Cal football lands Princeton transfer linebacker Liam Johnson
The California Golden Bears have gotten a huge bolster to their inside linebacking depth.
Cal is going to be needing as much depth as possible at inside linebacker to fill in for the loss of Jackson Sirmon to the NFL Draft and the transfer of Kaleb Elarms-Orr to TCU. Even with Cade Uluave stepping up at the end of last season and Teddye Buchanan inbound from UC Davis this summer, the Bears aren’t quite as deep at this position as they would like. More talent is always welcome.
In steps Liam Johnson, the 2022 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Johnson made the commitment to Cal last week.
Last year, Johnson racked up 83 tackles, along with 3 sacks for 26 yards and an interception. In 2022 during his highlighted season, Johnson put up 90 tackles and two defensive touchdowns.
Johnson’s highlights are available here:
The Princeton grad transfer has one year left to play. Johnson and Buchanan should compete with one another for the second inside linebacking spot on the other side of Uluave. Cal has to feel slightly better they have one up-and-coming talent and two seasoned vets handling these positions.
Welcome to Cal, Liam! Go Bears!
This is good. The Ivy isn't the best FCS league but you're not getting defensive player of the year in any league unless you can play.
Great! ILB's are the heart of the run defense aspect. He appears to be very aggressive after his reads and "flies" to the ball. However, Division 1 competition is much faster than the IVY league. Let's see how he adapts.