Spring Review: OLB Could Return to Being Glory Position for Cal Defense

When Tim DeRuyter talks about the 3-4 scheme he's helped to install at Cal, he talks about the outside linebacker spot being the 'glory position of the defense.' For the first time in three years, the group may actually have the depth, developed size and skillsets to make that line a reality.

By that, you have two experienced players on the edge in Cam Goode and Tevin Paul who are at full strength. Paul tied for the team lead in TFLs a year ago, while Goode is healthy, up to around 235 pounds, and looking different.

"Cam Goode, he’s....good," Justin Wilcox said, "He looks different, somebody asked the first day if he was out there, that there was a 19 but he looked different. That was Cam, I think he’s dang near back to where he was."

That's saying something considering where Goode was coming out of fall camp last year, probably the team's best overall defensive player, who only got three quarters of the North Carolina game before going out with a foot issue. With added bulk, Goode's better at setting an edge, while retaining his pass rushing ability.

On the other side is Paul, who wouldn't be playing OLB had Goode not gone down. The defense had to adapt, and that came with Paul playing a bigger DE/OLB hybrid. He took to it, was effective, and will stick in that spot this year.

"Tevin is a physical guy, he plays really hard and he’s athletic," Wilcox said, "He can run, you notice Tevin when he’s chasing the ball or setting an edge because he’s got good size and he’s physical. About a year ago is when I noticed it, his attitude toward the game, he decided ‘I want to be good at this’ You go through practice and the workouts and get incrementally better, but I felt like he said “I want to be good at football.’ He took it more seriously and off the field he committed himself to it, and that was noticeable."

From the spring, Cal's trying to do a couple things. They've utilized one bigger OLB, like a Paul, Chinedu Udeogu, or Nick Alftin, along with one more traditional OLB, like Goode, Orin Patu, Ben Moos, or Joey Ogunbanjo (when he gets back for summer, he was out during the spring). There's also Deon White, who played a bit of nickel, but has the size to come down in the box.

"Deon played outside and a little bit of nickel," Wilcox said, "kind of that Quentin Tartabull role, bigger body that can play nickel, can help us in some of those spread type teams where we can use those guys."

It's a group that in all, can set an edge (the most important piece of the defense) and has depth and size. And it has a killer pass rush set, where Kuony Deng moves over to one of the OLB spots, with his 6'6" frame, Goode on the other side, and Paul bumped in, that can wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

Starters: Goode and Paul

Two guys who can bookend, move, set edges, and make plays

Backup:

Bigger: Udeogu and Alftin

Udeogu looks more mobile as he's gotten used to playing in space, similar to Paul, while Alftin is a guy who's flexible and could bounce to DE if he puts on a bit more weight.

Long guys: Orin Patu, Ben Moos

The Cam Goode starter kit, Patu's already up to 215, a good start for the true freshman coming in early.

"Orin can pass rush," "he’s got to develop his strength. The redeeming quality in his game is his pass rush, we’ve just got to continue to work on that and bring him up to speed in some of those run game things. At that position he’s got a lot going on a lot of calls. He had some freshman moments, they all did, where it’s a shift and a motion and they had two check and it was a hard count and we changed the call, you can see the smoke (coming out of his ears). He’s not the only one, Braxten, all those guys. What you want to in those moments is just ‘go fast, go somewhere, go fast,’ and he has that, the athleticism is there and glad he’s here early, because it’ll give him a chance, summer and fall camp, to earn some reps."

Moos is another subject, he's still developing at outside linebacker and needs to flash more to see a bit more playing time. He has cut weight and looks the part, like many players, consistency is what will get him on the field.

Coin (hybrid nickel/OLB): D. White

Speed: Ogunbanjo

The Houston OLB was not available for spring ball, but will be back for summer workouts. He played as a true freshman, which shows the kind of raw ability he has, finishing the play will be important for him.

There are two more guys in Parker Bosche and Matt Horwitz, both with big frames that have potential on the outside.

Joining the group in the fall will be Benjamin Hawk Schrider, who I wrote about here.

Cal will also add two recruits from their 2019 class in the fall in Curley Young and Myles Jernigan. Both linebackers from Texas, Young and Jernigan "have the position flexibility that we're looking for," per Tim DeRuyter. Young's a guy that DeRuyter saw at a Texas State camp and immediately put the hard press on.

"He's a guy who's strong, can run,he's a 4.5 40 guy," DeRuyter said, "He's about 225 lbs right now, you'd like him to be a little bit thicker to be an edge guy, but he does such a good job with his hands in leverage so he can set an edge as an outside guy, and he's got a burst off the edge to rush the passer. He's another one of those guys who has a different type of body than a Kuony Deng, but he's one of those guys who can play inside or outside, we're excited to see him come in and see what he can do."

He's also a beast in the weight room.

Jernigan's a bit taller at 6'3",but every bit as physical as Young. He described himself in an interview last July as 'a long and lengthy guy that can move around the field. He's got some pass rush ability and the ability to play inside linebacker if needed. It's all about building depth and versatility on the defense, and the thought is that Jernigan and Young can help do that.