One Cal Player Invited to NFL Combine

Only one Cal player was invited to the NFL Combine this year, and that one player was cornerback Hezekiah Masses.

Masses, who was impressive in his one season at Cal, will try to show NFL scouts at the Combine that he is worthy of being drafted high. The Combine will take place in Indianapolis from February 23 through March 2. A total of 319 players were invited.

At the moment Masses is projected to be taken in the third or fourth round (Day Two) of the NFL draft, which will be held April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Masses will try to improve his draft status much like the four Cal players who participated in the 2025 NFL combine did.

Defensive backs Craig Woodson, Nohl Williams and Marcus Harris as well as linebacker Teddye Buchanan all improved their draft stock with strong performances at the Combine, and all four were drafted – Williams in the third round, Woodson and Buchanan in the fourth round and Harris in the sixth round.

All four made the active rosters of their NFL teams, and Woodson (Patriots) and Buchanan (Ravens) were starters from the beginning of the 2025 NFL season. Woodson was a starter in the Super Bowl, but Buchanan’s season was cut short by a midseason injury.

Masses is likely to be the 10th Cal defensive back to be drafted in the last seven years. Nine of the 12 Golden Bears players drafted in the previous six years have been defensive backs.

Masses spent just one season at Cal after playing three seasons at Florida International.

He led the nation in interceptions for much of the season and ended up with five interceptions, to place tied for 17th in the country and third in the ACC.

Masses tied North Carolina State’s Devon Marshall for the most passes defended in the nation with 18 (5 interceptions, 13 passes broken up). Those two had three more passes defended than anyone else in the country.

Masses was a first-team All-ACC selection and an AP second-team All-America pick.

Now he will try impress scouts with his 40-yard dash time, bench press, broad jump and skill drills, although it’s unclear which events Masses plans to participate in.

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