Cal Football: Bears Seem to Have Talent, Depth on Offensive Line

Cal center Mike Saffell, who will be a senior next fall, remembers when he came to Cal and he was force-fed the playbook so he could get on the field as a freshman. That was when the Bears were light in both talent and depth on the offensive front.

It seems to be different now. Saffell returns as a starter as does every key member of the offensive line. Whether that translates into better offenive line play remains to be seen, but it is clear the Bears have more able bodies up front.

Saffell, tackle Jake Curhan and guard-tackle Valentino Daltoo seem assured of holding down starting jobs after being starters the past two seasons. But there will be compeition for the other two spot. Will Craig and Gentle Williams were named starters at the end of fall camp last year, but William missed the entire seaon with an injury and Craig played just one game before suffering a season-ending injury. Williams will miss all of spring too.

On the first day of spring ball, McKade Mettauer and Matthew Cindric, both of whom started games last season, held down the other two offensive line spots with the firt-team offense. But that could change.

As Saffell notes in the video, redhirt freshman Brayden Rohme got some playing time with the first unit on Wedneday, and another redshirt freshman, Brian Driscoll is fighting for playing time.

"There' going to be competition at spots, which, in my time, I've never had," Saffell said. "When I was a freshman I think they were trying to hove the playbook down my throat so I could get out there and frekin' let it happen.

"But thi year there's going to be competition, and that improves everyone in the group."

It sounds good, but offensive line play has not been a Cal strength in recent years, although it was noticeably improved in the final few games of the 2019 season.