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Early Enrollee Spotlight: Jaedon Roberts

Cal went cross-country to bring Avon Old Farms lineman Jaedon Roberts back home. Roberts, whose hometown is listed as Sausalito, started his high school career at St. Ignatius in San Francisco before heading to the Connecticut private school, where he played his final three years of high school football.

Roberts was quietly one of the biggest gets of the 2020 class for the Bears, as they beat out 10 other Power 5 offers for him, including some heavy hitters in Michigan, Nebraska and Oregon. He's joining the Bears this spring, listed as an athlete on their roster, but likely to start out on defense come March 4th.

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Jaedon Roberts

Hometown: Sausalito, CA
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 280 lbs.
Class: Freshman
Rivals Rating: A three-star (5.6) defensive tackle, ranked as the 8th best player in Connecticut and the 51st best player at his position.

High School Highlights

Roberts was a part of three Erickson Football League champion teams while at Avon Old Farms, playing both ways for two out of the three years that he was at the Connecticut school.

Roberts played only on the offensive line as a senior, after two years on defense that saw him pile up 35 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles. As a senior, Roberts was also named the most valuable player of the Erickson League, in addition to being on the Class A All-New England team.

They Said It

Jaedon brings versatility, size and power to the table. He’s a great looking prospect who has experience on both sides of the ball. He has strong local ties and we maintained a relationship with him while he attended Avon Old Farms. Jaedon has tremendous upside and it will be exciting to watch him ascend.
— Justin Wilcox on Jaedon Roberts

What To Expect

Roberts should be one of the more interesting pieces from the 2020 class, considering his versatility and potential on both sides of the ball. He's likely to start out on defense, considering the built up depth that Cal has on the offensive line at the moment (with the return of Will Craig and Gentle Williams from injury and Matt Cindric and McKade Mettauer playing the entire year).

Defensively, Roberts projects in a similar role to Luc Bequette, someone who can play a 4i (inside shoulder of the tackle), then play either a 3 or a 1 technique (outside and inside shoulder of the guard). He's not quite the size for a nose guard, but could fill that role a la Brett Johnson. Early on, he should be in that Bequette/left end role as a run stopper with his run stopping ability.

If he does end up on offense, Roberts could add depth at the guard position, which was stretched thin a year ago, as Cindric, Mettauer, and Erick Nisich all started due to injury. The same things that make Roberts a solid run stopper make him a potentially solid guard, mobility, balance, and leverage. He moves real well at 280 lbs and has the requisite nastiness to excel on offense if he's put in that position.

For now, with two sixth year seniors to learn from on defense, Roberts should have time to develop on the defensive side of the ball early on.

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