Cal secures the commitment of JUCO transfer DL Darius Long
A local player to add depth for a young group
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The Bears had a late addition to the 2021 class with DL Darius Long from the College of San Mateo. He was offered by the Cal staff on June 14th and only took 2 days to commit his future to the Bears.
The arrival of Long will hope to alleviate some of the production left in the wake of Brett Johnson’s season-ending injury. The product of Encinal High School in Alameda will have the chance to secure a spot in the defensive line rotation for Andrew Browning.
Welcome to Berkeley, Darius!
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Darius Long has had a long and unusual journey to Cal. After graduating from Encinal (Alameda, CA) in 2017, he went to CSM for one season before suffering two successive knee injuries and a season canceled due to Covid. So he’ll be a fifth-year athletic sophomore – perhaps inheriting the “old man” title from Zeandae Johnson.
Darius’ has tape from 3.5 years ago, where he played a defensive end in a 4-3 defense – usually in the 5, 7, and even 9 technique. He has good north-south power, quick feet, and some good explosiveness. Honestly, I think he will be better suited to putting on more weight and filling in as a backup DT role at Cal given his strengths. He excels at getting his body into position by bulling his way there rather than using his hands.
Who knows what he’ll look like a good 4.5 years after his last tape highlights, but as we all know – you can’t have enough DT depth. (*cough* *Washington game canceled* *cough*).
Yep, Welcome to Cal Darius. I think we need big bodies who can contribute immediately. It seems like we are recruiting well on the D-line, but those guys are 1-2 years away. The Brett Johnson out-for-the-season problem may have been slightly ameliorated.