3/18/2021 football Edit

Pro Day in the Rain for Bynum, Curhan and Johnson

Trace Travers • GoldenBearReport

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Publisher of GoldenBearReport.com (Cal Rivals)

Like it seems to be every year, there was rain in Memorial Stadium for Pro Day. That didn't stop Cal's three seniors heading to the pros in the aftermath of the 2020 season, as Jake Curhan, Zeandae Johnson, and Cam Bynum all felt they had solid showings during Cal's Pro Day Thursday, in front of representatives from 31 of 32 NFL teams.

"One of the biggest questions for me when they watch my film has been athleticism," Curhan noted, "I wanted to show people I can move and look good doing it, and check the boxes for some of the speed stuff and even do a little bit better. I think I did well in my speed drills and did what I needed to do."

Bynum ran a 4.49 40, a time that likely earned him a bit of money going forward (Al Sermeno - KLC Fotos)

"I put up 22 on the bench," Johnson said, "which as a guy with long arms that's a great number to have. As far as the 40 went, I had a good ten-yard split, got out well and ran a 4.8, so I'm feeling good about that. The takeaway today is that I've got good speed, good strength and explosiveness in the broad jump."

"Most of all, I had fun," Bynum added. "I've been training for three and a half months, and my biggest goal was to show what I can do, not chasing numbers, but having fun, not being nervous, it's natural. It's a glorified Thursday with a couple more eyes on me."

This was the opportunity to give a little close up context to those who had seen the Bears' trio on tape, along with giving 2019 graduates Traveon Beck and Jordan Duncan the Pro Day they missed with its cancelation a year ago.

"It's a whole new chance for them to get evaluated in a workout-type situation," Justin Wilcox said Monday. "The best evaluation is the tape, that's what we tell all the guys. I know in talking to the evaluators, that's it, they want to be able to confirm their movement skills, strength, athleticism, all those things. Guys can certainly help themselves, but the workout will always come second to the game production."

Bynum had one of the more stellar times on the day, a 4.49 40 in wet and rainy conditions, along with a 4.01 20 yard shuttle that likely helped out his draft stock. Bynum, who played corner for his entire Cal career, has been mainly asked whether he can play other defensive back positions, which he's confident that he can.

"Every single team asked if I'm willing to play positions other than corner," Bynum noted of his experience at the Senior Bowl, "there's something that they see in my game that I can be versatile and play inside at nickel or be able to play back at safety. I told them, wherever you need me, wherever you slot me at, I'm a football player, I play defensive back, not just a cornerback."

He's not the only player who could play a different spot at the next level, as Curhan may be a guard in the future.

"My whole career here I played 40 games at right tackle and at the Senior Bowl I played guard the whole week," Curhan noted, "That was new for me, it took a couple days, but it's one of those things that makes you more valuable."

Curhan worked at guard during the Senior Bowl in January (Al Sermeno - KLC Fotos)

Curhan has been adding to the mental side of his game to make himself available to play multiple spots, while modeling his game after that of former Golden Bear Mitchell Schwartz.

"A big part of my game is being smart," Curhan said, "understanding angles and leverage and what the defense might do. I've been talking to more people to help make that transition better to the inside. I met some guys at the Senior Bowl who helped me do that, from Notre Dame, Aaron Banks and Rob Hainsey and where I've been training (Mamba Sports Academy) both of the guards from the Titans, Nate Davis and Roger Saffold, they were working out down there, so I was able to pick their brains a couple times."

For Bynum, going forward his focus is on getting the one team to pull the trigger, whether that's a mid-round pick or otherwise.

"I haven't looked at one mock draft," Bynum said, "read one article, I call that poison. That's something that doesn't matter at the end of the day, only one team needs to fall in love with me."

For Johnson, it's about adding back weight, and even though he's projected to go undrafted, he believes that he can make a training camp and earn his way in.

"It doesn't matter, I'm coming into camp," Johnson said, "and when I get the opportunity I will make the most of it."