Cal Sports Report

PFF Names Cal S Elijah Hicks a Third-Team All-American

Bears defensive back one of seven Pac-12 players named to the three Pro Football Focus squads

Jake Curtis

PFF Names Cal S Elijah Hicks a Third-Team All-American
PFF Names Cal S Elijah Hicks a Third-Team All-American /

Cal safety Elijah Hicks added an honor this week when Pro Football Focus named him to its third-team All-America squad.

Hicks was one of seven Pac-12 players named to the first-, second- or third-team All-America squads by PFF.

USC wide receiver Drake London and Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd were named to the first team, USC guard Andrew Vorhees, Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie and Oregon edge defender Kayvob Thibodeau were named to the second team, and UCLA running back Zach Carbonnet was named to the third team along with Hicks.

.PFF's All-America team is not selected by subjective judgments of observers. PFF says it grades every play, and descirbes its selections this way:

So with the help of PFF grades and advanced statistics we present the PFF 2021 All-America Team.

Hicks was the only Cal player named to the all-Pac-12 first team.

Hicks shared the Pac-12 lead with four forced fumbles, was the Cal leader with a career-best three interceptions and was second on the team with 72 tackles.

He has been honored for his work in the community as a semifinalist for the 2021 Campbell Trophy, Jason Witten Collegiate Man Of The Year and Wuerffel Trophy.

Whether Hicks will be taken in the NFL draft is unclear but his versatility should help.  He played cornerback effectively for his first three seasons at Cal before being moved to safety for his final two seasons.

Peter Vandeventer of NFL Draft Bible says this:

Continuing the tradition of Cal defensive backs going to the league, Elijah Hicks is primed to do the same.

.

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

.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Published
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.

Home/Football