Cal Football: So Far, So Good for Bears on Recruiting Trail, But It's Early

Running back Byron Cardwell, a top-200 prospect by SI, is considering Cal

It’s still early in the process of college football teams assembling their 2021 recruiting classes, so it’s pointless to get too excited about team rankings.

Even if 247Sports currently says Cal has the Pac-12’s third-best class.

Rivals has the Bears two notches lower as fifth-best in the conference. Not bad, either. But way premature with the early signing date of Dec. 18 still more than six months away.

(***Defensive back from Hawaii commits to Cal on Friday)

The Bears remain in the hunt for two players given four-star, top-200 status, according to 247Sports:

— Running back Bryon Cardwell, a 6-foot, 193-pounder from Morse High in San Diego, lands at No. 176 on the 247Sports ladder. Cardwell is listed as the 11th-best running back in the country, the No. 16 prospect in California.

Here is a highlight video of Cardwell, ranked by SI All-American as the nation’s 158th-best prospect:

Cardwell seems likely to wind up in the Pac-12, with UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington considered potential destinations, along with Cal. But others, including Florida State, Michigan, LSU, Nebraska and Penn State, also have made scholarship offers.

Cardwell rushed for 872 yards and 21 touchdowns in just 10 games last season, adding two more scores on pass receptions.

— Wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant, a 6-foot-2, 183-pounder from Flower Mound, Texas, is slotted as the nation’s No. 149 overall prospect by 247Sports.

Cal faces stiff competition for Sturdivant, with LSU, Oklahoma and UCLA also considered legitimate contenders for his talents.

As the summer begins, USC and Oregon are the only Pac-12 schools making a recruiting dent on the national scene.

USC, with 16 verbals commitments, is No. 3 according to Rivals, No. 5 on the 247Sports chart and No. 5 per ESPN.

Oregon, with 12 commits, is rated No. 10 by 247Sports and ESPN, No. 11 by Rivals.

No other Pac-12 team is higher than Washington’s No. 50 slot on Rivals’ rankings. Cal, with seven commitments, is ranked No. 53 according to 247Sports, No. 57 by Rivals.

The Bears' top committed prospect is tight end Jermaine Taylor, a 6-4, 235-pounder from Kennedy High in Richmond. Rivals ranks Taylor as the nation's No. 13 tight end prospect, and both 247Sports and Rivals make him a four-star recruit.

According to 247Sports, wide receiver Mavin Anderson of Mission Viejo and defensive end Akili Calhoun of Brentwood also are four-star prospects. Both are given three stars by Rivals.

Here are the current national ratings of Pac-12 programs by 247Sports (with number of verbal commitments in parenthesis):

4. USC (16)

10. Oregon (12)

53. Cal (7)

57. UCLA (8)

62. Washington (7)

73. Washington State (8)

79. Arizona State (5)

84. Oregon State (6)

85. Utah (5)

86. Stanford (4)

91. Arizona (4)

100. Colorado (3)

And the Rivals team rankings (as of June 11):

3. USC (16)

11. Oregon (12)

50. Washington (7)

53. UCLA (8)

57. Cal (7)

71. Washington State (7)

72. Arizona State (5)

75 tie. Stanford (4)

78. Utah (4)

86. Oregon State (4)

95 tie. Colorado (3)

99. Arizona (3)