Cal Bears NFL Combine Preview: Five Bears Set to Participate

The NFL Combine is set to kick off, and five Cal Bears players, including surefire first-rounder Jared Goff, have been invited to participate.

For a lot of young NFL hopefuls, the NFL Combine will be one of the final opportunities, and certainly the most high profile, to showcase themselves for NFL scouts and teams. The Combine will test just about everything for these young men, including strength, speed, agility, and jumping ability, as well as their measurables, interview capabilities, and mental acumen. Over the course of four days, scouts and doctors will hand out more tests than a free clinic in Las Vegas.

Five California Golden Bears players have been invited to take part in the week-long affair, as quarterback Jared Goff, running back Daniel Lasco, tight end Stephen Anderson, and wide receivers Kenny Lawler and Trevor Davis will all participate this year. The four-day NFL interview process breaks down as such:

Day 1 – Orientations, interviews, hospital pre-examinations and x-rays

Day 2 – Measurements (height, weight, etc.), medical exams, media and interviewing

Day 3 – NFL Player’s Association meting, psychological testing, bench press, interviews

Day 4 – on-field workouts, positional drills

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Players will be separated in to 11 groups divided up by positions, and will begin their Combine period on different days. On the first day of the Combine, Tuesday the 23rd, the first set of three groups, which includes running backs, will arrive and begin being tested. Cal’s Lasco will be going through the process with some of the top running backs in the country, including Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott, Utah’s Devontae Booker, and Alabama’s Derrick Henry. This set of groups will conclude their workouts on Friday.

The second set of groups, who will arrive on Wednesday, will be the busiest for Cal, as they include wide receivers, tight ends, and quarterback. Four of Cal’s five participants are included in this set of groups. Goff will be tested against two of the other top-three quarterbacks in the draft, Memphis’ Paxton Lynch and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, as well as other prospects like TCU’s Trevone Boykin, Oregon’s Vernon Adams, and Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott. These groups will be finished on Saturday, as will the receivers.

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Cal’s wide receivers Lawler and Davis will be tested against some of the top receivers in the nation, including TCU’s Josh Doctson, Mississippi’s Laquon Treadwell, and Illinois’ Geronimo Allison. Lawler figures to be a second-day draft pick for Cal, but Davis’ draft status is a little less clear. With a good Combine, the receiver and kick returner can put himself on the map for a late-round selection. Anderson has been projected as a late-rounder or undrafted player, and he faces some stiff tight end competition. Arkansas’ Hunter Henry, Ohio State’s Nick Vannett, and Stanford’s Austin Hooper, widely considered to be the top-three tight ends in this draft class, will be in Indianapolis for the Combine.

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For other Bears’ players who aren’t in the Combine, Cal will hold their annual Senior Day in the middle of March, as they usually do. That will give graduating seniors like wide receivers Bryce Treggs and Darius Powe, offensive lineman Jordan Rigsbee, defensive end Kyle Kragen, and safety Stefan McClure an opportunity to showcase themselves even without an NFL Combine invite.

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