Cal football recruiting: Golden Bears make top three of 3* ILB Giovanni LaFrance

Cal cracked the top 3 of recent Tulane decommit Giovanni LaFrance, along with Louisiana-Lafayette and Utah. LaFrance is scheduled to visit Cal in late January, according to Nola.com.

While LaFrance may not have elite athleticism (4.8 40-yard dash), he more than makes up for it with his awareness, ability to read the quarterback, and block shedding. LaFrance's highlight tape is filled with him stuffing running backs in the backfield and tackling receivers on screen passes before they have any chance to make a move in the open field. Given time to develop, LaFrance could anchor the middle of the defense similar to Hardy Nickerson Jr., who flew under the radar as a recruit as well.

LaFrance could join Cameron Goode as the only other linebacker in Cal's 2016 class. While that may be disconcerting, Dykes still has a month to add to his recruiting class, and he can afford to take a bigger recruiting class, with many departures likely to happen next year. Nonetheless, LaFrance and Goode could be a very could duo in Cal's backfield in the near future.

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