Cal Bears: National Signing Day in Review

The always exciting National Signing Day has come and gone, and the Cal Bears can now officially welcome new players to their family.

The Cal Golden Bears have some new cubs to add to the family. National Signing Day began on 7 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday morning, and the Bears were already just about set. Nine Cal players had enrolled early, while 14 of the 15 players who had verbally committed made it official on Wednesday. The lone exception was offensive lineman Paco Perez, who flipped from Cal to head to his hometown school, UCLA. They also added two players on Signing Day, both very big gets for the school.

With the 25-player class set (for now), let’s meet the new Bears.

Note: Players listed with (early enrollee) have graduated early and already enrolled at Cal.

QB Max Gilliam (early enrollee)

6’2″, 193 pounds, Thousand Oaks HS in Westlake Village, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Gilliam has already drawn a lot of comparisons to the departed Jared Goff, as he is a pro-style quarterback athletic enough to run the ball, enrolled at school early. With Goff gone, there will be an open competition for the starting quarterback’s job, featuring Gilliam, redshirt freshman Ross Bowers, sophomore Chase Forrest, and junior quarterback-turned-safety-turned-possible quarterback again Luke Rubenzer. Could Gilliam take the reins as a frosh?

ATH Melquise Stovall (early enrollee)

5’8″, 179 pounds, Paraclete HS in Lancaster, PA

Rivals – 4 stars; ESPN – 4 stars; Scout – 4 stars

Stovall is a very highly-touted young player, ranked 233rd in the ESPN300 and the number-three all-purpose back by Rivals. He chose Cal over Utah, Arizona, and Notre Dame, among others. Stovall served primarily as a running back at Paraclete, but figures to play mostly in the slot at Cal, also getting some carries out of the backfield, and returning kicks and punts as well. The ultra-slick and super fast Stovall could rejuvenate a return game that didn’t record a touchdown last season.

WR Jordan Duncan (early enrollee)

6’1″, 192 pounds, Oak Groves HS in Hattiesburg, MS

Rivals – 4 stars; ESPN – 4 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Duncan is a pure playmaker, and was highly-touted through the recruiting process as the sixth-best player from Mississippi. He received offers from Alabama, Mississippi State and West Virginia, just to name a few, but chose to become a Golden Bear. Cal will need to replace their top six pass catchers from 2015, and Duncan is certainly talented enough to fill one of those spots in his freshman year.

DE Russell “Rusty” Becker (early enrollee)

6’4″, 256 pounds, Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Fergus Falls, MN

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 2 stars

Becker enjoyed a huge growth spurt between his senior year of high school and the beginning of his sophomore year at Minnesota, picking up two inches and gaining over 50 pounds. His tape gives a lot to be excited about, showing flashes of great potential as a strongside defensive end. As a JC transfer, Becker should contribute on the defensive line next season.

WR Jordan Veasy (early enrollee)

6’3″, 215 pounds, Golden West College in Huntington Beach, CA

Rivals – 2 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 2 stars

Originally from Gladsden, Alabama, Veasy enjoyed a huge sophomore season at Golden West, catching 63 passes for 1,036 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s a big receiver with good ball skills, and could be another guy who can fill one of the roles left by the six departed pass catchers, especially as a transfer junior.

G Dwayne Wallace (early enrollee)

6’5″, 330 pounds, Riverside Community College in Riverside, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Wallace received offers from a lot of schools, including Texas Tech, Washington, UNLV, and Arkansas, but opted to stay close to home with the Bears. With Jordan Rigsbee and Brian Farley graduating, Wallace, who is a monster of a man listed between 320 and 340 pounds, can compete for time early in his Cal career.

RB Derrick Clark (early enrollee)

5’10”, 190 pounds, Mission Bay HS in San Diego, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Coming out of a California high school, Clark was ranked among the top-50 running backs in the country by Rivals (23) and Scout (43). Clark’s earliest contributions will likely come on special teams, where he is known as a very good returner. Coach Dykes likes his versatility, including his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Cal has a crowded group of runners for 2016, with Vic Enwere, Khalfani Muhammad, and Tre Watson, 2015’s top three rushers, returning, but Clark could make some noise beyond that.

OT Jake Curhan (early enrollee)

6’7″, 305 pounds, Redwood HS in Visalia, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Curhan is another massive human being, listed between 305 and 315 pounds at 6’7″. He had offers from all over, including Virginia, Vanderbilt, Idaho State, and San Jose State. Cal’s offensive line struggled in 2015, but both starting tackles are returning for another season. If Curhan impresses during the spring, he might be able to snag a starter’s job,or at least a solid depth role.

CB Marloshawn Franklin (early enrollee)

6’1″, 185 pounds, Mesa Community College in Mesa, AZ

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 2 stars

At Mesa, Frankling recorded 41 tackles (one for loss), a forced fumble, and 12 pass breakups in 10 games during his sophomore season. Cal’s secondary was a big weakness, and improving the pass coverage was a big priority in this recruiting season. Franklin, now going to be a junior, can help them in that regard.

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DE Evan Weaver

6’3″, 241 pounds, Gonzaga Prep School in Spokane, WA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

According to Rivals, Weaver is the second-best defensive end from Washington, eight-best player in the state, and 58th-best defensive end overall. He had a lot of offers from Pac-12 schools, including Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Washington and Wazzou, but chose to head to Cal. He’s a playmaking end who can play all over the line, and likens himself to J.J. Watt.

CB Nygel Edmonds

6′, 182 pounds, The McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN

Rivals – 4 stars; ESPN – 4 stars; Scout – 3 stars

In April of 2015, Edmonds committed to Stanford, but flipped in January of this year to the Cardinal’s rivals across the Bay, so there’s a great reason for Bears’ fans to like him already. He was rated the eighth-best player coming out of Tennessee by ESPN, and the best corner from the state by Scout. Edmonds may be the most talented defensive back in the Cal recruiting class chock full of them.

CB Camryn Bynum

5’11”, 164 pounds, Centennial HS in Corona, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Another defensive back, Bynum makes up for his small stature by being an incredibly smart player that is great at playing the ball. Before his senior season at Centennial, Bynum put on about 10 pounds of weight, but he’ll need to bulk up some more at Cal.

WR Drew Kobayashi

6’3″, 190 pounds, St. Louis School in Honolulu, HI

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

A very talented receiver with great speed, Kobayashi has the skill set to be a big-time playmaker at Cal. He has the ball skills and size to play on the outside, and quickness and route-running ability to play inside. Kobayashi joins fellow Honolulu-based wide receiver Kanawai Noa, who committed to Cal in 2015 out of Punahou High School and played as a true freshman last season.

OT Daniel Juarez

6’5″, 290 pounds, Centennial HS in Corona, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Juarez was teammates at Centennial with fellow 2016 commit Bynum, as well as wide receiver Greyson Bankhead (2015 commit) and Tre Watson (2014 commit). He’s a big, strong tackle who can block effectively in the pass and the run, and he should turn into a solid contributor for the Bears. Cal is establishing a nice pipeline with Centennial, who is producing a lot of talented ballplayers.

WR Matt Laris

6’3″, 210 pounds, Eastside Catholic HS in Bellevue, WA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Laris is another tall receiver that also has the girth a team would look for in a jump-ball receiver. He caught 77 passes for 1,492 yards and 16 touchdowns in his junior season at Eastside Catholic before committing to Cal. In his senior year he caught 67 balls for 1,098 yards and 10 touchdowns. Laris is one of five wideouts to commit to Cal this recruiting period.

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WR Logan Gamble

6’5″, 190 pounds, St. Anthony HS in Long Beach, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Gamble, yet another receiver commit, is huge at 6’5″, the tallest of the incoming wideouts, and uses that height to his advantage, going up over defenders to snatch passes out of the sky. He’s not exactly a burner, more lumbering down the field with long strides, but he’s unafraid of going over the middle, again using his size to create position and shed tackles.

OLB Cameron Goode

6’3″, 190 pounds, Klein Collins HS in Klein, TX

Rivals – 2 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 2 stars

Goode received late interest from Vanderbilt and Nebraska, but the linebacker stuck by his word to Cal. He was a pass-rushing linebacker in high school with good speed, but he is fairly undersized and likely won’t put his hand in the dirt often. One of his priorities should be bulking up before he sees substantial playing time. Goode was the lone linebacker to commit before Signing Day.

DT Chris Yaghi

6’3″, 270 pounds, Foothill HS in Santa Ana, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

One of Cal’s biggest needs in this cycle was the defensive line (along with the defensive secondary), and Yaghi fits that need. The defensive tackle turned down offers from Oregon, Utah, and Boise State, among others to join Cal’s 4-3 defense. Yaghi can plug up the middle of the line while guys like Weaver and Becker rush from the outside.

CB Josh Drayden

5’11”, 170 pounds, Bishop Dunne HS in Dallas, TX

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Drayden is another part of the deep defensive back group committed to the Bears. Coach Dykes snagged Drayden fairly early in the process after losing a couple of defensive backs’ commitments. With the Dallas product, Cal is getting a smart corner who covers well, something they very much need.

CB Traveon Beck

5’10”, 170 pounds, St. John Boscho HS, Bellflower, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Beck is the fifth and final defensive back profiled here, coming to the Bears from powerhouse St. John Bosco in a suburb of Los Angeles. Cal was the winner of a five-finalist pool, beating out Arizona State, Wazzou, San Jose State, and Wisconsin. The small corner is extremely physical, playing larger than his size, and very quick, running as fast as one would expect.

OG/OT Gentle Williams

6’3″, 278 pounds, Florence HS in Florence, MS

Rivals – 2 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 2 stars

While his name is Gentle, he’s anything but. Williams is a mauler in the run game, playing both on the interior of the line and on the outside. Cal was the first to make him an offer last February, and he verbally committed just before his senior season. Williams’ large frame still has some room to pack on a few more pounds.

DE Chinedu Udeogu

6’5″, 245 pounds, Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, MD

Rivals – 2 stars; ESPN – 2 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Udeogu (pronounced Oo-daw-goo) is an intriguing prospect, with good size, strength, and a bit of speed to boot. The last few weeks of his recruiting process were difficult, as flying was made nearly impossible by a monster blizzard that dumped well over two feet of snow on his home state of Maryland. After that fiasco, Udeogu stuck form to his commitment with the Bears following late pushes from Iowa State (where his brother Oge Udeogu attends) and Wake Forest.

DL Tevin Paul

6’4, 260 pounds, Lake Travis HS in Austin, TX

Rivals – 2 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Paul is a large fellow, already bigger than graduating defensive end Kyle Kragen. Paul played mostly on the edge at Lake Travis High, but he has the size to move inside as well. He’s another big body, a similar look to Yaghi, on a defensive line that can surely use some big bodies. Paul also held offers from SMU, Air Force, Tulsa, and Northwestern.

RB Zion Echols

5’8″, 175 pounds, Charter Oak HS in Covina, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 4 stars; Scout – 3 stars

A lot of schools wanted to get their hands on Echols after his junior season, during which he rushed for 1,141 yards and 18 touchdowns, and caught 44 passes for 553 yards and six touchdowns. Echols committed to Cal early, but withdrew the commitment amid speculation that Coach Dykes would be leaving. With Dykes staying, Echols decided he would as well. The combination of early enrollee Stovall and Echols, a Signing Day pickup, is titillating, as they are both small, but incredibly fast, versatile, explosive and exciting players.

Next: Cal Bears Draft Profile: RB Daniel Lasco

QB Victor Viramontes

6′, 216 pounds, Norco Senior HS in Norco, CA

Rivals – 3 stars; ESPN – 3 stars; Scout – 3 stars

Viramontes is a dual threat quarterback, but is thought to be more advanced in the running portion of his game. He was very impressed by a late visit to Cal, and it appears to have been enough to swing him towards Berkeley on Signing Day, and away from his original commitment to Michigan. Viramontes has been listed as an athlete, but during Dykes’ NSD press conference, the coach said that recruit will play quarterback, joining an already deep competition. If Cal wants to move away from the pass-heavy attack and into an option offense, Viramontes appears to be their man.

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