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With a defense that ranked second to last in the country this season both in yardage and in points allowed, you'd figure that Sonny Dykes will be using the "come play for us right now" pitch pretty often on the recruiting trail this next month and a half.
Evidently, it has worked on at least one JUCO defender, as the Bears will be adding David Davis from Long Beach City College to the 2014 class.
Cal should already see some increased depth up front next season with the returns of Brennan Scarlett, Sione Sina and Mustafa Jalil, but Davis' commitment gives them another body to put at a position where depth is always necessary. Perhaps just as importantly, it puts another person in the mix to help replace the now graduating Deandre Coleman. It's hard to expect that any one player will make up for his absence, but if a rotation could provide similar results, that would be just fine as well.
According to Rivals, Davis visited earlier this week when he decided to commit. He has two years to play two, and previously held offers from UTEP, Wyoming, Idaho and Middle Tennessee, with strong interest from several other FBS programs.
The rankings
No pages listed for ESPN or 247sports that I could find.
The tape
A link to Davis' hudl is here.
Davis shows some pretty decent mobility for a guy of his dimensions -- at 6'2, 295 pounds, he looks like he's got some good explosion and quickness off the line, and then combines it with some power, as well. As you might hope, he doesn't give up much ground when engaging with offensive linemen, but that seems like it should be standard for most tapes of DL guys, so I won't belabor the point. More proof of his agility can be found in the three or four read option clips, where he is left intentionally unblocked but repeatedly chases down the back going away from him anyway.
On a couple of occasions, he uses his hands to blow an opposing lineman backwards at the snap, but after that initial push, he also shows enough agility to then disengage and slant into the space he creates. You'll see this a lot in his film -- that blend of power and explosiveness, while not exactly completely eye-opening, is at the very least, adequate and something to work with or coach up.
He also uses his hands well in another way beyond generating push, being very quick to bend down and fight off cut blocks -- he treats the guys who dive at him as minor inconveniences on his way to the ball carrier, more than anything.
You'll also see him lineup in a variety of two, three, and four man fronts on tape, which could give him some flexibility for us when he arrives in the spring, either at end or tackle. Plus, I'm curious as to what can Coach Sacks do with him if he turned Moala into something productive?
Welcome David, and Go Bears!