Roster Review: Inside Linebackers

2019 ended in victory for Cal, with a Bowl Win for the first time in four years, as the Bears finished 8-5, tied for their best record of the decade. Now, with Bill Musgrave coming in as the Bears' next offensive coordinator, the offense will see some changes with it, while the defensive staff seems slated to remain the same moving forward.

Now that the calendar has turned over and the Bears have hired an offensive coordinator, it's time to break down Cal's roster composition, position by position. Today continues with the inside linebacker group.

The story of Cal's inside linebacker group starts with Evan Weaver. Weaver became the Bears' first consensus all-American since 2006, finishing the season with 182 tackles, a number that tops Cal's all-time single season list, ranks at the top for most tackles in a season by a Pac-12 player, and ranks 5th all-time among FBS players.

Weaver was the emotional heart of the Cal team, a source of confidence, swagger and bravado who became a lightning rod for some opposing fans. He proclaimed that the Bears would go up to beat Washington, after struggling against UC Davis. He trash talked Ole Miss QB Matt Corral after making the final stop for the Bears in a 28-20. He made tackle after tackle, played in the Big Game with the flu, and had a chance to break the all-time tackles record going into the final contest against Illinois.

It ended up being a ho-hum, nine tackle performance, but Weaver's journey at Cal, starting at Cal as a defensive end, telling Tim DeRuyter that he was the best defensive player they had when Wilcox's staff came on-board, moving to outside linebacker, then inside linebacker, earning a starting role going into 2018, then taking off to where he is now. He may be the Bears' most important defensive player since Deltha O'Neal roamed the Cal secondary.

Next to him was Kuony Deng, who the Bears put at the position to add extra athleticism and ranginess to the position. Deng also finished over the century mark in tackles, with 119. The former Independence CC linebacker had a fair amount of struggles in the run game, as he could have used more bulk, but affected passing lanes and finished the year second on the Cal roster with 8 PBUs. Deng and Weaver's efforts gave them the most tackles by a duo in the country, something the Bears' ILBs had done in back to back years.

Weaver and Deng's extended play meant that the Bears didn't use some of their youth at the position. Colt Doughty, the other senior among the group, mostly played on special teams. Evan Tattersall flashed a few times against Utah, but also played mostly on special teams and took a scary hit against USC that saw him carted off the field. Blake Antzoulatos and Ryan Puskas saw time on special teams, along with Tommy Vanis. All three of Antzoulatos, Puskas and Kyle Smith redshirted.

Departing: Evan Weaver, Colt Doughty

Returning: Kuony Deng, Evan Tattersall, Blake Antzoulatos, Kyle Smith, Ryan Puskas, Tommy Vanis*, Zach Angelillo*, Sam Walker*, Nick Henderson*, Alex Murray*

This is a young unit going into 2020, with Deng being the only senior. Inside linebackers coach Peter Sirmon has done well in developing his group over his two years here, and he's got a room now that he mostly recruited. He has some interesting pieces to fit next to Deng, and if Deng ends up playing more at outside linebacker (something that's a possibility in certain packages), so could see sets with two brand new ILBs in.

Two guys who the Cal staff are excited about. The Bears had to fight to keep Iosefa in the fold, as he'll be enrolling early. Iosefa is a player who has a ton of athletic potential, both size-wise and from an explosive perspective. He cited player development for why he chose Cal, and with the right development, he could be an NFL guy.

Alfieri missed a good portion of his senior year, but showed some of the same blitzing ability as Weaver when attacking the gaps. Another extremely athletic player, who played running back for Jesuit as a junior, moving to tight end as a senior.

The safe choices for now, as Tattersall was one of the Cal staff's favorites for how he did in one of their recruiting camps. At 225 lbs, Justin Wilcox remarked that he was the fastest guy at the camp, which earned him an offer. The speed is there, it's about continuing to grow understanding of the game for both of these guys.

Of the true freshman of 2019, Blake Antzoulatos had the most impressive senior tape of the group, Ryan Puskas showed to be one of the better open field tacklers on special teams, while Kyle Smith was the top tackler during a scrimmage in fall camp of 2019. All three could compete for time, along with the true freshmen in the 2020 class and Tommy Vanis, who has impressed since walking on from Loyola HS in Los Angeles.

It's who emerges out of spring ball with the lead to replace Weaver. Cal's recruited a handful of guys who tackle well and can run in space, but it's hard to replace the experience and productivity that Weaver brought to the table.

Iosefa's early development will be interesting to see as well, as the inside linebacker position is relatively open moving forward, and there's a lot of belief in his ability to develop.

Quarterback

Running Back

Wide Receiver

Tight Ends

Offensive Line

Defensive Line

Outside Linebacker