Cal Football 2025 Preview
- Lewis Huston
- Aug 11
- 9 min read
Justin Wilcox’s 8th season feels like a missed opportunity looking back on it. The defense was stingy picking off four passes in an early season road upset at Auburn. They received tons publicity hosting Gameday for the first time in 10 years, but blew a 20-point 4th quarter lead as part of a 4-game losing streak by a combined 9 points. Even finishing 6-6 there was a ton of optimism heading into the offseason. And then, well, the offseason happened.
Wilcox and Cal entered into portal kombat, as Jon Rothstein would say. The offense in particular was gutted. Star QB Fernando Mendoza bolted for Indiana. 4 out of his top 5 pass catchers followed suit. Then after getting a taste of new OC Bryan Harsin in the spring, the entire RB room up and left. As you might imagine, the Golden Bears have a TON of new faces this year. For how much they lost and when they lost them, I actually think the staff did a solid job rebuilding this roster on the fly. But it’s still a lot of new; 36 new transfers to be exact.
Offense:
Not only did Mendoza leave the program, but so did his two backups. Devin Brown comes over from Ohio St after losing QB battles to Will Howard, Kyle McCord and sitting behind CJ Stroud. The former Top-50 recruit only attempted 48 passes during his time there and at this point we really don't know if he can play at this level. He’s locked in a preseason battle for the 3rd consecutive year, this time with another highly touted prep prospect in true freshman Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele. A Top-50 overall recruit in his own right, JKS was committed to Cal for about 6 months before flipping to Oregon last December, only to flip back exactly a month later. Recruiting drama aside, the kid is a special talent and the fact that Wilcox took both guys to ACC media days with him is very telling. He’s young and made plenty of rookie mistakes in spring but made just as many head-turning plays. He’s an electric playmaker that I believe we’ll see in some capacity this season.
It was bizarre seeing essentially every RB leave within a few days of each other. Now this offense did rank outside the top 100 in both rush EPA and rush success rate. A lot of that is certainly due to Jadyn Ott dealing with nagging injuries all year and a struggling OL but still worth mentioning. The only returner is RS Fr Jamaal Wiley who had 6 carries. LJ Johnson (SMU), Kendrick Raphael (NC State) and Brandon High (UTSA) were signed in the spring to replenish the unit. Considering the hand dealt it’s actually a pretty decent haul of guys with starting experience and decent production, but also guys that were unable to lock down lead roles at previous stops.
I’m probably highest on Raphael who got solid burn as a true freshman and improved as a sophomore, even in a crowded NC State backfield, with 78 car, 425 yds (5.4) and 3 TD. He’s durable and runs hard with 20 MTF last year, more than both Ott and Jaivian Thomas on substantially less carries. Johnson was also in a platoon at SMU last year but had his best year in ’23 w/ 108 car, 575 yds (5.3) and 4 TD. High is likely the clear 3rd option but had 495 yds (5.3) and 8 TDs as UTSA’s backup. He also had 23 MTF in 93 carries so there’s more elusiveness than last season.
The WR room was also blown up by the portal with Trond Grizzell being the only returner to catch more than 4 passes last year. Grizzell has been steady as a starter these last 2 years and should see an uptick in production from last year more in line with ’23 when he caught 39 passes for 590 yards (15.1) and 5 TD. RS Jr Jordan King will get a chance for an expanded role after appearing in 8 games off the bench last year, and hopefully we’ll finally see Kyion Graves who is a former Top-100 recruit that was injured nearly all of last year after coming over from Ohio State. The crown jewel of this year’s portal haul is 5’7” slot man Jacob De Jesus, who was plenty productive as a receiver in his two years at UNLV (96 rec, 1,115 yds and 5 TD) but is especially known for his return game chops where he was 1st Team All-MW. He regressed some last year but in ’23 ranked 20th in the country with 123.6 all-purpose yds per game.
He’s joined by Dazmin James (Arkansas), Mark Hamper (Idaho), Jayden Dixon-Veal (Purdue) and Quaron Adams (South Dakota). Hamper, who spent the spring at Wisconsin, is by far the most accomplished of the group albeit at the FCS level. It’s a mixed bag without much expectation although the recent photos of Dazmin James’ body transformation since coming to Berkley in the spring are mind blowing. Same thing with TE Mason Mini (Idaho) who likely slides in for leading pass catcher Jack Endries. That’ll be a significant drop off with Endries now playing for Steve Sarkisian in Austin.
The offensive line was one of the worst in the country last year. In fact, they ranked dead last in FBS in sacks allowed with 50 while coming in at 115th in PFF run block grade. They also lose 3 starters plus a 4th who was a full-time starter in ’23 and played 314 snaps last year. Maybe losing a bunch of guys might be a good thing? Either way, this unit HAS to improve. Bastian Swinney (10 starts), Nick Morrow (11 starts) and Sioape Vatikani (23 career starts) seem like sure fire starters to begin the season. Swinney was primarily at RG last year but slides over to C where he has starting experience. There are certainly some intriguing newcomers to push them and fill in the starting lineup. Jordan Moko started 10 games at Charlotte after 3 years as reserve at Texas A&M. LT Lajuan Owens (New Mexico) was also a full time starter, allowing 0 sacks in 352 pass snaps with a top 10 pass block efficiency amongst all tackles. Lamar Robinson started all 12 games at Georgia State last year with 1 penalty in 757 snaps. Daveion Harley offers depth at C if Swinney can’t make the full time transition, although he wasn’t good at Jacksonville State last year. T Leon Bell gets a fresh start after being dismissed by Mississippi State’s staff 2 weeks in but has great size at 6’8” 315 lbs.
Defense:
Last year’s defense was the best Cal has had in several years reflecting a true Justin Wilcox unit. The front 7 should be pretty solid again, starting up front with two returning starters on the interior in seniors Aidan Keanaaina and Nate Burrell. Keanaaina played a limited role at Notre Dame his first 2 years before a breakout campaign in Berkley last year starting every game totaling 45 tkl and 2.5 TFL. While they only start two true down lineman, a third RUSH position will be filled by Liberty transfer TJ Bush. The 2 year starter is an exciting prospect and had 58 tkl, 10 TFL, 5.5 sacks and 4 PBU last season. A couple other transfers will provide depth behind him in Chris Victor (49 tkl, 6.5 TFL and 4.5 sk at Chattanooga) and Jayden Wayne (backup at Washington and Miami L2 years). A couple veterans will be in the rotation on the interior but keep an eye on DL Tyson Ford, a former Top 150 recruit that could never find his way on to the field in his time at Notre Dame. Zae Smith is also another intriguing name if he can make the jump from Houston Christian as an incredibly productive 3 year starter.
MLB Cade Uluave enters his 3rd season expected to be the leader of the defense. He was thrown in as a true Fr in ’23 and was a full-time starter last year. Despite missing 4 games due to injury he still finished 2nd on the team with 71 tkl, although that should’ve been much higher as he had a poor tackling grade again (48.0) missing 18 tackles. He’s got to improve in this area as that’s now an absurdly high 38 missed tackles in 2 years for someone in the heart of their defense. Cal lost about everyone around him but does return Ryan McCulloch, technically also a stand up EDGE, who had 6 starts last year with 18 tkl and 3 sk. I really like the starting experience that was brought in through the portal with Buom Jock (100 tkl and 2nd Tm All-MWC at Colorado St) and Harrison Taggart (69 tkl at BYU). Odera Okaka is one of several pickups from College of San Mateo and is the # 11 ranked JUCO prospect who had offers from multiple CFP teams. There’s a lot to like from this unit with a ton of experience, production and versatility.
While the front 7 looks to be in good shape, there are a ton of questions in the back after losing 4 starters, including a 1st Tm All-American and 3 draft picks. It wasn’t a lock down unit by any means, but they were aggressive and opportunistic ranking 4th nationally in DB Havoc% and tied for 7th with 17 INTs. Nickel Cam Sidney (29 tkl, 3 PBU, 1 INT, 1.5 TFL) is the only returner that played a significant role with 5 starts. He graded out well in run support but needs to improve in coverage. A couple guys with limited roles last year will battle for more time, but they'll be relying on a ton of transfers that were brought in to try and patch together a secondary. A couple G5 starters from Florida schools will look to lock down the corners; Brent Austin (USF) had 48 tkl, 2 INT and a team-leading 10 PBU while ’22 CUSA All-Fr Hezekiah Masses (FIU) was a 3 year starter with 105 tkl and nearly 2,000 snaps. Another multi-year starter Dru Polidore (Montana St) had 72 tkl and 2 INT at FS in ’23-24 but also played 289 snaps at CB in his first year. Jordan Sanford (Texas Tech; former 4-star) is a guy with less playing experience but similar positional versatility. With all the talent lost, so many new faces and uncertainty on clear roles at this point, it’s impossible not to project a regression.
Special Teams:
Much like the rest of their roster, special teams will be all portal newcomers. Both placekickers that combined to go 25-37 are gone and Cal brought in two more to battle it out. Chase Meyer was on the 2024 Preseason Lou Groza Watchlist after going 17/20 on FGs at Tulsa but ended up not winning the job at Penn State. Abram Murray was a top 5 PK in the '24 class and saw limited action as a true freshman at Miami. Another top recruit in the '24 class, Michael Kern takes over punting duties after starting every game for CFP semifinalist Texas. He'll need to improve as a sophomore to meet the numbers of the guy he's replacing. As mentioned earlier, UNLV transfer Jacob De Jesus is known as one of the better return men in the country and should be a factor.
Schedule:
Phil Steele rates this # 61 in schedule difficulty, right at national average but easier in terms of P4 schedules. They don’t have to leave the west coast until week 5, but go cross country to Boston College who will be coming off a bye. Cal then comes back home for their 6th game in six weeks against a solid Duke squad before going into their first of two bye weeks sandwiching their toughest stretch; home games against two should-be improved teams (UNC/Virginia) and two tough road environments (Louisville/VT). That is far from murderer’s row but they’ll possibly be significant dogs on the road and the home games are toss ups. Depending on how they fare here, closing with SMU at home could be a fun matchup.
Overall Outlook:
Other than a couple flashes early on, Justin Wilcox’s tenure (42-50 in 8 seasons) has basically been doing just enough to keep his job. With everything that went on this offseason from a revolving portal door, to coaching changes and Ron Rivera sliding into a GM role, this feels like a make or break year. The offense was completely gutted of their most talented guys and will be tough to overcome when you also take into account that they have a QB battle between a true freshman and a career backup. The good news is neither one lacks for talent and it would be really fun to see one of them hit, but having their first start be a night game in Corvallis ain’t gonna be fun.
It’ll likely take some special defensive performances early on while the pieces on offense mesh. While I’m bullish on the front 6/7, I have major concerns about the secondary. The Golden Bears will be relying on lower level transfers transitioning to P4 seamlessly and returners without much experience. There’s not a ton of passing offenses that scare you on their schedule, but week 1 will be a good measuring stick out of the gate for what should be an improved Oregon State aerial attack. At the end of the day though I just think there’s way too many question marks and not enough answers to expect them to eclipse last year’s win total of 6, which likely isn’t enough to warrant a 10th season for Wilcox with Riverboat Ron in town.
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