Best Bears

Perhaps in an effort to pass the time during this odd time, Cal Football recently had a series of fan polls to come up with the Best Golden Bears of the past 25 years. A poll with four players at each position was posted, fans voted, and the Best Bears at each position of the past 25 years was determined. Here are those Bears.

Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers

Running Back
Marshawn Lynch

Wide Receiver
DeSean Jackson

Tight End
Tony Gonzalez

Offensive Tackle
Mitchell Schwartz

Interior Offensive Lineman
Alex Mack

Interior Defensive Lineman
Lorenzo Alexander

Edge Rusher
Cameron Jordan

Linebacker
Mychal Kendricks

Defensive Back
Nnambi Asomugha

Returner
DeSean Jackson

Kicker
Giorgio Tavecchio

Punter
Bryan Anger

Long Snapper
L.P. Ladouceur
Nick Sundberg

***

Leave it to Cal to have two long snappers on this Best Bears list. After all, they are Long Snapper U. Even if they are the only ones that know it.

I'm fine with Nnambi Asmugha as Cal's best defensive back of the past 25 years but serious cases can be made for Detha O'Neal and Syd'Quan Thompson. O'Neal's performance in the 1999 Big Game might've been the best I've ever seen from a Golden Bear.

Many of the choices were automatic so there were few surprises. However. If the picks were entirely up to me, I'd make some changes.

Keenan Allen at receiver instead of DeSean Jackson. 

Allen was the better college receiver and is a better professional receiver. In my Cal opinion, Allen is the best Cal receiver since Wesley Walker.

Evan Weaver at linebacker instead of Mychal Kendricks. 

This is a tough one. Kendricks is one of my favorite Cal players. So is Weaver. Kendricks was a great Bear. Weaver was just a little better.

Ryan Longwell at kicker instead of Giorgio Tavecchio.

This is the surprise of the voting. I'm really surprised that Tavecchio got the vote over Longwell. Recency bias?