The room that has given Cal fans the most headache in recent times has unfortunately been the most important position group on offense. But interestingly, while other positions turned over dramatically portal-wise, it will likely have the smallest makeover with four returning starters.

I liken the offensive line to the Knights of the Round Table: reliable, the pinnacle of the sport while doing the dirty job blocking; without whom nothing can be done; and if one were to fall, the Cal offense would falter the same way Camelot did after the Battle of Camlann.

Let’s hope there isn’t a Mordred or Lancelot in the group to falter and fail, taking us down to an early trip to Avalon (AKA, the land of 7-5).

Looking into the projected depth chart, we have four players returning from last season’s mixed lineup. There are legitimate questions as to whether the talent level or scheme were the reason for severe under-performance, especially in the run game.

Left Tackle

LT1: Jimothy Lewis

LT2: Frederick Williams III

LT3: Jacob Arop

Now there is a chance that the LT and RT spots will flip since for a lefty QB, you want the better pass protector on the blindside. However, the modern football theory is that both tackle spots are equally important, so I am placing Lewis in his go-to spot. He has the prototypical size and agility as well as HS recruiting accolades on top of having Alabama being the suitor in the portal indicate that he is a high high ceiling player who has potential to become a plus tackle in college football and a potential NFL draftee.

Theoretically, this ought to be an improvement over the Nick Morrow/Williams rotation experiment, where we struggled to find an answer at the position for the longest time. I do believe and buy into the FW III upside, considering his athletic profile, his hand skills and gametime snaps. Jacob Arop is another addition to the. “this lad is big and moves well, but boy is he raw” stack of players Cal has been collecting. He has prototypical size, but will he develop?

Left Guard

LG1: Tyson Ruffins

LG2: Ashton Rivera

LG3: Kahlee Tafai

Here we enter the area of relative strength: the interior of the offensive line. And this strength is anchored on Ruffins, who can play all 3 positions on the interior of the offensive line. His biggest strength is the fact that he is versatile and a real freaking strong lad. He moves people, and doesn’t get moved all that much. There is some discussion about his pass protection, but it is coachable, and with another year with Anae, I can see him being the best lineman we have on the team.

Rivera comes in from the Golden Flashes as a natural center; however, I do think he has some flexibility, since Cal does have a returning starter at the center position. He comes in with experience as a guard on both sides, thus making him a natural choice as the backup for the interior OL.

Tafai comes in as another developmental player who has had stops at Minnesota and Washington. He hasn’t been able to find his foothold to gain snaps at the P4 level, but being on the bench and developing further can help him in the long run.

Center

C1: Bastian Swinney

C2: Ashton Rivera

C3: Tyson Ruffins

The center position brings both a ton of production, but whether past production will lead to above-average production in the future remains to be seen. None of the players has yet to produce high enough quality results to settle the position, making this an ultimate low-ceiling, high-floor situation.

The upside case will be the average Cal football fan never identifying the center who is doing the yeoman’s job of blocking, tackling, snapping the ball, and calling protections. The downside case is the average Cal fan knowing all three of their names, as Cal can’t find someone to take over the position cycling through the center spot, making everyone aware of the fact.

Right Guard

RG1: Sioape Vatikani

RG2: Tyson Ruffins

RG3: Ashton Rivera

RG4: Kahlee Tafai

This is likely the deepest position group on the offense overall. The expectation is that Sioape keeps developing pass protecting, along with some of his lateral agility for zone run blocking. I do think if he takes this step in his development, he can be a late-round draft pick.

Ruffins is slotted in as a backup here, since in my view, the RG is more important for both the pass protection and run game, since they will have to support the less proficient of the two tackles on the depth chart.

Rivera slots in as the utility interior OL who has experience.

Right Tackle

RT1: Frederick Williams III

RT2: Jacob Arop

RT3: Mykeal Rabess

Here we have a possible point of concern for the OL. Even if we flip the LT/RT line-ups, whichever side that has Williams and Arop will have similar issues —raw skillsets that need to catch up with good athleticism in a critical position for the OL to succeed. The concern with FWIII is that his starting snaps at Cal showed a raw prospect with more lows than highs. The upside was tangible, but he has to reach it through the off-season.

The question with Arop is the fact that all of his production came from a FCS South Dakota squad that made the FCS quarterfinals in 2025, and he did not play football until his Junior year of High School. If either of them develops into their bodies, there is a high upside.

I feel, I think, I know

I want to end every segment of this series with some feelings, thoughts, and beliefs I have on the group of players discussed, based on the level of evidence and confidence. Here, I will take a look at how the Knights of the Round Table fall:

I feel that…

• We are going to see Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele learning how to climb the pocket more than he has in the past. This is because of the relative strength of the OL between the tackles than on the edges. This will likely extend to the running game, where, especially early on, Cal will hammer the A-gap, and try to use the athleticism of FWIII and Lewis in the screen game. It’s a good thing we have a hammer in Adam Mohammed and an agile screen threat in Carter Vargas.

I think that…

• Offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville and offensive line coach Famika Anae understand that the offensive line will dictate whether this offense will live or die throughout the season. I think that early in the season, we will see a lot of six-man protections with the running backs. Also, I could see 12 personnel looks where the two tight ends would be in-line, and given chip responsibilities to help the tackles if needed.

• If the need for such pass blocking help is not needed, I can see tight ends and running backs go into routes more often, without having pass blocking responsibilities, allowing for deeper routes (such as my beloved RB Wheel and Texas routes, or the TE Y crosser).

  

  Here we have an example of a case where the TE stays in pass protection, and the RB has to check before releasing into the outlet pass. This restricts the passing game to three deep players, allowing the opposing team to cover them with ease.

I know that…

• If there is a case where we see constant non-injury caused changes to the lineup in weeks 2-3, then it will portend a rough season for the offense. By trying to find answers early season, it will mean that none of the retentions or additions provided us with answers across the line. I am a believer in the idea that you do not find the starting 5 during the season, you find them in the off-season and field them together as much as you can to build unit cohesion.

Next up: The Offensive Coaches

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There will be two quarterback commits in 2027 for the California Golden Bears, as Folsom (Ca.) QB Brody Rudnicki made the call to be in Berkeley. Rudnicki announced on the Rivals YouTube channel earlier today.

This will provide Cal quarterback coverage for this class and next. Rudnicki will be going on his LDS mission in 2027, meaning he will enroll at Berkeley in 2028. Elite 11 QB Dane Weber remains Cal’s planned sole signal-caller for this class.

The 6-1, 205 Folsom quarterback is the 63rd best prospect and the 99th best California recruit in this class, via 247Sports Composite. Here are the Hudl highlights.

Rudnick was a backup last year at Folsom before an injury to the starter, future BYU QB Ryder Lyons, put Rudnicki in the starting role, where he put up the stats you see above.

Welcome to Cal Brody!

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Four-star Temecula (Ca.) Chaparral WR Eli Woodard has been on the eyes of the Golden Bears since his decommitment from USC, and particularly since his quarterback Dane Weber became Cal’s quarterback in this 2027 class. The battle goes on between Miami, Cal and UCLA, but Woodard’s commitment would ensure the Bears have one of the top elite wideout classes in this cycle. Woodard is the 162nd-ranked recruit, the 15th-best California prospect, and the 24th-best wide receiver in this class according to 247Sports Composite.

Four-star defensive lineman Sam LeJeune from Poplarville (Ms.) is one of the top prospects on the board for Tosh Lupoi, but he’s in a pitched battle with Florida State and Washington to land the big man upfront as he makes a call tomorrow. Standing at 6-3 and 280 pounds, LeJeune is the 5th best Mississippi prospect and the 11th best defensive lineman overall by 247Sports Composite.

Four-star defensive Spanish Fork (Utah) Maple Mountain edge Uhila Wolfgramm has been approached by major programs like BYU, Utah, and Oklahoma, but Cal has appeared as a surprise competitor based on his comfort level in the Bay Area. Wolfgramm is the 202nd best prospect, the 19th best edge, and the 4th best Utah prospect in this class.

Three-star defensive lineman Jason Johnson from Humble (Tx.) is a top 60 Texas recruit, and has Cal in his final four as he prepares to make a decision next week between Cal, LSU, Vanderbilt and Texas.

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At 6-3, 330 pounds, hailing from Irvine at Crean Lutheran, Herman-Dawson has been playing both sides of the line, but is likely being recruited by Cal for the offensive side of the ball.

Dawson ranks as a three-star offensive lineman by 247Sports Composite, clocking in as the 115th best interior lineman in this class and 132nd best California recruit. His Hudl tape is here.

As of today, Cal has the 19th ranked 2027 recruiting class in 247Sports, and the 17th ranked class by On3, placing them in the upper tier of the ACC with Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech. Tosh Lupoi was hired in part because of his well-known recruiting chops, and he has been delivering a half year in on the job.

Welcome to Cal Ace!

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Zion White joins the 2027 class as the 4th wide receiver and 8th skill player on offense. He hold offers from UNC, Oregon, Auburn, Georgia, Nebraska, and Penn State among others. He stands 6’3” tall and 170 lbs he adds to the size of the receiver room already staffed by Edwards and Davis III.

He returns back to his native Hawai’i after spending a year at IMG in Florida. He bring good route running and reliable hands over the middle from the traditional wide receiver alignments on the outside of the formation.

Welcome to Cal!

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Some huge news for Cal men’s basketball. Semetri “TT” Carr tested the transfer portal waters for sometime this spring, leading to some uncertainty around the finality of the Cal men’s basketball roster. Today, he decided he’d prefer to be back in Berkeley.

With Justin Pippen and Dai Dai Ames handling the majority of the usage on offense, Carr came off the bench in his first season, averaging 3.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. He will be in contention for the starting point guard role this season, as Jordan Ross, Michael Cooper and Jovani Ruff all expect to contend for playing time. It should be a compelling battle.

Wekcome back TT!

Welcome to the DBD, a Write for California community board where one can talk about anything – Cal-related or off-topic. Comment threads are sorted by topic. Anything is fine, so long as you're generally civil

Welcome to the DBD, a Write for California community board where one can talk about anything – Cal-related or off-topic. Comment threads are sorted by topic. Anything is fine, so long as you're generally civil

UC Berkeley has once again claimed the title of the nation’s top public university, this time in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Global Universities rankings. The university placed No. 7 overall among more than 2,250 research institutions worldwide — a distinction it has held every year since the list launched in 2014.

The global rankings evaluate universities across more than 100 countries on 13 metrics, including global and research reputation and the volume of highly cited scholarly papers. This year, Berkeley earned top-three national recognition in seven subject areas: Environmental science, ecology, water resources, physics, computer science, chemistry, and engineering, and placed in the top five nationally across 17 subjects in total.

Berkeley’s dominance isn’t limited to the global list. In September 2025, U.S. News named it the No. 1 public institution in its Best Colleges rankings for the 16th time in two decades. The university also topped rankings from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Times Higher Education in the past year.

If you want to build your legacy, there is no better way to get started on that path than by becoming a California Golden Bear.

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The California Golden Bears lost a commit earlier this morning, but were made whole with a major commitment from Las Vegas (Nv.) Bishop Gorman defensive back Kamil Loud.

At 6-0, 175 pounds, Loud is a four-star recruit according to 247Sports Composite, ranked as the 2nd best Nevada prospect and the 36th best cornerback in the nation. Loud had offers from dozens of Power 5 programs, and did take visits to Florida State and Washington. His final six also included Auburn, Utah and Miami.

Full junior highlights are available here.

Loud joins a pretty elite secondary group that includes four-star cornerback Duvay Williams and four-star safety Myles Baker. The Bears aren’t likely to be done in the defensive backfield either.

Welcome to Cal Kamil!

From the moment Siale committed to Cal, the floodgates opened from major programs like Alabama, LSU, Texas and Oklahoma. After a visit this past weekend, Lane Kiffin’s crew appeared to make the best possible pitch to make the flip.

Cal still holds two offensive line commits in IOL Joshua Bunni from Santa Rosa and OT Isaiah Bertola from Honolulu, but it definitely seems like O-line will now be the priority for Tosh Lupoi to try and land some major commits. There are some significant candidates in the pipeline like DaJohn Yarborough and Lex Mailangi, but the net might have to be cast wider to finish out this class.

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Spurgeon is a three-star athlete. He’s the 87th-ranked athlete in 247 Sports Composite, and the 97th-best California prospect. At 6-4 and 205 pounds, Spurgeon played multiple positions, including quarterback for Minarets High at O’Neals, California. Utah, Texas Tech, and Boston College also showed interest.

Here are his video highlights.

Spurgeon also played baseball, pitching with a 3+ ERA and winning a CIF State title. Cal recruited Spurgeon primarily as a tight end and it’s looking like he will try and play both football and baseball. He would be the second tight end for the Bears in this class, joining Rahzario Edwards. With Charles Davis, Demare Dezeurn and Blake Gunter, Cal now has a very solid 2027 class of young wideouts that can usher in the next generation.

Welcome Jamie!

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