Pre-Fall Camp 2018 Superlatives

With the summer months being generally devoid of content, we here at Cal Rivals do admit we sometimes have to get creative [*] to give you something worth of reading in the morning, especially in between recruits and previews.

[* - shamelessly repurpose and put our own spin on another idea we saw]

Today, we have a little something from Matt Miller to help stir #discussion, #intrigue, and #engagement – Trace and I will use Miller’s framework in order to make educated guesses and otherwise call our shots for Cal Bears who fit these categories.

Will we make a game out of it involving the readers? Possibly. I don’t know. That’s above my paygrade.

Anyway, let’s get into it:

Breakout Guy

Nam – This year, I was going to go with one Taariq Johnson, another Receipt Guy I’ve been waiting to cash in, but it sounds like he’s left the team for undisclosed reasons, and we’re as of yet unclear on when he might be returning.

(Editor's note: he's still listed in the student directory)

Screw it, I’m going Evan Weaver. Now with another year under his belt playing multiple linebacker spots, this should be the year he gets to play consistently, since Downs and Davison have both graduated. His ceiling is among the very highest at this position group besides maybe only Cam Goode.

Trace - I'm making a point of not picking the same people as Nam, but I will say that I agree with his assessment on Weaver.

That said, my breakout guy is the other name Nam mentioned above in Cam Goode. He played nine games last year, being out with an injury over the final three. He's a breakout guy because he's going to be counted on to produce better numbers in 2018. While he did have one of the most memorable moments of 2017 for the Bears, in returning a Shea Patterson interception for a game sealing touchdown, there's lots of potential for the redshirt sophomore. Tim DeRuyter called him the most consistent player in the front seven during the spring, which seems meaningful. Goode is listed at 225 lbs now, which is ideal size for the Sam linebacker spot.

Comeback Kid

Nam – There are two real choices here, and whichever one I write about, Trace will undoubtedly respond with the other, so I select Ray Hudson. After multiple hurdles, including a heartbreaker last year when he was all ready for prime playing time, the 6th year senior is finally going to see the field at the position that best takes advantage of his skill set.

The value of a true three down tight end like Hudson cannot be understated – or re-stated enough – for a multiple offense such as Baldwin’s, and as a result, he’s my pick, especially when the other guys at this position are either not quite ready or not less likely candidates for production compared to Hudson. There’s some projecting going on here, but also enough to feel good about making this pick.

Trace - It took me a little while to figure out who Nam was talking about other than Ray, but it eventually came to me.

Zeandae Johnson had the best spring of 2017 on the team before tearing up his knee, and he looks to be back going into Fall Camp. He's a long bodied defensive end, who was looking explosive from the right end spot the last time we saw him play. He's someone who can get off of blocks and help stop runs before they begin. One of the Bears' weaknesses a year ago was against zone schemes, where it''s easier for blockers to get into your body on double team blocks. Johnson's block shedding ability should help the Bears in that regard.

Rising Star

Nam – Judge Cam Bynum not for his rough end of the season against an NFL-bound redshirt junior, and remember him as the lengthy cover man we loved throughout the year, the winner of the team’s Most Valuable Freshman award, who even flashed onto Pro Football Focus’ team of the week a couple of times for his cover ability. I’m betting – loudly – that he makes All Pac-12, because I honestly feel like he’s the best candidate to do so at DB since I started writing (end of Tedford era).

Trace - Bynum would be my pick as well, but I've got to pick someone else.

Let's go unconventional and say Jake Curhan. The third greatest Redwood Giant (besides myself and Robin Williams, slightly ahead of Pete Carroll) is back at right tackle for the Bears, with the ability to play on the left side, a shift I could see happening at some point this year.

Curhan's made gains faster than just about anybody on the offensive line, transitioning from a true freshman year where he hadn't quite gotten it to a redshirt freshman year where he played every game, progressing to a redshirt sophomore year where he's a mentor to the new big guys in Jasper Friis, Brandon Mello, and Miles Owens. Continuity on the offensive line is huge, and Curhan still has a lot of football ahead of him.

Don’t Forget About

Patrick Mekari, simply by the unappreciated and misunderstood nature of the position he plays. Without the benefit of All-22 film and hours of study on top of existing expertise, it’s extremely hard for the average fan to have great insight into the offensive line. Even stuff tracking pass pressure numbers – a doable endeavor for dedicated fans willing to rewind or watch cut-ups – tells only part of the story for linemen performance. Still, with what we’re able to know ourselves, most Cal fans would agree that Mekari is as valuable as he is versatile up front.

But you know what else is telling? The actual voting media and coaches, who named Mekari to the All Pac-12 Honorable mention in 2017, and then to the Outland Trophy Watchlist, honors that no other Cal big man received. We should talk about him more, relative to his production and skill, which is a lot of what don’t forget about means to me. So this is me. Doing that.

Trace - Jaylinn Hawkins is someone I mentioned on Monday as being the most underrated player on Cal's defense, just because he has some of the best knowledge of the backend of the defense. The Weber State game was the sole game he missed last year, and the Bears got ripped apart by the deep ball. Hawkins stands out in that regard as someone who has the speed to keep up in coverage, along with the size and want to go into the box and make a tackle.

Needs to Rebound

Nam – I’m not sure how fair it is to say Ross Bowers, but there was no better place to put him, so this is where he ended up. After an up and down (and up, and down) year, the consensus about him among Bears fans seems to have solidified around “fine”, which is fair. Bowers showed in 2017 that he could be the kind of QB that keeps a team decent, but if Cal is going to have any chance of going better than 7-5 this year, a significant amount of it will fall on his shoulders. We’ve talked at length about the myriad of ways he can show improvement: throwing the deep ball, using his legs more proactively, avoiding turnovers, and general consistency to make sure the offense doesn’t 5 and out several possessions in a row. If he does bounce back from that kind of a year – a decent one as it was – then you can start getting close to finishing third in the Pac-12, or win some games you shouldn’t.

Trace - I'm breaking my rule here, can't really put anyone in here aside from Bowers. He's admitted how much the turnovers weigh on him from a year ago, but Beau Baldwin has said Ross is solid at putting things out of his mind during the game. Ross has to be better, and while it helps that he has a few more weapons to make use of at tight end, he has to improve the decision making end. Usually the biggest jump for a QB comes from year one to year two as a starter (See Goff, Jared), especially when you're playing in the same system, so bigger things are expected from the front-flipping quarterback (he also needs to land the flip next time)

Dark Horse

Nam – The Taariq Johnson situation following the Demetris Robertson situation has made things incredibly dire at wide receiver, in a sense making all non Vic Wharton, non Kanawai Noa candidates dark horses. You take your pick, since I have the entire position here. They’ll all probably get to play in some fashion – freshmen included, now that they can appear in up to four games before being ineligible for redshirt.

Trace - Jordan Duncan, if only because he's had two great springs in a row. Duncan's now the pick to start alongside Wharton and Noa when the Bears start in a three wide set. There's going to be some experimenting with the group, but Bowers has said that he's done the most off-season work with Duncan, making him one of the targets he's counting on.

Under the Radar

Nam - Kanawai Noa. Demetris Robertson is not walking through that door, and much handwringing has been made around Vic Wharton’s status. (In case you missed it, Trace checked and the team said Wharton’s still good for the fall.) Fine. But who is never mentioned is ‘Wai, a damn good, uber-acrobatic, tough RAC receiver on his own. Will he be enough to singlehandedly carry a pass offense? Probably not. But he deserves more mention in the discussion of Cal recievers, and he’ll produce, period. Sounds under the radar to me.

Trace - Luc Bequette returns after starting 12 games a year ago, and is the sole returning starter on the defensive line (that started over half Cal's games last year, Chris Palmer started the final three of 2017 at nose). The Little Rock native has come a long way from being considered a tweener, then grabbing a starting role and holding on to it. Bequette looked more explosive in the spring, and again he's being counted on to be a more productive player. You aren't going to hear about him unless he outplays all statistical expectations, but his ability to occupy multiple blockers is much needed to set up Jordan Kunaszyk and the other linebackers for easy plays .