Ricky Fletcher

This follows the series of articles we did prior to the start of Fall Camp on the most competitive position groupsTHE OFFENSIVE LINE:The group appears set though they mixed and matched a lot over the first 8 practices. The surprises here are in the two deeps:From left to right, the 2nd team OL appears to be: Kahlee Tafai, Mykeal Rabess, Ashton Rivera. Ben Howard and Mike Klisiewicz The one wild car is Jacob Arop who has been practicing for the past week and has a high celling. He's a tackle and could push Kahlee Tafai into the top IOL backup. Howard and Klisiewicz have been nice surprises. Lots of kudos from the staff and observers (such as Troy Auzenne) about the true Freshman class, in particular Daniel McMorris THE OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS:Solomon Williams and Jayden Wayne have seemingly cemented their starting roles. Injuries to Justin Beadles and Joshua Pierce have muddled things behind them with Odera Okaka standing out having a nice camp and Emmanuel Okoye getting in some good pass rush reps. Recently, Cal has moved Jonathan McKinley around getting him reps both inside and out and I wouldn't be shocked to see him get some snaps vs UCLA on the outside. Serigne Tounkara is almost 100% back and is practicing so he could find his way onto the depth chart as well.I suspect Pierce will be the next player back healthyTHE INSIDE LINEBACKERS:This one is hard to evaluate as a lot of players having get reps with the first team this camp. I suspect four players will see significant snaps in the opener vs. UCLA. The surprise here is Mckinley, who started the scrimmage and looked solid. He's so big and athletic and seems to play with a maturity and aggressiveness beyond the normal Freshman. Perhaps the most consistent player here has been AJ Tuitele. Despite his not being as big, he's aggressive and physical and his pass coverage skills are special. Tristan Jernigan has also played well and he'd be my odds on favorite to start alongside Tuitele. Aaron Hampton will be somewhere in the rotation though he hasn't stood out as much as others and Kamar Mothudi has been in and out of practices with a minor injury. THE SECONDARY:Even less seems settled here than at ILB. Ricky Fletcher will start at one CB position and right now Kingston Lopa and Isaiah Crosby seem set to start at Safety. The NB and other CB position seem open with Quimari Shemwell and Cameron Sidney having the edge in the slot and a three way battle between Marquis Groves-Killebrew . Daniel Harris on the outside. This room is deep as Niles Davis, Aiden Manutai, Michael Hurst Jr and Khamani Hudson have all played well and will provide depth across the secondary. My sense is that if Groves can get fully healthy (he's been banged up), he and Shemwell will start (on the outside and at NB respectively) I expect to see some rotation at Safety and the NB/OCB positions vs UCLA