The aftermath of 2018 is felt in the Cal tight end room.

"The transition was super quick," redshirt sophomore Gavin Reinwald noted, "right after the bowl game we got into it, from ten tight ends to four."

That said, it isn't the smallest TE group that TE coach Marques Tuiasosopo has had to work with during a spring practice session.

"I've had two through a spring ball before," Tuiasosopo said, having coached tight ends at USC and Washington in the past, "this is fun, you can give some reps to everybody and not wear them down. Good group of guys, they're all hungry, they're young. There's some guys like Collin Moore, who moved over from quarterback, he's ready to get in the mix, Gavin coming off the redshirt last year, we're fired up."

Reinwald was the beneficiary of a redshirt year in 2018, using the time to bulk up as the Bears had six seniors at the tight end spot. Now, after coming into the Cal program at 215, he looks the part of a tight end at 240 lbs.

"Obviously at first it was tough to hear, that I was going to redshirt," Reinwald noted, after playing in 2017 as a true freshman, "but at the end of the day it was my best choice, my best opportunity. I gained 20 pounds in the offseason, which was really good. I just focused on lifting four times a week, 6 AM every day. It’s a struggle and it’s a process."

It's worked for Reinwald in the early portion of spring ball, as Tuiasosopo noted that the past two days have strong practices for him. His blocking in particular has taken a step forward.

"He's being put in a lot more true tight end situations than he was two years ago, coming in as a true freshman," offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin noted, "and he was a wide receiver doing tight end stuff. Now he's a tight end, and he's doing a great job of handling that, effecting not only things in the pass game, but in the run game as well."

The focus of these first few practices has been on installing certain sets, and despite the low numbers, the 12 personnel package has made plenty of appearances, as Baldwin's looking to utilize two solid pass catchers in Reinwald and McCallan Castles.

"The theme of our team is being versatile, being able to play different things," Castles said about the tight end group, "because usually we’re not the biggest or most widely recruited athletes, but I think we’re really versatile, that could something that could be really dangerous. The way we use (that versatility) on defense right now, we can translate that to offense too, it’s going to be a great combination."

With the Bears going into year three of running with a tight end again, the group has shifted more toward that versatility in size. Reinwald's the shortest of the group at 6'3". Moore is 6'4". Jake Tonges and McCallan Castles are both 6'5" and 230 lbs. They'll add a 6'4", 225 lb Elijah Mojarro to the group in the fall. That size and ability to move lends itself to special teams, an area where Tonges (with 85 special teams reps in 2018) saw the field the most.

"We set, as a goal for the tight end room," Reinwald said, "to try and start on two special teams, get as many reps as we can."

That's something to look for as camp continues. Castles did not participate in Wednesday's practice, but was a standout throughout the first week for his pass catching ability. Reinwald is using his size more effectively as a C gap blocker. Tonges and Moore are getting valuable reps behind those two, with Tonges showing soft hands in 1 on 1 drills against the safeties. They're a group that can be a tonesetter for a Cal offense that needs it.