Cal has an overhauled roster for the 2025-26 season making initial impressions from Summer practice that much more intriguing.

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

We take a pre Fall Camp peak into the Bears opponents in the first half of their 2025 slate

An almost entirely new coaching staff with potentially nine new starters and close to 80% turnover of the two deep depth chart spells meaningful change for the Bears. We go deep on what fans might expect from this new Offense

We count down the essential and irreplaceable Bears as Fall Camp Approaches. The players who will be counted on the most. In this article, we'll go through #5 down to #1

We count down the essential and irreplaceable Bears as Fall Camp Approaches. The players who will be counted on the most. In this article, we'll go through #10 down to #6

We count down the essential and irreplaceable Bears as Fall Camp Approaches. The players who will be counted on the most. In this article, we'll go through #15 down to #11

We count down the essential and irreplaceable Bears as Fall Camp Approaches. The players who will be counted on the most. We'll start with #20 down to #16

Two fifth year starters depart while Cal welcomes five newcomers to the position. A wholesale changing of the guard will take place on the back end of the Bears defense. This position has been a consistent strength for the defense under Wilcox. Will that continue in 2025?

In todays College Football, it's all about passing and that means there's no position more important on defense than those that cover wide receivers, confuse QBs and have to make tackles in space. Cal lost its entire starting unit from 2024, what will 2025 bring?

Cal may play only two of them on the field at a time, yet this group has been the beating heart of the Bears defense for 8 years now. They lose an NFL draft choice and gain a potential another one to compliment the return of star Cade Uluave.

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.

Nothing stirs up the latent energy of the college football fan than off season discussions about signal callers. Given Cal lost its Big Game hero in Fernando Mendoza only to add former five star HS recruits, this topic is particularly spicy as the team heads into Summer workouts

Like many areas of the Bears offense, the Tight End room got a fulsome remodel in the offseason with plenty of players coming and going. With Bryan Harsin looking to play a more physical brand of football, the play of the TEs could be a swing factor in the offense's performance

While most of the roster additions were done in the Winter portal, Cal did have some movement in the OL room this Spring with the depth chart remaining relatively murky following Spring ball

The Bears see seven contributors from 2024 leave via the portal only to have five new players choose to matriculate to Berkeley. There will be new mighty mites in the slot, some high ceilinged outside receivers and one key returner in the room.

Cal saw five of its top six backs leave following Spring practice leading to the staff adding three transfers via the portal. With five scholarship tailbacks now on the roster, we take a look at what can be expected from the group in 2025

Rated the #66 player in the nation by Rivals, 6-4/235 edge will join OL teammate Artem Korchagin with Bears in 2026