Cal Recruits

Seeing as I'm still stuck on the high school recruiting process from last week's National Signing Day, here's a look back at Cal's recruiting classes since Jeff Tedford was hired as head coach in 2002. Ranks are from Scout Recruiting.

2002-#62 ranked class in the nation
4-star:
Kevin Johnson, K
Others:
David Gray, WR
Marcus O'Keith, RB
Erik Robertson, OL
Tim Mixon
It was a good thing that Tedford actually inherited a fairly talented roster from Tom Holmoe. O'Keith, Robertson, and Mixon made some impact on the program.

2003-#24 
4-star
Brandon Mebane, DT
Others:
J.J. Arrington, RB
Craig Stevens, TE
Thomas DeCoud
Ryan Riddle
Matt Giordano
Aaron Rodgers
Matthew Malele
Joe Maningo
This is the sort of class that makes one rethink the accuracy of the "star" ranking system. Mebane exceeded his 4-star ranking. The rest had few, if any, "stars" following their names. Rodgers was a hit the moment he stepped on the Memorial Stadium turf. His recruiting remains a mystery.

2004-#29
4-star:
Sekeli Faaeteete, RB
Philip Mbakogu, DE
Marshawn Lynch, RB
Others:
Virdell Larkins, CB
Justin Forsett, RB
Robert Jordan, WR
Worrell Williams, LB
Bernard Hicks, CB
Mike Tepper, OL
Alex Mack, C
Nate Longshore, QB
John Gibson, OL
Longshore's sophomore season had this class looking ridiculous. When the dust cleared Lynch, Forsett, Williams, and Mack were the clear stars of this class. Lynch and Mack were first round picks in the NFL Draft.

2005-#9
5-star:
DeSean Jackson, WR
Lavelle Hawkins, WR
Desmond Bishop, LB
4-star
Robert Peele, CB
Anthony Felder, LB
Syd'Quan Thompson, CB
Zack Follett, LB
Kyle Reed, QB
Jesse Canada, WR
Others:
Tyson Alualu, DT
Cameron Morrah, DE
Marcus Ezeff, S
Tad Smith, DE
Eddie Young, DE
This was rarefied air for Cal. Three 5-stars! A top-10 recruiting class! That's inconceivable! Tedford and the Bears were on the NCAA recruiting map now.

2006-#23
4-star:
Darian Hagan, CB
James Montgomery, RB
Tracy Slocum, RB
Derrick Hill, DT
Mike Costanzo, DT
Kevin Riley, QB
Others:
Rulon Davis, DE
Mike Mohamed, LB
Chris Guarnero, OL
Jeremy Ross, WR
Mike Gibson, OL
Keith Browner, DE
This class turned out to be a bit of a tease. There were flashes from several of the players but nothing sustained. Mohamed ended up being the best player of the bunch.

2007-#12
4-stars:
Matt Summers-Gavin, G
Jahvid Best, RB
D.J. Holt, LB
Bryan Anger, P
Mike Calvin, WR
Sam DeMartinis, OL
Justin Cheadle, G
Shane Vereen, RB
Brock Mansion, QB
Alex Lageman, WR
Others:
Chris Conte, S
Ernest Owusu, DE
Cameron Jordan, DE
Robert Mullins, LB
John Tyndall, FB
Solomon Aigamaua, LB
Devin Bishop, LB
Sean Cattouse, S
Mitchell Schwartz, OL
Skylar Curran, TE
D.J. Campbell, CB
This class was loaded. Injuries impacted some(Best and Summers-Gavin). Anger, Vereen, Conte, Jordan, and Schwartz are in the middle of solid NFL careers. Vereen just played a nice role for a Super Bowl champ.

2008-#32
4-star:
Covaughn DeBoskie, RB
Marvin Jones, WR
Trevor Guyton, DT
Tyler Rigsbee, T
Others:
Bryant NnBuife, S
Josh Hill, CB
Dominic Galas, C
Aaron Tipoti, DE
Kendrick Payne, DT
Mychal Kendricks, LB
Anthony Miller, TE
Spencer Ladner, TE
Beau Sweeney, QB
J.P. Hurrell, S
Jones and Kendricks were terrific college football players. They are terrific NFL players. I never felt that Cal took proper advantage of the talents of Miller.

2009-#34
4-star:
Mark Brazinski, C
Steve Williams, CB
Dasarte Yarway, RB
Allan Bridgford, QB
Others:
Charles Siddoway, T
Vincenzo D'Amato, K
Keni Kaufusi, DT
Charles Ragland, T
Isi Sofele, RB
DeAndre Coleman, DT
Alex Logan, S
Brian Schwenke, C
Williams, Sofele, Coleman, and Schwenke made the biggest impact on the Cal program. Schwenke is playing in the NFL.

2010-#35
5-star:
Keenan Allen, WR
4-star:
Gabe King, DE
Alex Crosthwaite, T
David Wilkerson, LB
Cecil Whiteside, LB
Others:
Chris McCain, DE
Michael Lowe, S
Jacob Wark, TE
Nick Forbes, LB
Chris Adcock, C
Geoffrey Gibson, T
It's a little surprising that this class was only ranked #35. Allen, King, Crosthwaite, Wilkerson, and Whiteside were among the top-300 players in the nation. Allen was #5.

2011-#16
5-star:
Viliami Moala, DT
4-star:
Stefan McClure, CB
Brennan Scarlett, DE
Jason Gibson, LB
Daniel Lasco, RB
Jordan Rigsbee, G
Kyle Boehm, QB
Mustafa Jalil, DT
Todd Barr, DT
Others:
Kameron Jackson, CB
C.J. Anderson, RB
Joel Willis, CB
Avery Sebastian, S
Matt Williams, T
Maurice Harris, WR
Darren Ervin, RB
This class was filled with very good college football players.

2012-#39
5-star:
Bryce Treggs, WR
4-star:
Zach Kline, QB
Kenny Lawler, WR
Cedric Dozier, CB
Michael Barton, LB
Others:
Jeffrey Coprich, RB
Demariay Drew, S
Matt Cochran, C
Steven Moore, T
Chris Harper, WR
Darius Powe, WR
Freddie Tagaloa, T
Christian Okafor, T
Cole Leininger, K
Maximo Espita, FB
Hardy Nickerson, LB
This is the class that "might have been." Shaq Thompson and Jordan Payton were Cal commits and Arik Armstead may have been leaning that way until defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi took the money and ran to Washington. He took Thompson with him. Payton went to UCLA. Armstead went to Oregon. If Cal had landed those elite players, Tedford might still be coaching at Cal. This class, combined with the previous two, brought a lot of talent to Berkeley.

2013-#31
4-star:
Jared Goff, QB
Others:
Darius Allensworth, CB
Aaron Cochran, T
Chris Borrayo, G
Kyle Kragen, DE
Cameron Walker, CB
Caleb Coleman, WR
Khalfani Muhammad, RB
Chad Whitener, LB
It's tough to recruit when a school is between coaches. This class is probably more Tedford than Sonny Dykes. Tedford recruited Goff but Dykes benefited.

2014-#44
4-star:
Erik Brown, WR
Others:
Darius White, CB
Trevor Kelly, DT
Devante Downs, FB
Quentin Tartabull, S
Vic Enwere, RB
Luke Rubenzer, QB
Tre Watson, RB
It's a little early to get a read on the first recruiting class of Sonny Dykes. Enwere and Watson got a chance to carry the ball as freshmen and looked good. Rubenzer came in and provided something a little different at quarterback.

Four of Cal's six 5-star recruits since 2002 were receivers.

The biggest problem that Cal has had in the last decade is finding a proficient quarterback. Except for one good season from Nate Longshore, Berkeley has been a quarterback wasteland since Aaron Rodgers left for the NFL. Tedford included a 4-star quarterback in nearly every recruiting class. None of them took over. The only quarterback that has shown any sustained production is the last one that Tedford recruited. Jared Goff. He'll likely have every Cal passing record by the time that he's done. And he could be done next year. His third. Only eight college teams have more players in the NFL than Cal. Rodgers is the only quarterback. Despite all that talent Cal hasn't won much recently. No quarterback. They should be able to win with Goff but their defense is an absolute disaster. If they can get that side of the playing well, avoiding injuries would certainly help, 2015 could be a very fun year.