No Cal Players on Athlon's Preseason All-Pac-12 First Team
Athlon recently presented its selections for its 2021 preseason All-Pac-12 football teams, and the magazine was not particularly kind to Cal.
Not a single Cal player was selected to Athlon’s first-team preseason all-conference team, and only one – outside linebacker Cameron Goode – was named to the second team.
Compare that to Arizona State, which has six players on Athlon’s first team and 10 to the first or second teams.
Stanford, UCLA and Arizona are the only teams besides Cal without a first-team choices, and Cal is the only team that doesn’t have at least two players named to Athlon’s first or second teams.
Athlon also selected a third- and fourth-team all-Pac-12 squads, and six other Cal players were named to those teams.
Cal has five players named to Athlon’s third team: running back Christopher Brown, center Michael Saffell, linebacker Kuony Deng, cornerback Josh Drayden and safety Elijah Hicks.
One other Golden Bears players is named the Athlon’s fourth team: offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso.
It's noteworthy that Cal quarterback Chase Garbers and wide receiver Kekoa Crawford were not named to any of the four teams.
Number of selections to first team by school:
Arizona State: 6
Utah: 5
USC: 4
Washington: 4
Oregon: 3
Washington State: 2
Colorado: 2
Oregon State: 2
Cal: 0
Stanford: 0
UCLA: 0
Arizona: 0
.
Number of selections to first or second team
Arizona State: 10
USC: 8
Utah: 8
Washington: 6
Oregon: 5
Colorado: 4
Oregon State: 4
Stanford: 3
Washington State: 2
UCLA: 2
Arizona: 2
Cal: 1
.
Number of selections on all four Athlon preseason all-Pac-12 teams
Oregon: 14
USC: 13
Washington: 13
Arizona State: 12
UCLA: 12
Utah: 11
Colorado: 10
Washington State: 8
Oregon State: 8
Cal: 7
Stanford: 6
Arizona: 4
.
Here are the Athlon selections
First-Team Offense
QB Kedon Slovis, USC
RB Jarek Broussard, Colorado
RB Rachaad White, Arizona State
AP Max Borghi, Washington State
WR Drake London, USC
WR Johnny Johnson, Oregon
TE Cade Otton, Washington
C Nathan Eldridge, Oregon State
OL Nick Ford, Utah
OL Jaxson Kirkland, Washington
OL Abraham Lucas, Washington State
OL Dohnovan West, Arizona State
.
First-Team Defense
DL Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon
DL Tyler Johnson, Arizona State
DL Mika Tafua, Utah
LB Zion Tupuola-Fetui, Washington (suffered torn Achilles in spring)
LB Drake Jackson, USC
LB Devin Lloyd, Utah
LB Avery Roberts, Oregon State
LB Nate Landman, Colorado
DB Trent McDuffie, Washington
DB Chase Lucas, Arizona State
DB Chris Steele, USC
DB Mykael Wright, Oregon
.
First-Team Specialists
K Jadon Redding, Utah
P Michael Turk, Arizona State
KR D.J. Taylor, Arizona State
PR Britain Covey, Utah
.
Second-Team Offense
QB Jayden Daniels, Arizona State
RB Austin Jones, Stanford
RB CJ Verdell, Oregon
AP Britain Covey, Utah
WR Bru McCoy, USC
WR Kyle Philips, UCLA
TE Brant Kuithe, Utah
C Alex Forsyth, Oregon
OL Luke Wattenberg, Washington
OL Kellen Diesch, Arizona State
OL Joshua Gray, Oregon State
OL Sean Rhyan, UCLA
.
Second-Team Defense
DL Thomas Booker, Stanford
DL Jermayne Lole, Arizona State
DL Nick Figueroa, USC
LB Omar Speights, Oregon State
LB Cameron Goode, California
LB Carson Wells, Colorado
LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington
CB Christian Roland-Wallace, Arizona
CB Clark Phillips, Utah
S Isaiah Pola-Mao, USC
S Evan Fields, Arizona State
.
Second-Team Specialists
K Lucas Havrisik, Arizona
P Ben Griffiths, USC
KR Nathaniel Peat, Stanford
PR Dimitri Stanley, Colorado
.
Third-Team Offense
QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, UCLA
RB Christopher Brown, California
RB Brittain Brown, UCLA
AP/WR Travell Harris, Washington State
WR Michael Wilson, Stanford
WR Renard Bell, Washington State
WR Jaylon Redd, Oregon
TE Greg Dulcich, UCLA
C Sam Marrazzo, UCLA
OL Walter Rouse, Stanford
OL Michael Saffell, California
OL Sataoa Laumea, Utah
OL Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, Oregon
OL Andrew Vorhees, USC
.
Third-Team Defense
DL Terrance Lang, Colorado
DL Tuli Tuipulotu, USC
DL Tuli Letuligasenoa Washington
DL Isaac Hodgins, Oregon State
LB Caleb Johnson, UCLA
LB Jahad Woods, Washington State
LB Kuony Deng, California
LB Noah Sewell, Oregon
LB Merlin Robertson, Arizona State
CB Jaylen Watson, Washington State
CB Josh Drayden, California
S Elijah Hicks, California
S Verone McKinley III, Oregon
.
Third-Team Specialists
K Parker Lewis, USC
P Ryan Sanborn, Stanford
KR Travell Harris, Washington State
PR Kyle Philips, UCLA
.
Fourth-Team Offense
QB Charlie Brewer, Utah
RB Chip Trayanum, Arizona State
RB Keaontay Ingram, USC
RB Travis Dye, Oregon
AP/RB Sean McGrew, Washington
WR Terrell Bynum, Washington
WR Trevon Bradford, Oregon State
WR Dimitri Stanley, Colorado
TE Brady Russell, Colorado
C Colby Pursell, Colorado
OL Valentino Daltoso, California
OL Nous Keobounnam, Oregon State
OL Frank Filip, Colorado
OL Victor Curne, Washington
OL Donovan Laie, Arizona
OL Alec Anderson, UCLA
.
Fourth-Team Defense
DL Brandon Dorlus, Oregon
DL Brennan Jackson, Washington State
DL Jalen Harris, Arizona
DL Mitchell Agude, UCLA
LB Isaac Slade-Matautia, Oregon
LB Ryan Bowman, Washington
DB Jamal Hill, Oregon
DB JaTravis Broughton, Utah
DB Kyler Gordon, Washington
DB Quentin Lake, UCLA
DB Qwuantrezz Knight, UCLA
DB Isaiah Lewis, Colorado
.
Fourth-Team Specialists
K Peyton Henry, Washington
P Tom Snee, Oregon
KR Gary Bryant, USC
PR Trevon Bradford, Oregon State
.
Cover photo of Cameron Goode by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports
.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport
