Cal Recruiting Update

Cal's disappointing 30-27 loss to UCLA last Friday dropped their record 5-7. Without a bowl game on the horizon it's on to recruiting. Golden Bears head coach Justin Wilcox was hired last January about two weeks before Signing Day. He didn't even have a chance to hire all of his coaches before that big day. The recruiting class that Wilcox and his staff are putting together will really be their first. There's been a complete overhaul of the offensive and defensive systems that previous head coach Sonny Dykes had in place. It can be argued that Cal had no defense under Dykes. This is a very important recruiting class for the immediate future of Cal football. The commit from Torrey Pines linebacker Louis Bickett this week bumped the total 2018 Recruiting Class to 17. Here are those commits.

Will Craig, OT, Granite Bay (Granite Bay, CA) 6'5" 265
Nikko Remigio, WR, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) 5'10" 160
McCallan Castles, TE, South Tahoe (South Lake Tahoe, CA) 6'5" 230
Jasper Friis, OT. Aquinas (San Bernadino, CA) 6'7" 315
Nick Alftin, DE, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, CA) 6'5" 224
Miles Owens, OT, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, CA) 6'7" 315
JH Tevis, DE, Menlo-Atherton (Menlo Park, CA) 6'5" 227
Evan Tattersall, OLB, Granite Bay (Granite Bay, CA) 6'2" 215
JT Shrout, QB, William S. Hart (Newhall, CA) 6'3" 190
Antonio Mafi, G, Junipero Serra (San Mateo, CA) 6'3" 360
Chigozie Anusiem, CB, Sonora (La Habra, CA) 6'2" 175
Matthew Cinrdric, OT, Skyline (Sammamish,WA) 6'4" 270
Brandon Mello, OL, Clayton Valley (Concord, CA) 6'7" 295
Colt Doughty, ILB, College of San Mateo (San Mateo, CA) 6'2" 235
Lone Isara, DE, Mt. San Antonio College (Walnut, CA) 6'3" 260
Slater Zellers, LS, Notre Dame Prep (Scottsdale, AZ) 6'1" 220
Louis Bickett, OLB, Torrey Pines (Emcinitas, CA) 6'3" 200
-None of these commits are binding until a Letter of Intent is signed.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Cal sent several offensive linemen on to the NFL. Some saw great success in the league. Todd Steussie, Tarik Glenn, and Alex Mack to name three. Cal hasn't sent too many offensive linemen on to the NFL in recent years. Injuries haven't helped but the line has struggled. It looks like Wilcox and his staff have emphasized those positions in this class. Will Craig is probably the best of the bunch. Miles Owens, Jasper Friis, and Brandon Mello add ridiculous size. So does Antonio Mafi but I'm guessing that the coaches might see him as a nose tackle on defense. He played the position, as well as guard, in high school and Cal doesn't really have an "impossible-to-move" anchor in the middle of their defensive line. Mafi could be that anchor.

Recruiting is all about the star rating system so here's how Cal's commits stack up in that flawed system.

4-stars
Will Craig
Nikko Remigio

3-stars
McCallan Castles
Jasper Friis
Nick Alftin
Miles Owens
JH Tevis
JT Shrout
Chigozie Anusiem
Colt Doughty
Lone Isara
Matthew Cinrdric
Brandon Mello
Louis Bickett
Slater Zellers
Evan Tattersall
Antonio Mafi

One little twist to the 2018 Football Recruiting season is the implementation of the new early signing period. Recruits can now sign a Letter of Intent during a 72-hour window that opens on December 20.