State of the Offensive Line: Looking at OL Depth Going into the Fall

Building from the inside out is going to be a theme in the coming years for the Bears, especially for the class of 2018. With the discussed loss of projected right guard Dwayne Wallace, the addition of Oregon transfer Valentino Daltoso, and the transfer or graduation of a couple other linemen in Aaron Cochran and Vinnie Johnson, Cal is thinner at the offensive line position than they have been in recent years, and the task over the next two years will be to recruit offensive linemen hard, since as it currently stands, Cal will be needing four new starters by 2019.

This year though, Cal will have four new starters on the offensive line as it currently stands now, with Wallace's departure leaving the Bears with 16 career starts on their offensive line, coming solely from projected left tackle Patrick Mekari and center Addison Ooms, though two of Mekari's starts a year ago came at right tackle and right guard. That number ties them for 3rd-least returning OL starts in the country.

With Wallace gone, Semisi Uluave would be a likely candidate to move over to right guard, a position he has subbed in at in games over the last couple of season, but Daltoso has played under Greatwood before, so that would be a battle to watch in fall camp. For the sake of a hypothetical, Uluave has more in-game experience, so he'll get the nod, though during the spring, Cal tried a lineup with Kamryn Bennett at left tackle, with Uluave at left guard and Mekari at RG. While the scenario below appears to be the likeliest scenario at the moment, it wouldn't be a surprise to see that configuration in play while they feel things out during fall camp.

Experience:

LT: Patrick Mekari (14 appearances, 4 starts), Henry Bazakas (no appearances, walk-on)

LG: Kamryn Bennett (6 appearances, 4 coming a year ago), Gentle Williams (no appearances, redshirted and was injured during the spring), Daniel Juarez (Greyshirted, injured during the spring)

C: Addison Ooms (12 starts in 2016), Ryan Gibson (no appearances), Michael Saffell (incoming freshman)

RG: Semisi Uluave (8 appearances as a backup), Valentino Daltoso (redshirted at Oregon last year, started the spring game), Tanner Prenovost(Walk-on, redshirted last season), Poutasi Poutasi (incoming freshman)

RT: Jake Curhan (redshirted a year ago), JD Hinnant (12 appearances, mostly on special teams)

Takeaways:

The amount of experience on the line isn't great, as only four of the five projected starters have any meaningful in-game experience. Curhan has the size to be a solid right tackle, and he's improved mightily, but there isn't much behind him. The group is going to be used a lot in rollout situations, moving the pocket to help out Ross Bowers or Chase Forrest and to make their jobs a bit easier in pass protection.

Despite the loss of Wallace, a guard, the main focus going forward is working on tackle depth, through recruiting and through working with players at various positions during the spring. In addition to current commit Jasper Friis, Cal's looking at taking potentially three more tackles in the class, along with at least one interior lineman, if not just a couple players who can do both, like Jarrett Patterson.

READ: Patterson discusses Cal visit, timetable

Bennett and Uluave both worked at tackle at points during the spring, with Uluave taking reps at right tackle during the spring game, and Bennett being Steven Moore's primary backup a year ago. If something happens to Mekari or Curhan, pieces will have to shift around. A focus of the training staff has been injury prevention, and that's going to have to come through with a healthy group for sustained success on the ground.

A big theme of the offense has been learning all the positions of your position group, and offensive line seems to be that way as well. Offensive line coach Steve Greatwood noted this back in April:

"I want to expose them to as many different positions as possible so that they’re comfortable with it if they’re ever called upon to play it in a pinch.”

Either way, the 2018 and 2019 recruiting class of offensive linemen is going to be paramount for the offense. A lot of what Beau Baldwin does in the passing game can deal with having a less experience on the line, with quick passes and rollouts, but to get the running game going to the expected level is going to require the size and ability up front, which they'll aim to get with the next two groups of recruits. Luckily, Greatwood is highly respected by the coaching staff, and Baldwin expects the group to be up to the level because of Greatwood's experience

"He gets the most, that’s what I’ll say," Baldwin noted, "no matter who he has with an offensive line, because we all go through years where we have better groups or maybe groups that aren’t as talented or younger, whatever they are, the biggest thing I’ll say about him is he gets the very most out of his group. His guys are always overachieving in my opinion, so I think that’s part of the reason they led the nation in rushing for a number of years, was just how that group would play together."