These guys really intrigue me. Both were highly recruited (Sina out of JC) and can be physical presences on the D-line.

I know we have all had our headaches determining the health of Mustafa Jalil, but does anyone know if he will be ok for the spring and next season? I think he is a likely starter.

And what about Sina? I heard rumors of him moving to DT. He's 6-4 270 lbs and I think he will start wherever he plays. Anyone know what position he will play next season?

Bears4Life 21;842295836 said:

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These guys really intrigue me. Both were highly recruited (Sina out of JC) and can be physical presences on the D-line.

I know we have all had our headaches determining the health of Mustafa Jalil, but does anyone know if he will be ok for the spring and next season? I think he is a likely starter.

And what about Sina? I heard rumors of him moving to DT. He's 6-4 270 lbs and I think he will start wherever he plays. Anyone know what position he will play next season?

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i hope that is just an unsubstantiated rumor and nothing more. Sina was a prototypical pass rusher, and to convert him to DT would be a waste.

the fact that he's 270 can come down to 2 possibilities, imo:

1. a little weight gain due to injury/surgery recovery on his knee (for an extreme case, just look at Rich Rodgers, gained 20+), and muscle gain with Cal S&C

2. we really are converting him to DT, and knowing Sina's strengths, means we have little confidence in Manley and Davis significantly contributing at DT. Even if Manley or Davis could contribute, we would STILL be thin at DT, seeing as how Jalil is injured, and how we lost Coleman and Moala (all we have is Hunter). So I do see that concern. All the more it sucked losing Griffin, and not being able to find more suitable JCs.

anyone else get a bad feeling when you see thread titles like this?

Yep. Thought Transfer.

DC kaufman (sp) mentioned running with smaller not smaller DL or something to that affect .. if anyone attented the recruiting events ... confirm or deny

going4roses;842295922 said:

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DC kaufman (sp) mentioned running with smaller not smaller DL or something to that affect .. if anyone attented the recruiting events ... confirm or deny

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Either smaller or smaller. It's settled.

He mentioned being fast on D. I don't want to get into any specifics for fear of whatever I say the coaches said being blown out of proportion and twisted, etc...

oski003;842295939 said:

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He mentioned being fast on D. I don't want to get into any specifics for fear of whatever I say the coaches said being blown out of proportion and twisted, etc...

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So the coaches said they have fear? Unbelievable...

Bears4Life 21;842295836 said:

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These guys really intrigue me. Both were highly recruited (Sina out of JC) and can be physical presences on the D-line.

I know we have all had our headaches determining the health of Mustafa Jalil, but does anyone know if he will be ok for the spring and next season? I think he is a likely starter.

And what about Sina? I heard rumors of him moving to DT. He's 6-4 270 lbs and I think he will start wherever he plays. Anyone know what position he will play next season?

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Jalil is one of the best D-Lineman to come out of SD is a while. He played as a true Frosh and showed lots of promise. I hope all the Cal defender that were hurt last season and will be back this year. I want to defeat Cal when Cal is at it's best.

socaliganbear;842295940 said:

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So the coaches said they have fear? Unbelievable...

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You did not do well on the verbal section of the SATs, did you?

Dang, just realized I completely forgot about TKelly being in the mix for a starting DT job. Still hope converting Sina to DT isn't necessary.

grandmastapoop;842295961 said:

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You did not do well on the verbal section of the SATs, did you?

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Lol. Took long enough...

socaliganbear;842295963 said:

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Lol. Took long enough...

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Ha! It was just believable enough, given the tenor around here.

socaliganbear;842295963 said:

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Lol. Took long enough...

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sad that the offseason apathy is at an all time high. back in season, you would have had tons of replies by now.

Back in the good ol' days. Well, back in the ol' days.

beeasyed;842295851 said:

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i hope that is just an unsubstantiated rumor and nothing more. Sina was a prototypical pass rusher, and to convert him to DT would be a waste.

the fact that he's 270 can come down to 2 possibilities, imo:

1. a little weight gain due to injury/surgery recovery on his knee (for an extreme case, just look at Rich Rodgers, gained 20+), and muscle gain with Cal S&C

2. we really are converting him to DT, and knowing Sina's strengths, means we have little confidence in Manley and Davis significantly contributing at DT. Even if Manley or Davis could contribute, we would STILL be thin at DT, seeing as how Jalil is injured, and how we lost Coleman and Moala (all we have is Hunter). So I do see that concern. All the more it sucked losing Griffin, and not being able to find more suitable JCs.

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As for your second point...isn't Trevor Kelly going to be in the rotation at DT? He looks very promising....is there something I'm missing?

Elwitty;842295976 said:

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As for your second point...isn't Trevor Kelly going to be in the rotation at DT? He looks very promising....is there something I'm missing?

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nope, just a few posts back, I caught my mistake and mentioned Kelly. still, I see the concern with only having Jalil and Hunter. Kelly, and hopefully at least Manley or Davis will play. don't see a true 2-deep yet.

socaliganbear;842295940 said:

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So the coaches said they have fear? Unbelievable...

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Yes. Who doesn't fear tTFs?

1_B_T_F;842295941 said:

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Jalil is one of the best D-Lineman to come out of SD is a while. He played as a true Frosh and showed lots of promise. I hope all the Cal defender that were hurt last season and will be back this year. I want to defeat Cal when Cal is at it's best.

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I want to beat USC at its worst.

KoreAmBear;842295993 said:

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I want to beat USC at its worst.

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I would beat a one legged Tommy Trojan.

socaliganbear;842295998 said:

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I would beat a one legged Tommy Trojan.

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deserves it for stabbing our turf field, its not grass, making a bunch of holes in that sh#t

I sat with some coaches at the football alumni Coaches Appreciation dinner last Thursday. Amongst many other questions, I did ask about Sina.

Last year I recall several coaches being really excited about his ability to rush off the edge. I think, ideally, they would still like him to play DE and provide more outside pash rush for our defense.

That said, given that Scarlett is now ready to go (they really like what he brings!) and having added Johnny Johnson from the JC ranks, moving Sina to DT is a possibility. Much will probably depend on how well he recovers his speed and short burst explosion after his knee injuries (one in JC and another, I believe, last spring) in combination with where the greatest need will be. It remains to be seen how well Scarlett, Johnson, Barr, Kragen, Lopa and A Davis (DE) and Hunter, Kelly, Jalil, D Davis, Manley, Clark and Mekari (DT) develop/rehab under Kaufman and the S&C program this spring and summer.

Sina has the body type to add weight and move inside but also the speed, when healthy, to come hard off the edge.

We'll see how this plays out.

Go Bears!

going4roses;842295922 said:

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DC kaufman (sp) mentioned running with smaller not smaller DL or something to that affect .. if anyone attented the recruiting events ... confirm or deny

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Against most Pac teams Cal will go smaller/faster. Coach K also said adjustments would be made such as against Furd (he specifically mentioned Furd). He also said that the middle might be an exception, as DTs and and MLB players were critical to his defense and had to be stoppers, and that they would rotate 4 or more DTs. I think Kelly is a key here, and will see a lot of playing time.

Kaufman has to find at least 4 serviceable DTs for the season. If he can't find that out of these 8 then he is going to have to move someone over from DE. Sina is currently bigger than T. Mekari and is much taller than Clark who is under 6'.

Clark (former walk-on injured last year) (SR)
Mekari (hasn't played yet) (rsFR)
Wilfley (former TE/DE)(SR)
Jalil (healthy?) (JR)
Manley (has not played at D1)(JC trans. SO)
Northnagel (walk-on from local Serra HS)(rsSO) not likely to contribute
Kelly (JC transfer) likely to push for a starting position
Hunter (only player with playing experience at Cal last yr.) (SO) likely to win one of the starting jobs.

If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, Kaufman is looking at Jalil, Manley, Kelly and Hunter for the rotation as they have the size and experience necessary to break into the rotation. But if Jalil continues to struggle with his knee and/or someone else goes down he's looking at Wilfley as the only other DT with decent size this spring. In the meantime, the DE position is pretty solid with 6 guys that looks like they could be pretty good. All 6 have prior college experience and 4 have played well at Cal. So Kaufman could use Sina inside. Or he could wait and see how Davis, an incoming DT JC transfer does in the fall when he arrives. But he may not want to wait until then so as to give Sina more time to successfully adjust to the new position.

Also David Davis (JC) coming in this summer?

at pro day and he is becoming a MAN that baby fat gone

If I recall correctly, Jalil was tearing it up last spring ... before his knee got torn up.
He was a force and would have been a starter. Hopefully, he will be again.

Beardog26;842296034 said:

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I sat with some coaches at the football alumni Coaches Appreciation dinner last Thursday. Amongst many other questions, I did ask about Sina.

Last year I recall several coaches being really excited about his ability to rush off the edge. I think, ideally, they would still like him to play DE and provide more outside pash rush for our defense.

That said, given that Scarlett is now ready to go (they really like what he brings!) and having added Johnny Johnson from the JC ranks, moving Sina to DT is a possibility. Much will probably depend on how well he recovers his speed and short burst explosion after his knee injuries (one in JC and another, I believe, last spring) in combination with where the greatest need will be. It remains to be seen how well Scarlett, Johnson, Barr, Kragen, Lopa and A Davis (DE) and Hunter, Kelly, Jalil, D Davis, Manley, Clark and Mekari (DT) develop/rehab under Kaufman and the S&C program this spring and summer.

Sina has the body type to add weight and move inside but also the speed, when healthy, to come hard off the edge.

We'll see how this plays out.

Go Bears!

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we'll see how kaufman adjusts schematically to his players. I dont see how putting an end in, in Sina at DT helps us. him getting blow off the ball inside wont help us. perhaps he'd be willing to run a 3-4 or run a 3-5-5 at times if he doesnt have the personel to run a 4-3. really hope that he doesnt try the square peg, round hole deal. adjust to your players, put them in a position to succeed, design things schematically so that they can succeed. please

Agreed. My hope is that they leave Sina at DE and allow him to return to full health and play where he was initially recruited to play. If it turns out he is a better fit inside in Kaufman's scheme, so be it, but I know last year's staff loved him as an outside rush guy.

Great discussion. We got some good guys in there. Jalil is a beast, also. Have to be excited about the possibilities, with that group somebody will emerge.

gobears725;842296152 said:

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we'll see how kaufman adjusts schematically to his players. I dont see how putting an end in, in Sina at DT helps us. him getting blow off the ball inside wont help us. perhaps he'd be willing to run a 3-4 or run a 3-5-5 at times if he doesnt have the personel to run a 4-3. really hope that he doesnt try the square peg, round hole deal. adjust to your players, put them in a position to succeed, design things schematically so that they can succeed. please

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Run a 3-5-5?? I wish we could have done that last year !!

We actually did run the 3-5-5 last year: It doesn't refer to number of players at any particular position (obviously). It refers to: 3 players who tried to tackle, with 5 open-air swings and misses; the last 5 is the number of fans remaining in their seats for the second half.
...
...
....
..(facetious obviously.)
Guaranteed though, (with assumptions), this year WILL be better. By a lot. Should get decent pressure, and run defense, up front. Linebacker play will be key. I think secondary will be better than advertised, also.

Ukrainian;842296346 said:

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Run a 3-5-5?? I wish we could have done that last year !!

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You would need 13 football players.

:headbang

MoragaBear;842296245 said:

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Jalil wasn't healthy in the spring.

Not sure if his injury is the type that's going to be chronic or if he can get enough of his power back to be effective. He'd be a big boost up the middle if he can. They'll be holding him out of most or all of spring practice to be careful with him.

They like Davis as a rotational guy. He's pretty strong and a good plugger.

I expect Kelly's strength to translate to Pac 12 caliber ball. It takes a really special player to get consistent penetration and get to the qb up the middle like Sutton but he's strong enough to cause some havoc, regardless.

Sina is going to get a look inside, too, for versatility, but the preference is for him to play outside. If Scarlett and JJ are as effective as the staff thinks they'll be, they may have the luxury of playing Sina inside some.

Sina didn't suffer another injury in the spring. They thought he might be healthy enough to get some pt last season but he just didn't have enough of his strength back and didn't want him to suffer a setback.

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Do you think the Jalil thing is a "toughness" issue that Sonny has alluded to last year? From my understanding, he had surgery (at the end of the year) to repair some cartilage, which was bothering him. It is my understanding that this is a pain issue and he was actually cleared to practice and play.

Now we are holding him out for spring (this makes 1 full year) for seemingly a pain issue...I was really high on Jalil after his freshman, but I'm not really going to expect from him this year, sads.