Cal Football 2025 Season Preview Part 3: The Defense

Will a veteran front offset a total rebuild in the secondary?

Photo via @calfootball twitter

Part 1: Last Chance Saloon Part 2: The Offense

For much of the Wilcox era, Cal’s defenses have been defined by excellent secondary play and questionable play in the trenches. Just consider - of the 12 Bears who have been drafted into the NFL under Justin Wilcox, eight of them have been defensive backs.

This year, that formula may be turned on its head. Cal’s front six is deep and experienced and should be the strength of the entire team. Cal’s secondary? One gigantic mystery. Will this unusual situation result in different results on the side of the ball that has typically been steady and consistent under Wilcox?

2024 Defense, revisited

2024 Defense in review

Recently, I’ve been throwing out last year’s on-field results because there has been so much roster turnover, but I do think that we can take something positive away from Cal’s 2024 performance on defense. Last year Cal had a really strong run defense across the board, and I feel confident that between 1) returning production up the middle 2) Solid portal additions along the first two levels of the defense and 3) another schedule without many scary offenses, Cal shouldn’t have many problems defending the run this year.

Whether Cal can maintain their ability to force turnovers, or if they can improve their situational defense, remains entirely less clear.

Let’s dive in:

Unit Summaries

Note: All class designations are based on what Cal’s roster says and may have little if anything to do with how much eligibility a player has left, which is still a nightmare to track thanks to COVID. All presumed starters are semi-educated guesses from me and you are encouraged to throw it back in my face when I’m inevitably wrong.

Defensive line

Presumed starters:
Defensive Tackle: senior Aidan Keanaaina
Defensive Tackle: senior T.J. Bollers

Depth: senior Derek Wilkins, senior Stanley Saole-McKenzie, senior Zae Smith

By far the most stable, established position group on defense is along the line, where Cal has four seniors who were all solid contributors in the defensive line rotation last year. Such is Cal’s depth that the unfortunate loss of Nate Burrell to a season-ending injury can probably be absorbed . . . though any further injuries would be challenging.

If Cal goes beyond their established top 4 along the line, Zae Smith is the most likely to break through. Smith was a three year starter along the line for FCS Houston Christian, and if he can translate his FCS production to ACC play, he’ll likely force his way into the rotation.

Beyond those five are a group of players trying to earn playing time for the first time in their careers. Transfer Tyson Ford is one possibility. The Notre Dame transfer was a 4 star recruit out of high school in 2022, but only got a handful of snaps across three seasons. The rest are younger high school recruits who could make an impact after redshirt seasons, like B.J. Canady or Legend Journey. But with five experienced seniors ahead of them, I’d expect to see younger players make a bigger impact next year as sophomores.

Linebackers

Presumed starters:
Outside linebacker: sophomore Ryan McCulloch
Inside linebacker: junior Cade Uluave
Inside linebacker: junior Harrison Taggart
Outside linebacker: junior T.J. Bush

ILB Depth: junior Buom Jack
OLB Depth: senior Chris Victor, junior Jayden Wayne, sophomore Serigne Tounkara, junior Odera Okaka

Last year, Teddye Buchanan functionally played every single snap at one ILB position, and Cade Uluave probably would have done the same if he was 100% healthy. ILB just isn’t a position that sees much rotation under Justin Wilcox.

With Uluave back, and two high end transfers in Taggart (BYU) and Jack (Colorado State), I’d predict that snaps for anybody outside of those three players will be limited solely to mop up duty. Taggart is the presumed starter - last year he had the highest level of production of ANY linebacker on the roster, included Uluave.

If Cal has to dip beyond their top three, true sophomore Aaron Hampton is perhaps the most likely guy after appearing on the two deep and getting special teams playing time last year, while Luke Ferrelli and Eze Osondu could also find rotational time after redshirt years last season.

Outside linebacker is much murkier. Five players were part of Cal’s primary edge rotation last year, but three are no longer off the roster after the departures of Xavier Carlton, Cheikhsaliou Fall, and David Reese.

Returning edge Ryan McCulloch was probably Cal’s best rush OLB last year but was in and out of the lineup with injury challenges. Serigne Tounkara was a solid player in minimal snaps last year. They’re joined by three transfers who will all likely be part of the rotation as well.

T.J. Bush is the most likely impact player after a six sack season with Liberty last year. Projecting his production at Cal is difficult because Liberty consistently plays one of the weakest schedules in the country, but he was highly sought after in the portal.

Chris Victor was a sure tackler and edge setter last year as a starter for Chattanooga. Jayden Wayne has 274 snaps across two seasons at Washington under his belt. Both will likely round out what I would project as another 5 man rotation. Odera Okaka was a highly regarding Juco edge. All three are new additions to the roster who will likely compete for rotational snaps with Tounkara behind Cal’s expected starters.

Secondary

Presumed starters:
Cornerback: senior Brent Austin
Cornerback: senior Hezekiah Masses
Nickelback: junior Cam Sidney
Safety: senior Dru Polidore Jr.
Safety: senior Isaiah Crosby

CB/Nickel Depth: Junior Jasiah Wagoner, senior Ja’ir Smith, freshman Khamani Hudson
Safety Depth: junior Tristan Dunn, junior Jordan Sanford

And here is where Cal’s season on defense will be defined. From the 2024 secondary, the Bears lost four mainstays, 8 of the 13 players who saw snaps, and 86% of snaps played across the entire season, necessitating a near total rebuild.

To compensate, Cal brought in six transfers who will compete with a number of returners in an almighty scrum to fill a ton of available playing time. With the possible exception of offensive line, it’s the most unsettled unit on team and I don’t have a good sense of which players are likely to start or get game action.

CB Brent Austin is the most likely dependable starter after a solid season starting for USF against AAC competition last year. Hezekiah Masses is coming off three seasons as a starter at FUI in Conference USA and will likely get the other starting corner spot. A bunch of returning players will be pushing the two transfers for playing time at CB, including Ja’ir Smith, Jasiah Wagoner, and Khamani Hudson (who got snaps last year but still technically redshirted), all of whom may be in competition for playing time either as rotational cornerbacks/nickelbacks.

Cam Sidney rotated with Matthew Littlejohn at Nickel last year and enters this year as the presumed starter in that role, with playing time behind him an open competition.

Safety is probably the biggest open question mark within the giant question mark that is the secondary generally. Returners Isaiah Crosby and Cam Sydney are both in the mix. Based on last year’s snap counts and in-game performance, I’d have tagged Sydney as the more likely starter, but based on camp rumblings Crosby may be ahead on the depth chart. Dru Polidore was a starting safety for FCS runner up Montana State last year through their playoff run after missing much of the first half of the season following a major knee injury. Tristan Dunn never really got serious playing time at Washington after three seasons that included a redshirt, but is hoping to earn significant playing time at Cal. Jordan Samford was also in a back up role at Texas Tech.

I would not be surprised if any two of those five trot out for the first snap of the season, and I also would not be surprised if the competition for playing time extends into the season as the coaches try to get a feel for who can make an impact.

I don’t generally project freshmen (true or redshirt) as rotational players until they’ve at least cracked the rotation, but it’s worth noting that this position group is one area where if a younger player broke through I wouldn’t be shocked, particularly at safety. It’s worth keeping your eyes out for guys like Dayday Aupiu and Jae’on Young, two relatively touted high school recruits who could seize an opportunity at a position group without established contributors.

Defining questions

Can a more experienced front 6 turn small gains into stuffs or negative yardage?

I’ve asked some variation of this question nearly every year in the post-Evan-Weaver years under Justin Wilcox; Cal has always been good at keeping an offense in front and preventing big plays, but their ability to stonewall an offense comes and goes, and Cal’s defense is often very turnover-reliant against better opposition as a result.

It’s possible this year could be different. For the first time in a number of years, Cal has two established, dependable defensive linemen returning, with established, dependable defensive linemen backing them up. Cal has two inside linebackers who should both easily be above-average for their position within the ACC. To the extent that there are question marks in the front six, it’s at outside linebacker, but Cal’s projected starters should at a minimum not cause any problems, and there are enough plausible ACC players at the position that a solid rotation should result.

This is the case where it doesn’t take a ton to get a little better than last year. An extra play every few drives where the offense faces 2nd and 11. An extra sack a game that gets the defense off the field. A few more 4th and 1s that end with a stuff and a turnover on downs. The front 6 was close last year, and they should be better this year.

And they may need to be, because . . .

Will Cal’s secondary allow too many big plays?

This is where I think the defense will be defined in 2025. Cal has had rock solid safety play for the better part of a decade. Ashtyn Davis and Jaylinn Hawkins led to Elijah Hicks who led to Daniel Scott who led to Patrick McMorris who led to Craig Woodson. For the first time under Justin Wilcox Cal doesn’t have a trusted starter on safety with experience and proven production.

This could be problematic in a few different ways. I probably don’t need to sell you on why a safety is important in the deep passing game. Safety is often a stop-gap position, and we’ve seen that over the years. Not many runs get to the safety level in a Wilcox defense, but when they do, guys like Craig Woodson clean up the mess. Is there a safety on this team who can act as a last line of defense on run plays?

Maybe I’m fretting over nothing - presumable Wilcox and his coaching staff deserve credit and benefit of the doubt for all of the NFL safeties they have helped develop while in Berkeley. It’s entirely possible that there are two players right now that we’ll think of in the same way we think about that list of draft picks. But there also isn’t a player on the roster who has proven themselves as an every down safety at the power conference level, and until that happens it’s a position of concern.

Does Cal have the best ILB duo in the ACC outside of Clemson?

Based on his production, Harrison Taggart was borderline worthy of Big-12 all-conference consideration last year. Based on on field flashes in his first two seasons, Cade Uluave has that kind of talent.

Neither are perfect players. Uluave needs to improve on his tackling from 2024. Both haven’t yet made consistent impacts as pass rushers. But both are now veterans, excellent run stoppers, and solid in coverage.

If they take steps forward as individuals, and mesh as on-field partners in the middle of Cal’s defense, they can take this defense to the next level. And frankly, there are only a few teams on Cal’s schedule (Louisville, SMU, maybe UNC if Belichick figures things out) that have offenses that Cal might have trouble with IF Cal’s ILB duo are the real deal.