Tyson Ford

Practice #3 - Shoulder Pads (Thump)Interesting to witness two full practices with a split squad. You can see the benefit in terms of the # of reps for players going way up and the coach to player ratio being better.Good to see some BI folks out there including Paws and ARBear.Observations:This might be the healthiest team in America. Only Burrell and incoming Freshman OL Ben Howard weren't participating. The best in my 30 year experience of attending camp.This is a big team, lots of huge bodies and S&C has clearly had an impact. Go back and look at weights on the roster as they've been updating them. For example, some of the younger DBs have added a lot of muscle and there were more than a handful of guys who popped with their obvious gains including Cade Uluave, Legend Journey, Trond Grizzell, Ryan McCulloch and Nick Morrow who all looked markedly larger and more muscularEarly in Fall Camp, there's not a ton of 11v11, I'd expect to see that shift next week as the go to combined practices starting Tuesday and there's an emphasis switch from technique, installation and assignment to more playingSome quick hits on the Summer newcomers:Brandon High - He's built, a solid rock at 220 and very quick. Not a lot of wiggle but good burstKendrick Raphael - Bigger than I had imagined and a very muscular 200. Quick feet, looks natural as a pass catcher, not quite the explosion of High and Johnson. More wiggle and lateral agility than Brandon and LJLJ Johnson - Bowling ball build, powerful lower body. Quicker than I had thought. Runs with power, catching the ball may be a development area for himThe above three look, practice and play like grown men and you can see the difference relative to Wiley and League in terms of physical development and practice demeanorTyson Ford - Big man, huge frame, moves well.Jordan Sanford - He can run, looks like a hybrid safety/CB typeQuimari Shemwell - Thin but with a lot of twitch and juice. I can imagine him playing a lot this year. Chris Victor - Mature frame and looks the part of an OLB, had a really good 1v1 pass rush rep TJ Bush - Big person, very thick lower body. Played opposite McCulloch. Justin Hasenhuetl - He moves well and plays with a feisty edge. He popped at LT. Needs to add some weight, not quite sure he's 6'5+Harrison Taggart - Played with an old school neck roll. Looked like Bobby Bouchette out thereAnthony League - Had one nice run, looks naturally strong and a tackle breaker. Not super explosiveMark Hamper - He's strongly built, moves wellQuaron Adams - Twitchy and clearly can run. Can he consistently catch the ball?Jayden Dixon-Veal - Thin, twitchy player, made a few nice catches. Along with Adams, struggled fielding puntsLandon Morris - Broad shoulders and thinner legs. Fluid athlete. Looks like a jumbo WRBrent Austin - He played but didn't see him much as he was on the Student side boundary the entire practiceDaveion Harley - Not tall but solidly built, ran with the 2s today. Chase Murray - Didn't hit all his FGs in drills but he did in 11v11. Consistent strike, not a huge legAbram Murray - Big leg, slightly less consistent than Murray. He can hit from 55 and likely is the KO specialistZae Smith - Not tall, but long, long arms and he's a thick. Arms like a blacksmith. Quick get off and stout at the point of attack. Quarterback play: Not a ton to review here given the more constrained 11v11 they ran today. Both Brown and JKS had their moments. I liked Brown's decision making. Smart throwaways, a nice ball fake keeper and a really good read on a passing play where he tucked and run. Fast! JKS release and arm continue to impress. Had some show off moments in accuracy passing drills. Defense was ahead of the offense though I might give a slight nod to the OL vs DL on running plays. The secondary had a good day with a couple of nice pass break ups and a huge hit by Crosby on Grizzell and a deep seam routeA couple of way too early and perhaps obvious takes: The competition at NB and the Safety opposite Crosby are going to be fierce. Ditto on the OL, It feels like there's a top 9 or 10 emerging but the pecking order is far from obvious. WR appears to have more of a hierarchy but there are a lot of guys out there vying for snaps. Will be interesting to see who emerges as the #1 outside WRGuys who popped: Cade Uluave, Derek Wilkins, Luke Ferelli, Shemwell. Masses, Crosby, Manutai, Morrow, Robinson, DeJesus, Morris, Mini, High, Johnson (Note that I couldn't see everything and basically didn't see the WR/DB matchups on one side of the field during 11v11

We go position group by position group and provide grades on whether the roster has taken a step forward or back - Now the Defense

Cal will have a lot of new faces in the back eight of the defense, with the big boys up front sporting more familiar faces. As a result, this is a group that will be asked to be the unquestioned leaders of the 2025 Defense.