Roster Review: Running Backs

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 running back spot.

Cal's running back group came into 2019 without too much experience, with Chris Brown leading the way, a new position coach in Nick Edwards (switched over from wide receivers), and a couple junior college guys in Marcel Dancy and Deshawn Collins backing him up.

Brown had some issues with injury through the middle portion of the year, but he finished as the team's leader in scoring with 12 total touchdowns (8 rushing, 4 receiving), had two 100 yard rushing games to close out 2019, and cemented himself as an every-down back.

Collins and Dancy each had their moments throughout the year, with Dancy playing a massive role in the 2nd half comeback against Washington in the second game of the season and Collins producing a 100 yard rushing performance against USC.

Brown finished the year with 914 yards, within striking distance of a 1000 yard season, and health willing in 2020, he may be able to hit that mark. He also ranked 3rd in the Pac-12 with 57 avoided tackles (per Pro Football Focus)

Departing: Alex Netherda

Returning: Christopher Brown Jr., Marcel Dancy, Deshawn Collins, DeCarlos Brooks

Netherda played sparingly at running back, doing most of his damage on special teams, but the majority of experience at running back is returning. Brown, Dancy and Collins all had two TD games in 2019, and Brooks redshirted to maintain eligibility. Collins also returned kicks at the end of 2019, something he'll be in competition for in the fall, likely with incoming freshman Justin Baker and senior wideout Jeremiah Hawkins.

The group does lose Nick Edwards, who is now Cal Poly's offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach, but whoever Justin Wilcox brings in will have an experienced group to work with in Bill Musgrave's offense.

Cal took two of the best running backs in Southern California, as they brought in Street and Moore, getting the two backs in as Dancy and Collins will both be finished with their eligibility after 2020.

Moore and Street may not see as much playing time in the early going with the experience the Bears have at the position, but a new coordinator usually means that competition will be open. Moore's play is reminiscent of CJ Anderson, with great patience and vision, while Street can be more of the decisive, one cut and go type.

Brown hit his stride again at the end of the season, and he has the potential to be one of the top running backs in the conference in 2020 with another year in the strength and conditioning program. He's regarded as a bit of an athletic freak by Torre Becton, Cal's head strength and conditioning coach, with Becton being stunned that Brown walked into the weight room as a true freshman at a solid 228 lbs out of high school.

"He's functionally strong, in the weight room he can be a 600 lb squat guy, but he's such a functionally strong guy," Becton told Golden Bear Report last March, "which leads to his ability to cut and change direction quickly. It leads to his ability to run fast, break away from people and create separation and run over people. I want to take more credit, I think that's a lot of mom and dad, but he does work. Chris is one of those guys that he doesn't need a lot of direction. He listens when you instruct him, but he also listens when I instruct someone else, so he doesn't make that same mistake."

The biggest storyline may be who gets hired to coach this group, but aside from that, it's how can the running back group continue to progress and avoid negative plays. One of the issues facing the Cal running game in 2019 was the lack of success in power situations, which is partially an offensive line issue, but even over the final three games of the season where Brown had success, he had a median carry of 2 yards.

In addition, with a new coordinator means different ways of running the ball. The offensive philosophy doesn't change, but Musgrave's offensive system has been described as 'power run game mashed with spread concepts,' which could put the running backs into quicker hitting runs instead of some of the slower developing stretch runs that had the Bears struggling a year ago.

Quarterbacks