On Jasper Friis Adjusting, Jake Curhan Becoming a Veteran and More

Going into 2017, the offensive line group may have been the biggest hole on the Cal roster. There were all of 10 scholarship guys, with 16 combined starts among them. They struggled mightily early, but closed out the year as one of the most improved units, leading Patrick Laird to a 1000 yard season and keeping Ross Bowers upright more often.

That said, there was still a focus from Steve Greatwood to bring in more length on the recruiting trail. For an offensive lineman, more length roughly translated to more leverage, which can help to drive guys in the run game, and keep pass rushers away in pass sets. In 2017, Jake Curhan was the only lineman at 6'6" or taller. In the fall, he'll be one of four, with Miles Owens and Brandon Mello getting on campus, but right now, the Bears have Jasper Friis on campus and ready to roll in spring ball alongside Curhan.

The biggest point about Friis when he was offered was that he had only played a season of organized football in the United States, moving from Germany to have a chance to play football at the collegiate level. It's a concern Greatwood had early on as well.

"When you look at his measurables," Greatwood noted, "his size, wingspan, all those type of things, that's going to draw your attention. I was a bit skeptical, he's only played really a year of organized football (at the time) and all that. You know, I studied the film, and he played hard, he played aggressive. Was it perfect and technical all the time? No, but I guess that's what I get paid for. Then when (Friis) came up on an unofficial visit last winter, got him in the meeting room and just talked football, he really showed that he had an aptitude for it. I know a lot of people may think you're rolling the dice on a kid like that, but he's got all the things in his makeup. He's got the football aptitude, he's got the want to. I just think the sky is going to be the limit for him."

Working in Friis's favor there is having the experience around him already, something the other newcomers on the offensive line will benefit from. Specifically, Curhan has a similar body type to Friis, and like former Cal LT Aaron Cochran served as a mentor for him due to their size, Curhan is doing the same for Friis.

"I did the whole thing where I came in early," Curhan said, "it's hard, and Jasper's definitely picked up more than I had quicker, in terms of football knowledge. He does a really good job on paper, I've been telling him it's a little harder when you get on the field, which it totally is. On paper, he knows just about everything he needs to know at this point. I think O-line is one of the most developmental positions in football, from high school to college to the next level, learning all these different technique things and trying to help him out because he's a pretty similar body type to me, it's just trying to help him get control and feel the little things in your body that I know help you do things technically right."

The technique is the biggest thing for Friis, as Curhan worked with him during individual drills last Monday, working on hand placement and the like, but Curhan's been helping all semester so far.

"It's more technique and how things work," Friis noted about his adjustment to the college level, "I think Jake helped me a lot with getting the plays in, so that's what I have to work on. Jake, the first couple of weeks, we watched a lot of film together from last season, and he showed me other plays, other calls that the linemen use and how they work."

As Greatwood looks to use Friis at one of the tackle spots in the future, as one of his pitches to the 2018 OL class was that he wanted four of the five commits to start by their second season, Friis is getting used to the faster pace around him.

"The transition, it's faster than high school," Friis said, "so I have to learn fast and adapt fast to fix my mistakes fast. It's something I'm getting used to."

With the journey that he's already made to make it to Berkeley, Greatwood noted that he's going to continue to excel.

"That's the whole reason he did the exchange program," Greatwood said, "because he wanted to try to compete in America and hone his skills here, and he didn't back away from it. You've got to respect that out of a young man."

Onto Curhan, who's only a redshirt sophomore, but he's become another big presence on the line, as one of only two linemen (along with Addison Ooms), to start every game at one position in 2017. He looked about as lithe as a 6'6", 327 lb OL can look in last Monday's open practice.

"It's similar to the weight I was playing at last year," Curhan said, "but I feel better at that weight."

The physical development, combined with the confidence of being one of the most consistent linemen over the last year, has allowed Curhan to become what Greatwood describes as 'a guy.'

"It's always fun to see these kids change their opinions of themselves, so to speak," Greatwood said, "this time last year, Jake was an unproven redshirt freshman who had missed time with an injury. Now he's a veteran, and he's carried himself as a veteran through this entire offseason, now he looks totally different than he did a year ago at this time, just the way his body has matured. I've seen it so many times, a young man gets into a role of 'hey, I'm a starter, I'm a guy now, and I'm going to do everything in my power to show everyone that I'm a guy,' and Jake's done that."

With that, Curhan has the ability to play not only right tackle, but he's taken early reps at left tackle as the Bears look to find the best combination of linemen. Year two of starting is going to be a lot easier than year one though.

"All-around, just in terms of knowledge and recognition, just building on a year of it has been really helpful," Curhan said. "At this time last year we were learning how to do things and see things the way coach wanted us to, and (now) we're already installing things that it took us halfway through spring ball to get installed."

Right now, Curhan looks ready to be one of the bookends of the line, no matter which side, as the Bears looks to progress on the line in year two.