Cal Sports Report

Chicago Bears Draft Cal Safety Elijah Hicks in Seventh Round

He could play safety or cornerback in the pros, having played both as a starter at Cal

Jake Curtis

Chicago Bears Draft Cal Safety Elijah Hicks in Seventh Round
Chicago Bears Draft Cal Safety Elijah Hicks in Seventh Round /

Cal safety Elijah Hicks was taken in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the hicago Bears on Saturday.

Hicks was the 33rd pick in the seventh round and the 254th selection overall.  There were only eight more selections in the 2022 NFL draft after Hicks was taken.

Hicks was at Lake Tahoe along with former Cal defensive back Camryn Bynum when he got the news in a phone call from Bears general manager Ryan Poles.

"I was kind of in shock," Hicks said in the video atop this story.

Hicks listened to what was said but was in a sort of daze.

"In one ear and out the other," he said.

Hicks was one of two Cal players taken in the draft. Golden Bears outside linebacker Cameron Goode was taken earlier in the seventh round by the Miami Dolphins.

--Click here for Cal Sports Report interview and video of Hicks, when he talked about his excitement of his approaching pro career just a few days ago--

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Hicks was not expected to be drafted, partly because of a broken foot suffered in during the week of practice that preceded the East-West Shrine game. That prevented him from playing in that all-star game and prevented him from performing drills for pro scouts.

--Click here for video of Hicks' Pro Day comments--

Hicks could play either safety or cornerback in the NFL, having started at both positions and performing admirably at both while at Cal.

He was a five-year starter at Cal, thanks to the fact that the 2020 COVID season did not count against a player's eligibility. The 5-foot-11, 203-pound, 22-year-old Hicks spent his first three years with the Golden Bears as a starting cornerback. Then he moved to safety for the 2020 season and started at safety in 2020 and 2021.

A first-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2021 by the conference coaches and the Associated Press, Hicks intercepted three passes this past season and also had 72 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack. For his Cal career, Hicks played in all 54 games with 46 starts over five seasons and finished his career with 213 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss 3.0 sacks, five interceptions that he returned for 66 yards and one touchdown, 14 pass breakups and six forced fumbles

Hicks is the fourth Cal defensive back to be drafted in the past three seasons. Former Cal safeties Ashtyn Davis (third round, Jets) and Jaylinn Hawkins (fourth round, Falcons) were taken in the 2020 NFL draft, and cornerback Camryn Bynum (fourth round, Vikings) was taken in last year's draft.  All three of them made the regular-season rosters and have started NFL games.

Hicks' comments after Cal Pro Day in March:

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Cover photo of Elijah Hicks by Stan Szeto, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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