Cal OLB Braxten Croteau Drops Weight to Be Quicker, Get Sacks

He plays a position that is expected to make big plays as Cameron Goode and Marqez Bimage did last year

Cal's outside linebacker spots are designed to give them the opportunity to make game-changing plays, and with Cameron Goode and Marqez Bimage gone from last year's team, much of that responsibility falls on Braxten Croteau.

He and Odua Isibor are expected to be the starting outside linebackers this season, but Isibor was a defensive tackle last year for UCLA, and Croteau has just 2.0 career tackles for loss despite playing 27 games, including eight starts, in his three seasons.

Croteau, a fourth-year senior, has changed his body in the offseason to make himself quicker, hoping to improve his pass-coverage skills and get some tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

"First off, I lost about 20 pounds," Croteau said in the video atop this story. "I was 265 [last year]. Now I'm around 245, 250. I did that to add a little bit more speed, try to get my pass rush going, a little more explosive and move around a little bit more in coverage and different things."

Last season, Goode and Bimage combined for 16 tackles for loss, including 8.0 sacks, while Croteau has yet to record a sack in his three seasons at Cal.

So Cal is depending on Croteau to improve his pass rush. Croteau is also planning on a being a three-down defender, which means he will be in pass coverage at times.

But he will be counted on to make some tackles for loss and some big plays. Does he feel the pressure to be that guy?

"Not more pressure, but I'm excited to get in there and be the guy trying to make some tackles for losses, big plays," he said. "I think is going to come, not just from me, but the whole defensive pressure."

The outside linebacker spot is one of the biggest unanswered questions facing the Cal defense, which has always been good under Justin Wilcox. And Croteau expects more of the same this season, as he suggests in the video below.

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