Cal 2022 Football Preview -- Part I: Strengths and Weaknesses

With greater personnel change than usual, these Bears are challenging to evaluate.

* First in a series of stories previewing the 2022 Cal Golden Bears

My assignment here is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Cal football team that opens its season Saturday at home against UC Davis.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

But categorizing the strengths and weaknesses of this team is tricky. There are so many new pieces, so many moving parts, that pigeonholing them is not easy.

For instance, was the Bears’ defensive line a strength? Certainly is was closer to that when Brett Johnson — perhaps Cal’s best player — was expected to anchor the line after returning from a season-long absence following a car accident and hip surgery.

Johnson is now out for the season with an undisclosed lower-body unrelated to his hip, altering the equation of how we must assess the D-line.

Anyway, bear with me as I endeavor to settle on three strengths and three weaknesses facing the Bears:

Strengths

— INSIDE LINEBACKER: This one is easy. The arrival of Washington transfer Jackson Sirmon -- a preseason All-Pac-12 pick who is reunited with his father, defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon -- and the return of promising sophomore Femi Oladejo is only the starting point here. Nate Rutchena and Trey Paster had unexpectedly productive seasons in 2021, and junior Muelu Iosefa had 55 tackles.

All told, those five players combined to record 243 tackles last year while playing in Berkeley or Seattle. Without much argument, this is the Bears’ best position group.

— WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END: This one requires a leap of faith. Just one of Cal’s top seven pass catchers returns from a year ago. BUT Junior wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter, who averaged 18.5 yards on 21 catches in 2021, looks like a potential star.

The rest of this group boasts more potential than evidence so far.

Redshirt freshmen wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant and Mavin Anderson and sophomore tight ends Jermaine Terry III and Keleki Latu combined for five receptions a year ago, But all four provide either speed or size — two things Cal lacked in this area a year ago — and all four should blossom nicely.

Then there’s Mason Starling, who stands 6-foot-4 and caught 19 TD passes in two junior college seasons. Tommy Christakos, also 6-4, repeatedly has shown up last spring and during fall camp.

— DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: Somewhat quietly, this has been a Cal strength for most of coach Justin Wilcox’s tenure. The proof has come on draft day, where four times in the past three years a Cal DB was chosen by an NFL team.

Elijah Hicks is the latest to exit to the pros, but the Cal secondary still features preseason All-Pac-12 safety Daniel Scott and cornerback Lu-Magia Hearns, who was good enough as a true freshman to force his way into the starting lineup by midseason.

The coaching staff believes the combination of Miles Williams and Craig Woodson will provide an answer at the other safety spot, and junior Collin Gamble will man the other corner spot after starting eight games a year ago.

Weaknesses

— OFFENSIVE LINE: Just as the Bears’ strengths are projections, we’re also waiting to see if the retooled offensive front can get it done. The coaching staff touts greater depth and there are two solid pieces in center Matthew Cindric and tackle Ben Coleman.

But three starters from a year ago are gone, including two who were originally expected back — guard McKade Mettauer (transferred to Oklahoma) and tackle Will Craig (retired). As Wilcox talks about in the video at the top of this story, there is inexperience here.

New quarterback Jack Plummer looks to be a solid replacement for Chase Garbers, but he doesn’t have the same mobility and if the line cannot protect him or open lanes for the running game the rest of it won’t matter.

— OUTSIDE LINEBACKER: This translates to concerns about the Bears’ pass rush. Cameron Goode gave that quality to the defense in recent years, with 20.5 career sacks among his 36.5 tackles for loss.

The Bears also got a nice boost last season from Texas transfer Marqez Bimage, and they hope to get similar contributions from UCLA defector Odua Isibor. The coaches have talked him up, but with the Bruins he totaled just nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in four seasons.

Veteran Braxten Croteau got leaner — and presumably quicker — in the offseason, and Utah transfer Xavier Carlton can play either end or OLB. But we also wonder if we might see someone from the deeper ILB group shifted to the outside before the season proceeds too far.

— DEFENSIVE LINE: Yes, it had to come back to this. Johnson would have given the Bears a versatile force up front but without him Cal will rely on an assortment of players with far less impressive credentials.

Ricky Correia should be solid at nose tackle and junior end Ethan Saunders has some experience. But Jaedon Roberts, Darius Long and Gunnar Rask have a combined total of nine career tackles, and Akili Calhoun and Nate Burrell have never played in a college game.

Could this position group be what the Bears believe they have at receiver — inexperienced but talented? Maybe, but we’re going to need to see some evidence.

Cover photo of new Cal inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon with his father, defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon by Kyle McRae, Cal Athletics

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo