has to eat up blockers, occupy space, make it easier for inside linebackers to make plays in the box, something the Bears had trouble with a year ago. It didn't initially look like Mekari would be a fit for the spot, but his name was the first out of defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter's mouth as far as who would be manning the spot early on.

Mekari has improved since the end of last season, bulking up to 295 while maintaining speed, as the guy he went up against throughout spring practice, Addison Ooms, back in March.

"Tony's super fast now," Ooms said during spring camp, "it's incredible how much better that dude has gotten. You know, he's hard to go up against.... Going against Tony, he forces you to constantly be on your A-game, because he's strong, and he may be big, but Tony can move. So you constantly have to be on top of your game. "

That improvement did show up during the spring, as on multiple occasions linebackers were freed up to make plays in the backfield, quicker than in previous years. While the defensive line may not have the kind of depth currently that people would like to see, between Mekari and the projected starter next to him, James Looney, there's plenty of experience up front.

How much Mekari's improvement shows will be a point of contention in the opener against North Carolina on September 2nd, as the Tar Heels may be breaking in a new center for the experienced Mekari to go after.

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