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, we're looking at the special teams group.

The 2018 season saw a few changes from 2017. Steven Coutts assumed the starting punter job. Greg Thomas came from relative anonymity and potential not playing football anymore to earn the starting place kicker job. Alonso Vera and Ashtyn Davis kept their respective long snapper and kick return jobs, but Nikko Remigio took over the punt return job after Vic Wharton struggled early in the season, with a fumble against BYU being the impetus for change. Chris Landgrebe won the kickoff job away from Gabe Siemieniec, though both played

It resulted in a decent year for the Bears on the special teams side of the ball. Coutts put 37 of his punts inside the 20, helping flip field position for a team that needed all the help in that area that they could get. Coutts even won Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his performance against Colorado.

Thomas hit 12-17 field goal attempts with a long of 46. He did not miss inside of 30 yards, but was 8-13 from beyond that point. Landgrebe had touchbacks on just under 60 percent of his kickoffs, as the coverage team allowed 22 yards per return. For comparison, Davis averaged over 26 yards per return, with a return TD against Idaho State (first kickoff return TD since Trevor Davis at Washington State in 2014)

Remigio finished the year with 15 returns for 103 yards, including a near TD against Idaho State, as there were more opportunities for returns in 2018 (Vic Wharton had 9 punt returns in 2017, and increased his total to 11 in 2018). More depth at linebacker, tight end, and defensive back positions made for better return teams and coverage units for the Bears, who didn't allow a return TD in 2018.

Who's Leaving: Alonso Vera (LS), Vic Wharton

Wharton leaving is something we covered in the WR and TE review and preview, but Vera is a different case. He didn't miss a snap in his two years in the Cal program, and was good enough for Cal to spend a scholarship on in 2017. The longsnapper situation was not good before he arrived, as Vera stabilized it and didn't make a mistake at a position where one mistake can change the timbre of a game.

Who's Staying: Coutts, Thomas, Landgrebe, Siemieniec, Remigio, Davis, Dario Longhetto, Slater Zellers, Daniel Etter

Cal will return their starting punter, place kicker, kickoff specialist, and both return men. Zellers, the top long snapper in the country in the class of 2018, will assume the long-snapper mantle. Longhetto will back up Coutts, and Etter is likely to back up Zellers

Who's Coming In (Walk-ons): K Christopher Abbes III, LS JJ Lindsay

Two preferred walk-ons from the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel, Abbes comes from De La Salle, Lindsay comes from Las Lomas in Walnut Creek. While there's no signing process for PWOs, so this could change, both should be in Berkeley for the summer.

Projected Starters: Coutts (P), Thomas (PK), Landgrebe (KO), Remigio (PR), Davis (KR), Zellers (LS)

This is a relatively stable group going into 2019, though Coutts, Thomas and Davis will all be in their final year in the program. Zellers was brought in to be a four year guy, and that process starts this spring. Remigio showed flashes in 2018, but also took a few too many hits. He'll have time to improve on his performance in the spring as well.

Spring Storyline: Kicking Competition Part Two, Electric Boogaloo

The starting kicker job went for a while last fall, and while Thomas earned it, competition is an ever present theme for this group, and Thomas did miss a number of makeable kicks in 2018. It'll be up to Landgrebe and Siemieniec to push him, as Landgrebe was the last big competitor for the job last fall.