Jaden Mickey

Coach Watson did not have an ideal start to his Cal tenure as a recruiter. In hindsight, he may have gone a bit all in on too few prospects and left himself vulnerable as those players committed elsewhere or struggled to meet the academic bar. The view is that he will be an exceptional recruiter in the long run given his personality, contacts, and ambitionThe COVID factor is meaningful across position groups but especially at DB in 2022. Jason Oliver was atop many program's wish lists until more film and camp appearances materialized this Spring. The Bears are among many that have moved onZeke Berry is a very good prospect. Less so a student. Sometimes that can still work out at Cal if the recruit is willing to sign up to improve their marks and is excited about the academic challenge in Berkeley. Other times, they decide to commit to Arizona or Oregon or somewhere where they need not improve anything or take on any new challengesThe three players the Bears clearly prioritized that haven't materialized are Jaden Mickey who chose Notre Dame, Avyonee Jones who picked Wisconsin, and Collin Wright who selected Stanford. It seems unlikely Cal will take more than two DB prospects in this cycle. Back in May, the priorities shifted to Cameron Sidney and Jeremiah Earby . Sydney as a CB/NB and Earby as a versatile CB/S prospect. Both are still in play for the Bears.