Cal reports for fall camp today, with the first practice set for Friday morning. With that, we put out the call for questions about the Bears heading into the next 30 days prior to the Bears taking on Nevada on September 4th in this edition of the Golden Bear Mailbag.

Who is the most likely to see fullback reps?

Cal did bring in two walk-on fullbacks in Mater Dei's Champion Johnson and converted lineman/former De La Salle standout Beaux Tagaloa, but Cal may look elsewhere for 'fullback' type reps, mainly in the tight end room. It appears that the Bears may want to use more 12 personnel moving toward the 2021 season, with the feeling that there's a number of tight ends who can make the offense more effective.

In that vein, Gavin Reinwald and Elijah Mojarro have been the most frequently mentioned 'H-back' types, but there are a number of tight ends who could fill that role, if not the full back position.

Does Garbers look like he has a real command of the Musgrave offense?

In the brief period we saw him live during spring ball, he looked more comfortable moving around the pocket and pushing the ball to those intermediate areas that he struggled with during the 2020 season. He's had more time during the offseason and he was confident during Pac-12 Media Day.

That doesn't tell us much in the grand scheme of things. If media is allowed in for open practices, there will be a focus on what kind of throws Garbers is making, how much they go beyond the relatively vanilla playbook they had in 2020, and how well his receivers respond.

In your mind, biggest breakout stars of 2021? (Defining this as players who were not contributors in 2020)

I'll pick four guys on this front:

WR Jeremiah Hunter - Hurt right before the season a year ago, and there's reason to believe that Hunter has a complete skill set that should allow him to be effective in his second year in the program. Hunter has been excellent in practice situations in making contested catches, and he's been seen as a good run after catch guy since his high school days.

OL Ben Coleman - Coleman played a role as a multi-positional offensive lineman in 2020, but has the size and ability to move people around that the Bears need more of on the interior. It's possible Coleman forces his way into the lineup even more with his play.

NG Stanley McKenzie - I have been beating the drum on McKenzie for a while now, and he would have played last year were it not for a couple Covid and injury related setbacks. A load a 340, with enough mobility for playing defensive tackle when the Bears go to nickel packages, McKenzie has a strong punch and should be in the running to start on the defensive line.

S Craig Woodson - Woodson played a bit last year, including blocking a punt in the UCLA game, but he could end up with an expanded role in the defensive backfield. Woodson was one of the most talked about players in the wake of bowl practices in 2019, and he's likely the next to take over for Daniel Scott and Elijah Hicks at the safety position.

Camp questions about kicker and kickoffs. Would Christakos really do kickoffs?

Christakos did do kickoffs for two games in 2020, but focused on the wideout position in the spring, having a productive 15 sessions back in February and March. It's still a possibility for the second year wideout to take the kickoff job, considering it gives the Bears another tackler on coverage units. It remains to be seen at this point.

(Combining the first two questions into one)

1. The OL and DL have some pieces to figure out this fall. The offensive line has to replace Mike Saffell in the middle, while figuring out which young players will earn more reps, along with creating competition at right tackle with Valentino Daltoso. The defensive line will have to figure out who among the young group is ready right now to step into a bigger role. On offense, Brian Driscoll is well positioned to take over at center, while Coleman could be in for a bigger role, along with Brayden Rohme after all three guys held their own.

On the defensive line, Ethan Saunders, Stanley McKenzie and Ricky Correia have been the main names mentioned to help fill the loss of Brett Johnson for the year, but a returning Aaron Maldonado and junior college addition Darius Long could be in that mix as well with Luc Bequette, Stanley McKenzie and JH Tevis.

2. Dario Longhetto is the front-runner to retain his position, though the Bears did bring in competition in Princeton transfer Nico Ramos, along with returner Nick Lopez.

3. Absolutely not. That's some heavily guarded information.

First game against Nevada, a quality G5 opponent. It's always hard to tell whether an offense is going to be effective or not. You can look for 'earned plays' in practice, but it's not always easy to tell in a practice setting.

A. At this point, Zach Johnson has the proverbial high ground in that battle, but expect Ryan Glover, Kai Millner, and Robby Rowell to continue to compete for that spot.

B. Bimage is slotted at the outside linebacker position. I see them as relatively interchangeable, though Cal runs field and boundary OLBs (long side of the field vs. short side of the field). Bimage would likely fit more as a boundary type guy, where the Bears like to put their bigger OLBs.

C. Considering that the University of California system put out a vaccine mandate in order to be on campus starting August 4th, Cal is very close to fully vaccinated. They're at least at 90%, likely above 95% as well.