Four Cal Players to Play in Thursday's East-West Shrine Game
![Cal linebacker Teddye Buchanan Cal linebacker Teddye Buchanan](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_6477,h_3643,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/cal_sports_report/01jjqksm4hp0kgw9xp6w.jpg)
Four members of Cal football’s highly rated defense will try to improve their NFL draft status when they play in the 100th East-West Shrine Bowl college all-star game on Thursday evening at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys at Arlington, Texas.
An all-century team of players who played in the Shine game was selected, and one Cal player is on that squad, which is noted below.
Cornerbacks Nohl Williams and Marcus Harris, safety Craig Woodson and linebacker Teddye Buchanan will line up for the West squad representing Cal in the game that kicks off at 5 p.m. Pacific time on the NFL Network. (Click here for the entire Shrine game rosters.)
Berkeley representation in DFW! 🐻@CalFootball | #ShrineBowl pic.twitter.com/0HgQki4vlX
— East-West Shrine Bowl (@ShrineBowl) January 26, 2025
Williams had initially accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl, which will be played Saturday afternoon, but evidently he chose to play in the Shine game instead. Cal edge Xavier Carlton played in the Hula Bowl all-star game earlier this month and recorded two sacks.
Williams and Buchanan are the Cal players with the best chance of being taken in the NFL draft, although the draft status of both players remains unclear. The projections for Williams suggest he could be taken anywhere from the second round to the fifth round, with a few suggesting he will go undrafted. Buchanan is expected to be a late-round pick if he gets drafted at all, but he seems to have improved his status during Shrine practices this week.
ESPN’s panel of college football experts ranked Williams as the 42nd-best college football player in 2024, and he ranks fourth among cornerbacks. There were 34 cornerbacks taken in the 2024 NFL draft, including three in the first round.
Williams during a Shrine practice:
Pro Football Focus ranked Williams the 153rd-best pro prospect on its big board, and listed Buchanan at No. 224. A total of 254 players will be taken in the seven-round, three-day 2025 NFL draft on April 24-26.
The Athletic included Buchanan among 15 players whose NFL stock could rise during Shrine week. It has this comment:
Teddye Buchanan, LB, California
A high school QB who moved to linebacker due to a hand injury, Buchanan (6-2, 235) was a quick study in the stack for three years at UC Davis before making 114 tackles and five sacks this season. He’s a super versatile linebacker who moves like a safety.
Buchanan is still a bit of a work in progress and needs to be a better tackler, but the tools are absolutely there.
I remain very impressed with Cal LB Teddye Buchanan.
— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) January 28, 2025
Had a great weekend at the Shrine Bowl.
Rams like to bring simulated pressures and blitz a LB. Had 25 pressures last year with the Golden Bears. pic.twitter.com/3FOsi6NzF4
Williams, Buchanan, Harris and Woodson join 140 other Cal players who have played in the East-West Shrine game over the years. One former Cal player – linebacker/offensive guard Les Richter – was voted to the 100-man Shrine All-Century team. He played in the 1951 Shrine game.
Six Cal players participated in the inaugural Shrine Game in 1925, including Brick Muller.
The most recent Cal player to play in the Shrine game was Elijah Hicks, who played in the 2022 edition.
Other notable Cal players who have played in the Shrine game include: Roy Riegels (1930), Vic Bottari (1939), Jackie Jensen (1947), Johnny Olszewski (1952), Matt Hazeltine (1955), Paul Larson (1955), Craig Morton (1965), Ed White (1968), Sherman White (1971), Steve Bartkowski (1974), Chuck Muncie (1976), Joe Roth (1977), Ron Rivera (1984), Ken Harvey (1988), David Ortega (1990), Troy Taylor (1990), Mike Pawlawski (1992), Russell White (1993), Todd Steussie (1994), Dave Barr (1995), Pat Barnes (1977), Tarik Glenn (1977), Deltha O’Neal (2000), Nnamdi Asomugha (2003)
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