13 Ex-Cal Players Listed as Starters for NFL Season Openers
Nineteen former Cal players are on NFL rosters for their seasons openers, but the impressive part is that 13 of them are scheduled to be starters, based on the depth charts relesed earlier this week.
Admittedly, we fudged the starter numbers slightly because we included three former Golden Bears who are on special teams -- two long snappers and a punter, to be precise. But all three are listed as first-stringers so we can still safely say that 13 first-string players came by way of Cal football.
None of the four first- or second-year NFL players from Cal are expected to start, but most of them probably will play.
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Here are the 13 former Cal players expected to start this weekend in the NFL (with their playing years at Cal and the round they were drafted in parentheses):
Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen (2010-2012, third round)
Pittsburgh Steelers nose tackle Tyson Alualu (2006-2009, first round)
Houston Texans punter Bryan Anger (2008-2011, third round)
New York Giants linebacker Devante Downs (2014-2017, seventh round)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (2013-2015, first round)
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson (2005-2007, second round)
Detroit Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. (2008-2011, fifth round)
New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (2007-2010, first round)
Dallas Cowboys long snapper L.P. Ladouceur (2001-2004, undrafted)
Atlanta Falcons center Alex Mack (2005-2008, first round)
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (2003-2004, first round)
Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz (2008-2011, second round)
Washington Football Team long snapper Nick Sundberg (2005-2008, undrafted)
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Other former Cal players on NFL rosters, starting with their depth-chart place (with their playing years at Cal and the round they were drafted in parentheses):
New York Jets second-string safety and second-string kick returner Ashtyn Davis (2016-2019, third round)
Atlanta Falcons second-string safety Jaylinn Hawkins (2016-2019, fourth round)
Baltimore Ravens second-string center Patrick Mekari (2015-2018, undrafted)
Los Angeles Chargers third-string tight end Stephen Anderson (2012-2015, undrafted)
Philadelphia Eagles third-string tight end Richard Rodgers (211-2013, third round)
Miami Dolphins fourth-string running back Patrick Laird (2014-2018, undrafted)
NOTES:
--Devante Downs is scheduled to make his first career NFL start in the Giants' game Monday night against the Steelers. In that same game, Steelers nose tackle Tyson Alualu is scheduled to make his 100th career NFL start. (This assumes teams will begin with their base defenses.)
--Twelve NFL teams are carrying only three running backs, so Laird was fortunate the Dolphines decided to keep four. Laird started four games as a rookie last year.
--Offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz will make his 136th consecutive start (including playoffs) when the Chiefs face the Houston Texans tonight (Thursday) in their season opener. He has started every NFL game since he was drafted in 2012, and he had played every snap -- 121 games, 7,894 consecutive snaps -- until he was sidelined briefly last season against the Texans. He missed three plays, returned to the game and has not missed a snap since. He was on the field for every offensive snap during the Chiefs' playoff run to a Super Bowl victory last season.
--Aaron Rodgers did not make his first NFL start until his fourth pro season and played in just seven games his first three seasons, recording one touchdown pass and one interception over those three seasons. He received zero stars as a recruit coming out of high school and received no Division I scholarship offers. (His only Division I invitation came from Illinois, which offered him a chance to walk-on.) Rodgers chose to attend Butte (Junior) College instead, and happened to be practicing when Cal coach Jeff Tedford came to scout Butte tight end Garrett Cross but left more impressed with Rodgers. Rodgers will make his 193rd NFL start (including 18 postseason starts) when the Packers face the Vikings Sunday, and he currently has the highest career passer rating in history.
--Nick Sundberg will earn more than $1 million this season for snapping the ball between his legs several times each game, and he is not even the highest paid long snapper from Cal.
--L.P. Ladouceur will earn nearly $1.2 million this season and will have earned nearly $14 million by the end of the 2020 season as a long snapper. His two moments of fame came in 2006 when his perfect snap on a short field-goal attempt was fumbled by holder Tony Romo, costing the Cowboys a playoff game win, and in 2018 when he was called for an illegal snap on a pivotal field-goal attempt that was subsequently missed from 5 yards back. Ladouceur was dumbfounded by the penalty because in 212 career games, he had never changed his pre-snap routine. He made the Pro Bowl in 2014 and has not had a bad snap in 14 seasons.
--Patrick Mekari played guard and tackle at Cal, but his six NFL starts last year as a rookie (including the Ravens' playoff game loss) came at center, a position he had not played since high school. He played every snap in those six games.
--Jackson is scheduled to make his 150th regular-season start against Washington on Sunday. He played just three games last season before missing the rest of the season with an abdominal injury.
--Richard Rodgers was released by Washington on the final day of cutdowns on Saturday, but was signed by the Eagles on Tuesday.
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