Cal's Jayden Wayne as New Edge Starter: `I'm Embracing the Role'

Cal will play the remainder of its schedule without a player coach Justin Wilcox described as “one of the best” on the team.

Junior edge Ryan McCulloch was ruled out for the season this week, joining safety Isaiah Crosby and defensive lineman Nate Burrell on the injury shelf.

“I don’t even think we can put it into words,” fellow edge TJ Bush Jr., said of the loss of McCulloch. “He’s a great guy, not only how he is as a leader but as a player. It’s hard to replace him in both of those aspects so it will definitely be a big loss.”

Enter junior transfer Jayden Wayne, who is determined to make his third college stop a productive one.

“I’m embracing the role,” Wayne said after practice Wednesday. “It’s next guy up. Can’t be a drop-off. I’ve got to come in and go to work.”

A native of Tacoma, Wash., Wayne was a three-star prospect in high school, where played his senior season at IMG Academy in Florida. A 6-foot-5, 255-pounder, Wayne spent his freshman season at Miami, then returned home for his sophomore campaign at Washington.

“It’s been a long journey,” Wayne said. “I’m still learning. Trying to find the right place for me. I feel like Cal’s the right place for me.

“The coaches have just embraced me to go out and do better. Just pushing me every day. When I came here, I just had to put my hat on and go to work. The opportunity was here.”

Asked about the recent injuries at safety and edge, Wilcox agreed this presents opportunities for others.

“It’s an unfortunate part of the game, Ryan is a fantastic player — one of the best players on the team,” Wilcox said. “He plays really hard. I feel for him that he’s down. He puts a lot of time into this.

“Now it’s other guys’ opportunity. It’s not on one player. It’s gonna be a team effort. Those guys got to step up and play.”

Wayne got his first start in the Bears’ 28-24 come-from-behind victory at Boston College last week. He’ll be out there again Saturday night when Cal (4-1, 1-0 ACC) hosts Duke (3-2, 2-0) in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

“I thought Jayden Wayne, he played his best football by far,” Wilcox said.

“I’m always ready,” Wayne said. “When your name’s called, you’ve got to go out and do what you do.”

Bush is not the least surprised. Wayne arrived on campus just before he did early this year and provided a welcome mat for a new teammate and competitor at the same position.

“From the moment I got here, he was super joyful, super welcoming,” Bush said. “Jayden’s doing great. I can’t say enough about him. Our room is just so close-knit and we have a next-man-up mentality. It’s hard to replace a guy like Ryan but Jayden is ready to go.”

The Bears entered this season determined to get more from their pass rush. But after collecting 35 sacks in 13 games a year ago for 2.7 per game, Cal has seven sacks through five games, an average of just 1.4 per outing.

Wayne believes the Bears are close to getting the consistent pressure on quarterbacks they want.

“We’re getting there. Just got to keep going,” he said. “The difference is pass-rush integrity, keeping the quarterback in the pocket, crushing the pocket.”

Across the board, the Bears suggest we haven’t yet seen their best.

“We have not,” Wayne said. “It could be Saturday.”

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