The Notebook: Spring Football 2019 #1

The Notebook is back! I know this is the only series on CGB you have been waiting for and after a long hiatus from Fall Camp, I am back with your pseudo-daily look into Cal Football’s Spring Camp for 2019. The notebook will be evolving and changing its format the next few weeks, so we have one format that works for the fall, so if there’s any particular format that you like, let me know in the comments or on Twitter and I will note your vote! Let’s get after it.

The Bears suited up on a cold morning in Berkeley, California. Far from sunny, the day was cloudy with a 40% chance of rain midway through practice—and it actually did start to rain. It was mostly light work, going through a majority of teaching periods and running through the playbook with no situational or game work. It was a mainly a practice to teach and get the players back into the groove of the schedule of spring practices. With it being the spring semester and the effect of roster attrition, many of the position groups were understaffed from the number you would want them to be at. That will change once the freshman and transfers hit the field in the fall, but for now it allows the players who did not see the field much last season to get opportunities to impress the staff and to gain some experience.

So now instead of going through section by section, it will be a compilation of stats from the whole practice, highlight plays, and outstanding players from the day.

Highlights:

• New QB Devon Modster got his first look with the new look offense. Modster looked great in his few chances to throw the ball. He went 5/10 on the day with a couple of bad misses, but that was to be expected as he is still learning the playbook and some of the reads that he expects his WR to make.
• Christopher Brown Jr. looked to be leader in the leader in the RB stable, with Marcel Dancy and Alex Netherda right behind him in the order.
• The WR room is currently very empty due to the unavailability of guys like Kekoa Crawford and Trevon Clark until the fall. Youngsters Monroe Young and Makai Polk will look to get significant reps and chances to prove themselves as talented freshman wide receivers. (Polk is a true freshman and Young is a redshirt freshman.)
• McCallan Castles is looking to assert himself as one of the biggest weapons on this reloading Cal offense. He’s been spotted all over the field along with being attached to the offensive line.

Defensively, I’ll be doing a deeper dive into their depth and growth when we get into some tackling situations with at least shells. It’s tough to analyze defensive players when contact is at a bare minimum, since players hold up at moments before a potential tackle or turnover moment. So be on the look out for more of that soon.

It was a light practice in that regard and this may be the shortest write-ups of this spring camp schedule. Check in on Thursday for the next chapter of the notebook. Follow along on our Instagram (@GoldenBlogs) to see videos and photos from Spring Camp.