After watching Cal's final spring practice, we're left wondering if Cal football really is on track to becoming Berkeley's first national contender. With new offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar, Tedford has crafted a spread offense to compliment his standard pro set. Although it's difficult to judge such innovations at this stage, the scrimmages didn't exactly blow our socks off.
Offensive overview:
The new spread option looks shaky. It's very odd to see a Tedford offense running out of a shotgun, and even odder to see a Tedford offense run without disciplined precision. We know it's only Spring, and the offense is still being reworked, but Cal is a long way from the offensive powerhouse they are capable of becoming.
We don't know how Tedford feels, but from the looks of things the quarterback situation is far from resolved. The scrimmages they ran tended to focus on short yardage gains, but even that seemed difficult. We rate the passers as a work in progress.
Nate Longshore: His size is a huge advantage: he towers over the other quarterbacks at about 6-4 (we've noticed how players tend to sneak an inch or two in their roster listings). However, Longshore didn't display much command of the spread. He isn't particularly fast and isn't particularly agile in the pass rush. Worse, he doesn't seem to have much of an arm. What few passes he completed were often limp tosses just above coverage. He does strike at least a physical resemblance to Kellen Clemens, we'll see if he has Clemens' mental acumen to overcome his athletic limitations.
Joe Ayoob: He didn't really scrimmage except as a place holder for the kicking team due to an injury. Too bad. We gave Ayoob a lot of shit for his abysmal performance in the spotlight last year. But we also bemoaned the fact that Tedford didn't shift his playbook to Ayoob's strengths. This new spread formation would seem to favor Ayoob's strengths over his fellow quarterbacks. Ayoob is fast, and unfortunately last year Tedford only let him run on goal line stands. We don't know if Ayoob can ever shake his indecisiveness, but the new spread can at least give him options which he lacked last year.
Steve Levy: We got a taste of why Tedford was so reluctant to play Levy in the face of Ayoob's self-destruction last year. Even though he made offensive gains in the last two games, Levy has a weak arm. Granted, the superstar receivers weren't really in the mix, but his passing wasn't particularly impressive. However, as we saw last year, Levy is much more willing to run when he sees an opening or when his receivers are covered. With his speed and smarts, the new spread offense could turn Levy into a serious threat. More on Levy later.
Kyle Reed: Although his performance was far from perfect, Reed showed the best execution of any of the quarterbacks. His speed and strong arm were on full display, but some poor reads lead to at least one interception. Although Longshore is considered the front runner and most likely to start, Reed could be a fierce competitor with a little experience under his belt. We gotta think that Reed will be the starter, if not by Fall then perhaps by mid-season.
All of these questions at quarterback may be aggravated by an inexperienced offensive line. The spread requires some more athleticism from the line than the playbook which plows Tedford's running game. The veteran line, anchored by all-American Marvin Phillips, which sustained Cal's offense for the last two years is gone. All that remains is Senior guard Erik Robertson. This new line isn't nearly as bulky as many West Coast competitors: they are leaner, and maybe faster, but they could be a lot meaner. As of Spring, that new line looks porous, far too porous for a questionable crop of quarterbacks to develop behind.
But no matter who mans the offensive line, the Cal running game is sure to keep flowing. Both Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett made impressive runs, usually without much help up front. We saw nothing to dissuade us from the conclusion that the Lynch/Forsett combo will be best running duo on the West Coast, if not in the nation.
Now we'll just have to see if a passing game can be established to reward some of the best receivers on the West Coast, if not in the nation. We didn't see DeSean Jackson or Robert Jordan get much action, but Lavelle Hawkins and LaReyelle Cunningham were among the other receivers who are stocking the depth chart with enormous talent. We weren't able to fully judge how the receivers were handling the new spread, but the blocking for receivers may be their greatest challenge given their relatively small sizes.
Defense overview:
While we can't say that any one player really distinguished himself--other than Tim Mixon, who will probably be the premiere corner in the country this coming season--the defense did an expert job of making the offense look bad. Again, it wasn't easy to discern whether the offensive line sucked, or if the defensive line rocked, but we're hoping the defense is this disruptive in the Pac 10 this year. If they can do to their opponents what they did to their teammates, we smell roses.
Special Teams overview:
Steve Levy, who may end up as the number three quarterback, is one helluva punter. He knocked off a couple of 40+ yard punts under pressure. With a decent quarterback as the punter, Cal's special teams looks to give opponents nightmares on 4th and short.
Tim Mixon may lose his job as punt returner, but only because DeSean Jackson looked unstoppable. If you're beating out the best returner in the Pac 10 (now that UCLA's Maurice Drew has moved into the NFL Draft), you're doing well.
Actually, the special teams were the most impressive aspect of Cal's game. They kept blocking punts, and even returned one block for a touchdown.
Overall, it looks like there is still much work to be done, especially with the quarterbacks executing the new offense. It would be a shame to let another University of California season wander into mediocrity on the weakness of its quarterback position; especially with a team so talented at so many other positions.
