Incredible recruiting class
(Written by kencraw)
Well, for those who care about football recruiting, today is a GREAT day. Cal grabbed the #10 class in the nation, with a flurry of last minute recruits. Today they officially signed 2 5-star players (aka DeSean Jackson quality players) both on defense. One, Keenan Allen, is a WR/Safety who we expect to play at safety and the other, Chris Martin is a combo linebacker/defensive end. He’s hopefully our next Zack Follett (but even more talented).
This is really important because we’ve had some talent weaknesses on defense and this class is FULL of defensive talent. There are 4 4-star linebackers (in addition to Martin) and a 4-star defensive end. Just think about that. Of the 9 4-star and 5-star players, 7 of them are defensive players. In the past, generally, the balance has fallen towards more offensive talent than defensive at Cal.
The other two 4-stars are a wide receiver and an offensive lineman, two positions that we could use some additional strength.
Add in that the balance, as with all Tedford classes, is pretty good (you basically want a complete team) with 1 QB, 1 RB, 1 TE, 3 OL (little weak), 4 WR (little heavy but needed), 2 DL (little weak), 4 LB, and 3 DB. OK, it probably would have been nice to have 3 defensive linemen and 4 offensive lineman (and if we’re being nit-picky, a 4th defensive back), but when you compare that to some other schools, it’s near perfect balance (as an example of how bad it can be, last year Stanford had 4 tight ends).
Truly, this is a great, balanced class, the best of the Tedford era.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Any chance that Keenan plays WR or both ways? I thought that he switched so that he could play with his brother, or rather catch passes from his brother who’s a QB
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
both ways: not a chance.
WR: It’s definitely a possibility. I guess that’s the way he’s leaning. But I get the feeling that once he gets in fall-ball and sees how things are shaping up, he’ll end up at safety, particularly when his half-brother realizes how far he is from taking over for Riley. He might even say “I’ll play safety for a year until I can play catch with my bro” in his mind, but trust me, when you’re the presumptive starter in 2 years, it’s pretty hard to make the switch.
That’s my best guess anyway.
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:41 pm
On the other hand, what do I know?:
http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2010/02/03/football-allen-to-play-receiver/
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Tedford said today that Allen will play WR, but will also be brought in on Defense in nickel situations.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Cal really needed to land a bigtime OT in this class, that’s really the only disappointment I can see.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
If we had thirty scollies to fill I think we could have gotten those missing pieces. As it stands I think we did pretty damn good this year. Tosh Luopi just got Rivals top recruiter of the year award nationwide.
February 9th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
we still need someone who can kick a football.