Golden Nuggets: How Can Cal Recover from the Loss of Gerran Brown

Not a whole lot today... all football

• Cal is going to have to do some shuffling now that Gerran Brown can no longer play after sustaining an undisclosed injury last week.

The Bears’ inside linebackers already had the formidable task of trying to replace Devante Downs, who was a contender for the conference’s defensive player of the year with 65 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries before enduring a season-ending injury in the seventh game last year.

Now, the group’s only experienced players are senior Jordan Kunaszyk and Weaver, who were productive as Cal generally used a four-man rotation at the two inside linebacker spots last season. Senior Derron Brown is also listed on the roster, but Cal hasn’t announced why he’s not participating in training camp.

That leaves a bunch of newcomers: junior-college transfers Colt Doughty and Tim Newman and six freshmen. Wilcox said the staff will consider adding depth by moving some outside linebackers inside and is exploring packages that utilize three safeties at a time.

• Meanwhile on offense, which has seen a lot of losses in the receiver position, is going to have a huge boost in the tight end rotation.

With Hudson having been granted a sixth year of eligibility because of injury hardship and with the addition of Michigan graduate transfer Ian Bunting, a tight-end group that was depleted last season is suddenly loaded.

As Cal shifted to a multiple-personnel scheme under offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin last season, he did his best by deploying fullback Malik McMorris as a tight end, rushed true freshman Gavin Reinwald onto the field and even found spots for former two-star recruit Kyle Wells to contribute.

The three combined on 17 catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns, numbers that represented less than 5 percent of the team’s receiving yards and which could be surpassed in Week 1 this year.

• Cal got a new recruit in OT Brayden Rohme. Find out why he picked Cal.
• The Bears have a pretty tough schedule coming up, here are the 12 key players Cal will face this season including Khalil Tate and Bryce Love. Did you know a former Philadelphia Phillies (minor league) pitcher is on the Idaho State team?

Happy first week of school!