Spring Gradeout: Safety
Continuing with the penultimate gradeout, the final take of the spring on the safety group.
Previous Spring Gradeouts: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | OLB | ILB | CB
What We Learned: A few players have found their home
With the new depth chart out, a few players at the top of it played elsewhere on the defense a year ago. Derron Brown, who was moved to linebacker briefly and redshirted after a hand injury sidelined him, is back and listed as a starter at safety. Quentin Tartabull, who was buried on the depth chart at the nickel spot a year ago, is in the mix for the other starting safety job after leading the team in interceptions during the spring.
"I think it’s putting guys in the right position, that’s big," Tartabull said in an interview during the spring, "Our coaches are a really big part. They’ve got us in the right schemes, understanding how to read the quarterback."
With returning experience in Jaylinn Hawkins, Luke Rubenzer (Rubenzer is the team's active interception leader), and Malik Psalms pushing this spring, along with experienced walk-ons in Jacob Anderson and De'Zhon Grace, there's a surprising amount of competition among the group, and that's without two of the guys that should play large roles next season.
One place where having a number of guys who can go is the coverage units, and having more safeties who can cover group and tackle should make for a more skilled unit than in years past.
Biggest Spring Concern: Rambo and Turner need to get incorporated
Evan Rambo and Trey Turner both missed the spring after suffering season ending injuries in the fall, and they're two of the most experienced and talented players in the secondary. They're going to have to compete for playing time obviously, but Justin Wilcox had this to say about the two of them.
"They’re all going to get a lot of work," Wilcox said, "obviously those guys have to get some work in the system because they didn’t in the spring, but they have ability, and they have played, and now we’ve got to let them go out there and compete and see who can rise above and take the spot."
Spring Surprise: The Aforementioned Brown and Tartabull Rocketing up the Depth Chart
After the end of last season, neither of these guys would have been on the radar as potential starting safeties, but what a difference a few months makes in terms of confidence. Brown made an impact early, making a couple standout plays early in the spring and continued to make plays as the spring went on, while Tartabull showed intensity and ball skills that hadn't been seen after recovering from a couple knee injuries.
Looking Ahead: Lots of Experience that'll need help up front
A lot of what's going to make the safeties successful will be based on what happens in front of them, whether the run defense can tighten up and not allow the long runs that forced safeties to come into the box and make tackles as the last line of defense on a frequent basis. That appears to be happening, but that won't be certain until the first game is played.
For now, Cal's got a bunch of taller DBs who can go, with one coming in in Daniel Scott. It's a group that looked solid in the spring, but their performance needs to carry over.