Golden Bear Roster Rundown: No. 8 Kuony Deng
This is a continuing series running down Cal's football roster for the 2020 season.
Cal Career
(pronounced coin dang)
Kuony Deng came into the Cal program during bowl practices in the leadup to the Cheez-It Bowl in December of 2018. The Independence CC transfer enrolled in school in order to do so, soaking up information from Peter Sirmon and Jordan Kunaszyk during the brief period where he was able.
That led to Deng assuming Kunaszyk's role on defense, with the Aldie, Virginia native playing as the counterpoint to Evan Weaver in the Cal defense in 2019. Coming in at 6'6" and 225 lbs, Deng's size made him an interesting fit for the inside linebacker position, but Justin Wilcox noted that Deng's length would help narrow passing lanes for opposing quarterbacks.
Deng continued a tradition of successful junior college linebackers in Berkeley, making 119 tackles in his first season with the Bears, with 7.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 8 pass breakups, 20 QB pressures (per Pro Football Focus) and a fumble recovery. His best performance came against Oregon, with 12 total tackles and a fumble recovery.
With 937 snaps on defense and 168 snaps on special teams, Deng ended up playing the most reps out of any Cal player in 2019, earning the Andy Smith Award for most playing time. Deng also was named an honorable mention all Pac-12 player by Pac-12 coaches.
2020 Expectations
Now listed at 6'6" and 250 lbs, Deng has some of the heft to help with some of his struggles from 2019, namely finishing tackles at the point of attack. Deng's length in the middle is still something the Bears' like, and he's an effective pass rusher when given the opportunity.
Deng now has both the leadership mantle and the mantle of making the plays that Evan Weaver did before. Deng didn't practice over the four practices that the Bears' got back in March, but he should be healed up from the upper body issues that kept him out.
Deng, like Weaver and Kunaszyk before him, made the Lott IMPACT Trophy watchlist and has been named a second team preseason all Pac-12 player by Athlon Sports and Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group.
Recruiting Flashback
Deng, from Independence Community College of 'Last Chance U' fame, chose Cal over offers from LSU, Texas A&M, and UCLA among others. Deng visited the Bears during what would have been the weekend of the Big Game, which was postponed due to smoke from the Camp fires in Northern California, and chose the Bears not long after that.
Deng started his college career at the Virginia Military Academy, playing both football and basketball before deciding to focus on football. He transferred to Independence, where he made a brief appearance on the 'Last Chance U' series on Netflix.
Deng finished as the 14th ranked junior college player in the country, the top rated outside linebacker, and one of two four stars for the Bears in the class (along with defensive lineman Brett Johnson)