Scouting Report: JH Tevis

Although there are already two pieces in the 2018 class, Adrian Martinez and Omari Harris were holdovers from the Dykes era and remain strong poach targets – the former continues to get offers from circling teams, for example. Friday, however, the Bears added Justin Wilcox’s first 2018er by securing the services of JH Tevis, a Stanford legacy.

Tevis,a 6’5, 225 pound defensive end at the Menlo School– there’s that Bay Area thing again! – appears likely to move to a standup OLB role in the future Cal 3-4, where Evan Weaver, Cameron Saffle, Alex Funches, Trevor Howard, Russell Ude and Cameron Goode are holding it down currently. The Bears are depending on a lot of break out talent from that group, so let’s take a closer look at what they hope Tevis might bring.

As a junior playing against what appears to be okay competition – but not elite or anything like that – he rolled up 125 tackles and 22.5 sacks, but the raw numbers only give us a partial picture. The process of how we arrive at those numbers is far more telling – most of his tape is with his hand down, but as a rusher, Tevis doesn’t use an elite burst or freakish, unhuman athleticism to get his production, but rather, active, active hands and being quick off the snap. He overwhelms opposing linemen by timing his shoot, as opposed to an explosive first step, and if he is met, his hands are always working actively – ripping, shedding, swimming – to get him open, which is a really nice skill to have, especially at OLB. To this, he adds a decent fluidity and strength combination, where he will run through guys as necessary, and can move without too much stiffness from side to side, making him a fine outside rush candidate.

He does have some growing to do as an athlete, but the fact that Cal was the first major school to get on him – they offered roughly a month ago -- and worked to secure his services immediately signals that they feel strongly about his potential, and that Tevis reciprocates those feelings for the school.

Per an interview with Tevis yesterday, he is planning to shut down his recruiting and social media in the near future.