more good stuff kevin, would be a 1st in cal football history if all 5 starters weigh in at 315+ lbs which would facilitate pounding the ******* rock on 4th & 1 instead of throwing incomplete go routes

shocky is hearing it's possible that none of the returners will start this season including sioape vatikani (who has taken off plays throughout his berkeley days which is probably a reflection of the failed s&c program & his conditioning) & that +1 athletic right tackle fred williams might be the best positioned to start returning trench worker

Shocky1 said:

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more good stuff kevin, would be a 1st in cal football history if all 5 starters weigh in at 315+ lbs which would facilitate pounding the ******* rock on 4th & 1 instead of throwing incomplete go routes

shocky is hearing it's possible that none of the returners will start this season including sioape vatikani (who has taken off plays throughout his berkeley days which is probably a reflection of the failed s&c program & his conditioning) & that +1 athletic right tackle fred williams might be the best positioned to start returning trench worker

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I am 100% for real competition to start. If Vatikani is not better than the others oh well. I agree that Williams is a very impressive athlete for his size. And it will be interesting to watch the competition at all the OL spots.

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I agree with your point regarding offense first. But it is interesting to note that of the teams in the CFP many were very highly ranked on defense. The national champ Ohio ST was #1 in scoring defense . . .

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To clarify, it's of course, always going to be helpful to have a strong defense. Just as it is always going to be helpful to have strong special teams. But the point I was making is the days of marrying a stellar defense to a mediocre offense and winning the championship are over. Yes, Ohio State had the number one scoring defense, but they also had the number one rated offense. Texas clocked in with the number four offense, etc.

The running joke with Alabama during the 00's and early teens was you could literally slot anyone in as quarterback and it wouldn't matter. And those quarterbacks' tenure in the NFL proved that point. The entire Big10 spent decades proudly running "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offenses. All of that has ended. It's great to have a great defense but you have to have a great offense. No team can go all the way as defense first anymore. Cal seems to have finally gotten that memo.