Cal Football 2025 Season Preview Part 2: The Offense

What kind of offense will trot out in Memorial Stadium this year? Almost nobody knows, and as a result almost anything could happen.

photo via @calfootball twitter

Part 1: Last Chance Saloon

Is Bryan Harsin a high end offensive mind who immediately becomes the most credible OC hired by Justin Wilcox? Or is Bryan Harsin a toxic college football coach who has already sabotaged Cal by chasing valuable talent away from Berkeley in one turbulent off-season?

2024 Offense, revisited

2024 Offense in review

I’ve linked back to my review of Cal’s offensive performance in 2024, but honestly it feels pointless. It is entirely possible that on August 30, Cal will trot out a starting lineup that does not include a single player who was on the roster last year, coached by a collection of offensive coaches who were not here either.

I’m projecting that Trond Grizzell will start, and Cal has a couple of returning offensive linemen who will be in competition for starts or at least rotational snaps. But when 90% of the rotational roster turns over and you’re installing a new offense, what’s the point of looking back?

It’s a blank slate. It’s time to learn a little bit about the people who get to write on that slate.

Unit Summaries

Quarterback

Projected starter: junior Devin Brown

Depth: freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, freshman EJ Caminong, sophomore Dominic Ingrassia

The operating assumption is that this is a two player race between Brown and Sagapolutele. While Cal’s five star freshman is the most hyped quarterback to arrive on campus since . . . well, he has a better recruiting profile than one Jared Goff. I’d still be surprised if he is the best option at quarterback on August 30th when Cal’s set to kick off against Oregon State, but I didn’t expect Goff to win the QB battle as a true freshmen either and that ended up being the right decision.

Even though Devin Brown has never received playing time in a game that was in doubt, he’s still a guy who spent multiple seasons on Ohio State’s depth chart, getting occasional game reps, and practicing with and against some of the very best players college football has to offer. It’s hard to imagine that a true freshman will be better than Brown right out of the gate.

So the question Cal’s coaching staff has to answer is multi-part: who is the best QB to lead Cal to victory in September, who is the best QB to lead Cal to victory in the long term, and to what extent can Cal sacrifice the chance to win a game now vs. the chance to win games later.

As previously discussed, Justin Wilcox needs to win games now, which is why I’m predicting that Cal’s opening day quarterback will be Devin Brown.

Offensive Line

Projected starters:

LT: sophomore LaJuan Owens
LG: senior Jordan Spasojevic-Moko
C: sophomore Davieon Harley
RG: sophomore Tyson Ruffins
RT: sophomore Frederick Williams

Depth: junior Sioape Vatikani, junior Leon Bell, , sophomore Nick Morrow, junior Bastian Swinney, junior Braden Miller, senior Lamar Robinson

Cal will almost certainly be vastly improved on the interior line after portaling in FOUR interior linemen who were starters in FBS football last year. Those four players (Spasojevic-Moko, Harley, Rubbins, and Robinson) will compete with returning interior linemen Sioape Vatikani and Bastian Swinney in fall camp for starting spots and snaps. Harley is the only player on the roster who has taken snaps at center so he’s the most likely of the group to make the lineup by dint of his experience in the middle of the line. CORRECTION: HT to reader Rae Moulton who corrected pointed out that Swinney got center snaps last year - 178 to be precise. Decent chance center will be a fall camp battle between Swinney and Harley.

The three other transfers were all left guards, so it might be wiser of me to predict that either Vatikani or Swinney will start at right guard after they split time at that position last year. But it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Cal wants a totally fresh start along the line and has one of the transfer left guards switch to the right side of the line. Which one, if any? I don’t know!

Really, what I’ll be focusing on are the tackle spots. Cal relied on freshmen Nick Morrow and Frederick Williams last year, and both young players struggled at the toughest positions in football. Cal has brought in two tackle transfers that will compete with those returning starters.

LaJuan Owens signed to play with Willie Fritz at Tulane out of college, but left when Fritz departed, and landed with Bronco Mendenhall at New Mexico where he quickly earned the starting left tackle job as a redshirt freshman. Bronco left New Mexico and Owens was part of the transfer exodus out of Albuquerque.

Leon Bell was a pretty highly ranked JUCO transfer in 2023 who eventually landed on Mississippi State, but he only received 66 snaps across two seasons and is likely looking for playing time.

My best guess is that Owens wins the fall camp battle at LT and Williams keeps his spot at RT after showing promising flashes after getting unexpectedly thrust into the role last year following injuries to TJ Session. Regardless, Cal’s ability to block on the edge will be a major area of concern for roughly the 5th year in a row.

Running Back

Projected starter: senior LJ Johnson

Depth: sophomore Brandon High, junior Kendrick Raphael, freshman Jamaal Wiley

Cal brought in three transfer running backs after losing, well, everybody who got a carry last year except for Jamaal Wiley. All three were back up running backs last year at SMU (Johnson) UTSA (High), and NC State (Raphael) respectively. Johnson has had the most impressive on field performances in his career so far after dealing with some injuries last year, so my guess is that he’ll start, but I have no doubt that this is going to be running back by committee.

Tight End

Projected starters: senior Landon Morris

Depth: sophomore Mason Mini, senior Jeffrey Johnson

There’s very little on-field production in Cal’s tight end room after the departure of Jack Endries to Texas. Landon Morris is the likely starter after a 16 catch season at Temple, and Mason Mini got some limited playing time at the FCS level for Idaho, but this is a room without proven high level production.

One open question: what role would Harsin WANT the tight end to have in Cal’s offense in ideal circumstances, and what role will the tight end actually have in the offense, considering how unproven Cal’s tight end room is this season? Will we see more 4 WR sets as a consequence?

Wide Receiver

Projected starters: senior Jacob De Jesus, senior Trond Grizzell, sophomore Mark Hamper

Depth: sophomore Kyion Grayes, sophomore Daz James, junior Quaron Adams, senior Jayden Dixon-Veal, freshman Trevor Rogers, junior Jordan King

What do you think is more predictive of future production at the power conference level? Proven starter-level on-field production at the small school level, or rotational production at the power conference level?

That’s the question when you’re trying to predict Cal’s WR rotation next year. Jacob De Jesus, Mark Hamper, and Quaron Adams all produced significant results at UNLV, Idaho, and South Dakota respectively, while Kyion Grayes, Daz James, and Jayden Dixon-Veal all have less proven production but with a power conference recruiting pedigree.

Likely all of these players are going to be in Cal’s rotation, along with proven returner Trond Grizzell. De Jesus and Hamper both have impressive volume production, and Adams was an insane deep threat, averaging 30(!!!) yards a catch last year on just 18 receptions.

If they can translate their FCS/MWC production to the ACC, or if Grayes/James/Dixon-Veal can take developmental steps forward, Cal might have a solid rotation of targets for their QBs.

It’s also worth noting that this is a position group that probably cannot afford any injuries. If some of Cal’s in house high school recruits (Jordan King, Trevor Rogers, Jaiven Plummer, Meyer Swinney) aren’t ready to contribute, this is a perilously thin group that might only go 6 players deep.

Defining Questions

Literally who is starting at every position?

I usually try to go a little bit deeper here, but this is the reality we face. There’s basically a camp battle at every single position, and nobody can be assumed to have preference under a new offensive coaching staff. Trond Grizzell (4th in WR snaps last year) and Nick Morrow count as the most experienced returners on offense. Wild!

OK, let’s get serious. What does Cal’s makeover mean?

How cleanly can Cal execute?

In many ways, college football is a game of minimizing mistakes. Having a QB who can throw a dime 50 yards downfield isn’t very valuable if he’s getting flattened because of a missed block. Having a RB who can break three tackles doesn’t help if the play is called back by a procedural penalty.

There’s reason to fear that Cal will have a higher degree of difficulty executing an offense this year, because as I have noted ad naseum, there’s been a ton of turnover. I’d be surprised if there are more than 5 or 6 names that were on last year’s two deep that make the 2025 two deep.

Will there be any chemistry between QB and WR? Can the line function as a unit? Will Cal’s offensive coaches be able to get deep into their playbook, or will they have to keep things simple to find plays that a bunch of new players can execute?

Is there enough skill position depth on the roster?

Here are the total skill position players on this roster with prior meaningful* college football on-field experience:

QB: zero
RB: three
TE: one
WR: four

This is, of course, not fair. College football players have to make their debut at some point, and there are guys who are going to be major contributors who haven’t seen a ton of field action previously, whether they are transfers who didn’t get on the field at their last stops or younger high school recruits ready for bigger roles.

But there is a larger concern - this is a roster perilously thin on proven, experienced talent. Which means that for Cal to succeed, one or both of the following needs to come true:

1. The proven players Cal has on the roster all stay healthy and produce.

2. Multiple players who have never provided on-field production are ready to take a developmental leap this season.

Frankly, I don’t think Cal can really afford injuries to any position group without facing the likely possibility of having to force somebody into action that might not be entirely ready.

Can Cal block on the edge?

Cal hasn’t had a clear solution at tackle entering a season since Patrick Mekari and Jake Curhan were both around. Since then, both tackle positions have been largely cursed with injuries, recruiting failures, and transfer portal misses.

There will be question marks regardless this year. LaJuan Owens is the closest player on the roster to proven after a solid season at New Mexico, but the leap from Mountain West football to ACC football is not easy. Frederick Williams making a leap isn’t implausible after an up and down freshman campaign. Regardless, Cal badly needs answers on both ends of the line if their new collection of skill position players is going to get the time and space they’ll need to produce.

How high is the floor and the ceiling at quaterback?

Conventional wisdom would suggest that Devin Brown would have a high floor. He had the talent to be back up QB at Ohio State, and he has multiple years of experience and practice in college football even if he doesn’t have many live reps.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has a high ceiling befitting his borderline 5 star recruiting ranking.

But will Brown actually show off a high ceiling when he gets his first serious snaps? And is it realistic to hope that Sagapolutele could access his ceiling as a true freshman?

There is absolutely upside at quarterback for Cal. Brown has recruiting pedigree and his only knock is that he’s not as good as Kyle McCord and Will Howard. And I don’t think I need to sell you on Sagapolutele’s upside.

But when your QB choices have a combined 49 pass attempts, there’s downside as well.

*My perhaps unfair definition of meaningful experience? A year’s worth of starter snaps at the FBS or FCS level of college football.