Cal Football Countdown: Fall Camp Defensive Line Preview

If this looks somewhat familiar, it’s because it is. It’s almost exactly the same depth chart that we projected back in the spring, which is in this case, a really, really good thing. Continuity is the theme of the Cal defense this year. (Well, that and obsession, which Trace tells me is their t-shirt of the season.)

Your starters up front look like they’ll be Bequette, Johnson, and Siu, the first two of whom are returning starters. Bequette has been incredibly steady and occasionally outstanding from an often underappreciated 3-4 end position, and Johnson should finally be fully healthy enough to show why he was a camp darling back in 2017.

The real key is going to be that third guy, Siu, who only had a handful of snaps over 11 games last year. If he and Maldonado can play about as well as Palmer did last year, the odds are quite good that Cal will match, if not exceed the performance of the 2018 defense, simply because it means Evan Weaver will remain unhindered by opposing jerseys, and free to wreck shop. That’s all he really has to do. Eat space, occupy blockers, and be really hard to move. Everything else you get out of the nose tackle position is a bonus.

The good news about that: Siu has tremendous potential simply because he’s so much newer to football than everyone else, and he’s put on 15 pounds this offseason to get up to 320. Keep a close eye on him throughout the camp reports. Maldonado will also rotate in for snaps, but we’ve listed him as behind Siu for the moment.

Lone Toailoa was mentioned as someone who might potentially play nose in certain packages too.

Wrote in the spring that this is a big offseason for Gabe Cherry, and I’m still standing by it as we get into fall. He’s got more competition for that back-up end spot on the 2-deep now -- Braxten Croteau arrived as an early enrollee, and the position room became even more crowded with the newly bulked up JH Tevis, who is converting from linebacker.

As far as Ben Coleman goes, we are not quite sure what to project out of him at the moment. The true freshman from Temecula was deeply impressive in his junior film and is a fantastic interview, but he is also still recovering from an ACL injury that cost him his senior year. Normally that would make it a safe assumption that he redshirts, but Coleman weighed in for fall camp at the kind of number that just makes you wonder…315 is big enough to see time, if he’s healthy enough.

Trace's note: Don't count out Erick Nisich at the nose position, as the redshirt freshman walk-on played a ton in spring ball, and while he's not the massive, big body that's usually coveted at nose, he's still big and plays with great leverage, owing to his amateur wrestling background.

I was also impressed at what Tevis added during the spring, as he's always been more comfortable as a down lineman. He's bulked up to 265 (came into Cal at 225), so he's physically ready for the role down the road.