Cal Football Review and Preview: Offensive Line

In the wake of Cal's 7-6 season in 2018, we're taking a look at every position group, looking at how they're stocked for the future, how they performed for the season, and the expectation level for each group. Today, it's the offensive line.

The offensive line group heading into 2018 may have been a victim of raised expectations, as it wasn't necessarily a bad year for them, but it wasn't up to the level that many were either hoping or expecting.. They allowed fewer sacks per game, fewer tackles for loss, had over a half yard increase in yards per carry and had multiple players grading among the highest in the conference as pass blockers, per PFF. Patrick Mekari ended up 2nd in the conference among tackles in pass blocking grade, not allowing a sack on 397 pass blocking attempts. Mike Saffell, only playing in six games due to injury, didn't allow a sack in 265 pass blocking reps either.

Those two were the best two offensive lineman via PFF this year, and neither played the entire season. Steve Greatwood's unit did what it had to do, putting guys in different positions like they experimented with in the spring. It wasn't perfect, but it was serviceable, as both Ryan Gibson and Gentle Williams got some of their most extended action.

Saffell's injury opened the door for Will Craig to get some playing time at his future position, left tackle, as Valentino Daltoso shifted to RG and Mekari shifted to LG. His performance varied from excellent to reminding everyone that he's a freshman. Most memorably, he played the final drive of the Washington game, as Cal sealed a win over the final 4:51 of gametime with a grinding drive.

Three Cal offensive lineman started every game for the Bears, in Daltoso, Jake Curhan, and Addison Ooms. Daltoso, played four different line positions on the year, getting starts at left guard and left tackle. Ooms started the final 37 games of his Cal career in moving from being a walk-on, to a scholarship guy, to be regarded as the most knowledgeable player on offense. And Curhan, who did have his fair share of struggles in pass protection (allowing 21 total QB pressures), got another year of experience under his belt, as he has the potential to develop into a solid drive blocker over his final two years at Cal.

The biggest improvement from 2017 to 2018 for this group was that there wasn't one game where they got swamped like they did against Washington and Oregon the year prior. Yes, there were times where the offense struggled due to turnovers and stagnancy, but that's not on the offensive line to a certain extent.

Who's Leaving: Patrick Mekari, Addison Ooms, Kam Bennett, Semisi Uluave, Ryan Gibson

The Bears lose both Mekari and Ooms, two longtime starters, plus Bennett, who moved to more of a utility role in 2018 after starting through 2017, and Uluave, who came to Cal as a four star but never made the leap into the starting lineup.

Gibson announced via Twitter that he's leaving football for other pursuits.

Who's Staying: Valentino Daltoso, Jake Curhan, Gentle Williams, Will Craig, PJ Poutasi, Mike Saffell, Matt Cindric, Brandon Mello, Jasper Friis, Miles Owens

Cal has a solid returning contingent, with only one senior among this group (Gibson). Steve Greatwood was high on Matt Cindric's potential at center moving forward among the group. Plenty of experience here now, with more big bodies than when Greatwood came in. Friis and Owens are still developing their games, as they were the most raw coming in. Mello's worked on improving his pass sets, as Clayton Valley didn't pass a lot during Mello's time at the Concord school.

In all, the Bears return four guys with starting experience, and a solid amount of athletic potential going forward. Craig could be the starter at left tackle for the next three years, a boon for this group

Who's Coming In: Brayden Rohme, McKade Mettauer, Brian Driscoll

A good group of guys with solid potential at the next level, with all three being very mobile. Both Rohme and Driscoll played in high school systems that forced them to be mobile in run blocking, and all three have a mean streak necessary for the offensive line. All three also played left tackle, though with Mettauer and Driscoll, that likely won't be their final position at Cal. Lot of run blocking potential for this group, something that Cal can use moving forward.

Projected Starters: Will Craig (LT), Valentino Daltoso (LG), Mike Saffell,(C), Gentle Williams (RG), Jake Curhan (RT)

Saffell can play either center or guard, and Williams acquitted himself in the final three games of 2018. This is also assuming that Craig makes the leap to fulltime starter, or at least to the point where Greatwood trusts him full-time. Daltoso can play just about anywhere, and Curhan's got a lock on the RT job for the foreseeable future.

Spring Storylines

There's plenty of different things to look for on the line this spring:

- Development of the four redshirt freshman

- Who plays center most after three years of Ooms having a stranglehold on the position

- How healthy will Mike Saffell be (he should be back close to 100%, but the Cal staff has been known to not rush in these situations)

- General development of the group in pushing around a talented defense in practice.