Cal Football 2021 Commits

 I haven't followed Cal's football recruiting too closely this year. I've seen scholarship offers going out to high school players. I've seen a few of those offers accepted. I just haven't looked at the Golden Bear recruiting, as a whole, as closely as years past. As with just about everything else, this has been a different sort of year. College football here and there. High school football here and there. Where college football hasn't been is in Berkeley. That'll change in about a month. It's been a different sort of year but college football recruiting, in general, and Cal football recruiting, in particular, has somehow continued. How does a high school football player commit to a college during a time with a very uncertain future? Some have. 19 high school players, so far, have verbally committed to play football at the most glorious college in the land, the University of California at Berkeley. 

California 2021 Football Commits

J. Michael Sturdivant, WR, 6-3.5/185, Marcus, (Flower Mound, TX)

Jermaine Terry, TE, 6-4, 235, Kennedy (Richmond, CA)

Mavin Anderson, WR, 6-0/195, Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA)

Kai Millner, QB, 6-2/188, Higley (Gilbert, AZ)

Akili Calhoun, DE, 6-4/245, Liberty (Brentwood, CA)

Derek Wilkins, DE, 6-4/250, Santa Margarita Catholic (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA)

Kaleb Elarms-Orr, DE, 6-3/222, Moreau Catholic (Hayward, CA)

Kaleb Higgins, CB, 6-2/196, Folsom (Folsom, CA)

Bastian Swinney, OT, 6-6/275, Edina (Minneapolis, MN)

Moses Oladejo, OLB, 6-2/225, Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove, CA)

Hunter Barth, S, 6-2/200, Queen Creek (Queen Creek, AZ)

William Reed, OT, 6-6/280, Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, WA)

Myles Williams, DE, 6-3/250, Bishop Alemany (Mission Hills, CA) 

Patrick Hisatake, OLB, 6-4/240, Westview (Portland, OR)

Keleki Latu, TE, 6-6/205, Jesuit (Carmichael, CA)

Ryan Lange, OT, 6-6/330, Pittsburg (Pittsburg, CA)

Lu-Magia Hearns, CB, 5-10/160, De La Salle (Concord, CA)

Fatuvalu Iosefa, S, 6-0/170, Mililani (Mililani, HI)

Dylan Jemtegaard, OG, 6-4/270, Yelm (Yelm, WA)

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Some Cal Recruiting Facts

Four-Star Players

J. Michael Sturdivant

Jermaine Terry

Mavin Anderson

Kai Millner

Akili Calhoun

Three-Star Players

Everyone else

As further proof that the star-system of college football recruiting doesn't mean much, Minnesota Vikings rookie receiver Justin Jefferson was a lowly two-star recruit coming out of high school. 

 

Position Breakdown

QB: 1

WR: 2

TE: 2

OL: 4

DE: 4

OLB: 2

CB: 2

S: 2

Loading up on pass rushers and blockers. 

National rank: 20

Pac-12 rank: 4

Both rankings are among the highest rankings that I can recall Cal achieving. The Golden Bears are usually middle of the pack, or lower. 

Some Cal Recruiting Thoughts

Due to Sonny Dykes' ridiculous offense, Justin Wilcox inherited a football team with no tight ends. Cal has been recruiting and offering tight ends in numbers. Jermaine Terry could be the answer. 

Bastian Swinney is the first player I've ever seen Cal pull from Minnesota. 

With Ryan Lange in mind, it amazes me to see high school football players around or over 300 pounds. During my high school football days, the heaviest player on our team was about 240. We were smaller than many of our opponents but I still can't recall any opponents that weighed more than about 270. Then again, there weren't many 300-lb offensive linemen in the NFL in those days either.

It's good to see Cal once again recruiting the local high schools. 

Speaking of recruiting locally, every year I hope that Cal can get players from annual power De La Salle. The likes of D.J. Williams, Aaron Taylor, Amani Toomer, Maurice Jones-Drew, Derek Landri, T.J. Ward always got away. Cal did receive a commit from Lu-Magia Hearns this year.