Line and backfield look stacked with talent, depth, and experience. Losing Oladejo DEFINITELY hurt. Reese looked good on the edge in the spring. As long as Cal gets some quality minutes from the other LBs beyond the solid, solid Sirmon, the defense should be improved. Hopefully with a more high-octane Spavital offense, the defense won't have to hold every opponent under 20 to have a chance to win. Sunshine! Special teams wise, Luckhurst looks to be a very good kicker. Plus he was a QB in high school, so the fake field goal is always a possibility. Seriously though, with this schedule, Cal could well be on a knife's edge to make a bowl. Hopefully they'll surprise me and go 8-4 or 9-3. 6-6 will be good enough for this year for me.
Brett Johnson will make or break this defense. The LBs can tackle but really lack speed. Sirmon is a great tackler but poor in pass coverage and I get the feeling that Reese and Allen won't be able to be make up for the speed and coverage lost with Oladejo. Our secondary looks amazing but if the D Line can't produce much more pressure than last year then our defense will struggle on 3rd down even worse than last year due to our slow backers. If Johnson's healthy tho, this is looking like a fabulous defense. Side note does anyone remember how good Stanley Mckenzie is/was?
I think Cals defense and special teams improved, but only slightly. the LB's seems to be very young to me. However, I think over the next couple years, if they stay, I think that's going to be a strength. My concern is the offensive line. It is either feast-or-famine.
Need to be better in the trenches, on both sides of the ball. Would have liked to have seen 1 more OL and 1-2 more DL…the OL transfers were nice adds, and the upgrade in coaching and scheme should help immensely. Praying for healthy Brett Johnson to anchor the DL…BJ is arguably our most indispensable player.
Offense looks like a lot of fun this year, if the line plays well. The defense can be great again, if the line plays well. Sounds kind of trite or obvious, but for Cal, the line play has been so spotty for the last few seasons that I just can't get beyond it. Am looking forward to the Mean Green game to see how we do.
If Cal comes out firing on all cylinders in all 3 phases vs. the Mean Green, we could be in for a good year. If the offense sputters, the QB(s) struggle, look out. Non-conference has to be 2-1 at a minimum. If Cal goes 3-0, then they still have to win all 3 of the conference games they are likely to be favored in: ASU, WSU, and LSJU. Outside of that, they may have to start looking for upsets. Personally, I believe that if they play to their potential, they can beat everyone on the schedule, with the least likely victories being Utah and Oregon on the road.
I think there are a lot of reasons for optimism. The 3 key players that were lost were Scott, Sturdivant, Plummer, and Oladejo. For the most part, these guys have been replaced through the portal by equivalent players. The Sturdivant replacements may not be on the same level, but there are several of them. So the losses have pretty much been compensated for.
On the plus side, the two coaches most responsible for last season's downfall have been replaced by proven commodities. The offense will be dynamic, and the offensive line well coached. The two main areas of need for players, on both both lines, have been addressed. It is a solid team, and it needs to be, because most of the PAC-12 has also gotten stronger. I think this team is headed in the right direction, and have a realistic optimism. Just a few more weeks 'til kickoff. Grrrah!
A bit curious as to why we packed the secondary with portal transferres when it had already been a position of strength with Earby and Hearns. I guess one could say there was attrition at safety with Scott leaving. At any rate injuries can pop up causing a sudden lack of depth. With a bear of a schedule in the middle of the season it may have been wise 🦉 for Wilcox to stock up.
Line and backfield look stacked with talent, depth, and experience. Losing Oladejo DEFINITELY hurt. Reese looked good on the edge in the spring. As long as Cal gets some quality minutes from the other LBs beyond the solid, solid Sirmon, the defense should be improved. Hopefully with a more high-octane Spavital offense, the defense won't have to hold every opponent under 20 to have a chance to win. Sunshine! Special teams wise, Luckhurst looks to be a very good kicker. Plus he was a QB in high school, so the fake field goal is always a possibility. Seriously though, with this schedule, Cal could well be on a knife's edge to make a bowl. Hopefully they'll surprise me and go 8-4 or 9-3. 6-6 will be good enough for this year for me.
Brett Johnson will make or break this defense. The LBs can tackle but really lack speed. Sirmon is a great tackler but poor in pass coverage and I get the feeling that Reese and Allen won't be able to be make up for the speed and coverage lost with Oladejo. Our secondary looks amazing but if the D Line can't produce much more pressure than last year then our defense will struggle on 3rd down even worse than last year due to our slow backers. If Johnson's healthy tho, this is looking like a fabulous defense. Side note does anyone remember how good Stanley Mckenzie is/was?
Can any of the big safeties play hybrid LB?
I think Cals defense and special teams improved, but only slightly. the LB's seems to be very young to me. However, I think over the next couple years, if they stay, I think that's going to be a strength. My concern is the offensive line. It is either feast-or-famine.
Need to be better in the trenches, on both sides of the ball. Would have liked to have seen 1 more OL and 1-2 more DL…the OL transfers were nice adds, and the upgrade in coaching and scheme should help immensely. Praying for healthy Brett Johnson to anchor the DL…BJ is arguably our most indispensable player.
Offense looks like a lot of fun this year, if the line plays well. The defense can be great again, if the line plays well. Sounds kind of trite or obvious, but for Cal, the line play has been so spotty for the last few seasons that I just can't get beyond it. Am looking forward to the Mean Green game to see how we do.
If Cal comes out firing on all cylinders in all 3 phases vs. the Mean Green, we could be in for a good year. If the offense sputters, the QB(s) struggle, look out. Non-conference has to be 2-1 at a minimum. If Cal goes 3-0, then they still have to win all 3 of the conference games they are likely to be favored in: ASU, WSU, and LSJU. Outside of that, they may have to start looking for upsets. Personally, I believe that if they play to their potential, they can beat everyone on the schedule, with the least likely victories being Utah and Oregon on the road.
I think there are a lot of reasons for optimism. The 3 key players that were lost were Scott, Sturdivant, Plummer, and Oladejo. For the most part, these guys have been replaced through the portal by equivalent players. The Sturdivant replacements may not be on the same level, but there are several of them. So the losses have pretty much been compensated for.
On the plus side, the two coaches most responsible for last season's downfall have been replaced by proven commodities. The offense will be dynamic, and the offensive line well coached. The two main areas of need for players, on both both lines, have been addressed. It is a solid team, and it needs to be, because most of the PAC-12 has also gotten stronger. I think this team is headed in the right direction, and have a realistic optimism. Just a few more weeks 'til kickoff. Grrrah!
A bit curious as to why we packed the secondary with portal transferres when it had already been a position of strength with Earby and Hearns. I guess one could say there was attrition at safety with Scott leaving. At any rate injuries can pop up causing a sudden lack of depth. With a bear of a schedule in the middle of the season it may have been wise 🦉 for Wilcox to stock up.
Probably just somewhat of a function of who was available/interested.
Yeah, why ARE you (negabear) even talking about this until they show signs of improvement?