Cal Sports Report

Cal 2022 Football Preview -- Part 2: The Bears’ Stars

The loss of Brett Johnson eliminated one of Cal's standout players, and there are few returning starters
Jake Curtis|
Cal 2022 Football Preview -- Part 2: The Bears’ Stars
Cal 2022 Football Preview -- Part 2: The Bears’ Stars

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California Golden Bears

With so few returning starters on this year’s Cal football team, picking the team’s stars involves a lot of guess work. So we opted to place Cal’s 2022 stars into three categories: Proven Stars, Players of the Verge of Becoming Stars, and Potential Stars.

* Second in a series of stories previewing the 2022 Cal Golden Bears. Part 1: Strengths and weaknesses

Cal lost one proven star when defensive lineman Brett Johnson was lost for the season with a lower-body injury sustained last week. That reduced the number of proven Cal stars from three to two.

Proven Stars:

Safety Daniel Scott -- A preseason first-team all-Pac-12 selection, Scott led the team in tackles by a wide margin last year with 82 and also tied for the team lead in interceptions with three. Somehow he was left off the all-Pac-12 first team and second team a year ago. An instinctive player who just seems to be near the ball all the time, Scott is in his sixth season of college football and has made 16 career starts.

Inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon -- Like Scott, Sirmon was a preseason first-team all-Pac-12 selection. He was tied for fifth in the Pac-12 in tackles last season while at Washington, where he played in 33 games, including 16 starts. Only one returning player (Noah Sewell) had more tackles than Sirmon last year. The son of Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon, Jackson Sirmon plays the most important position in the Cal defense and that position is geared to record a lot of tackles. Look for him to lead the Pac-12 in tackles this season.

Players On the Verge of Becoming Stars

Wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter -- Hunter established himself as a big-play receiver last season as a sophomore when he averaged 18.48 yards per reception, which would have ranked second in the Pac-12 if he had had enough receptions to qualify. He played in just nine games last season and had only 21 receptions, but he will be quarterback Jack Plummer’s No. 1 target this season. Hunter is sure-handed, as demonstrated in the video below:

Cornerback Lu-Magia Hearns -- Hearns took over a starting cornerback spot midway through last season as a true freshman, and led the team by a wide margin in passes broken up with 10 and also had an interception. He plays the ball well in the air, which had been a weakness of Cal corners earlier in the 2021 season. Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon recently mentioned Hearns as one of the players who has improved the most since last season. He looks like the latest in a line of talented Cal cornerbacks following Camryn Bynum, Josh Drayden and Elijah Hicks, who spent most of his Cal career as a cornerback.

Center Matthew Cindric -- Versatile offensive lineman Cindric was a preseason third-team all-Pac-12 selection by Athlon Sports and is on the watch list for the Rimington Trophy that goes to the top center in the country. He has started 27 games for Cal – 14 at guard and 13 at center. He will be Cal’s center this season, and his reputation will depend on how Cal’s offensive line performs as a whole.

Offensive tackle Ben Coleman -- Much like Cindric, Coleman is a versatile offensive lineman who was a preseason third-team all-conference selection by Athlon Sports. Coeman was named the Pac-12 offensive lineman of the week following Cal’s 41-11 victory over Stanford last year. He started 11 games at guard last season, but will start out at tackle this season. He could be moved around if needed. And he’s a quote machine, as you can see here:.

Potential stars

Wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant -- Several young wide receivers could fit in this category, but we’re going with Sturdivant, even though he played in just four games last season as a true freshman and has yet to make a college reception. Sturdivant was the highest rated member of Cal’s 2021 recruiting class and has the size (6-foot-3, 205 pounds, 8% body fat) and speed (a wind-aided 10.39 seconds in the 100 meters as a high school senior) to be special.

Safety Craig Woodson -- Before he suffered a significant knee injury that ended his 2021 season before it started, Woodson was getting rave reviews from fellow defensive backs regarding his ability to make plays. He might start the season slowly as he continues to recover from that knee injury, but by midseason we would expect him to become the game-changing defensive back that others predicted.

Running back Jaydn Ott -- Ott, a true freshman, may be a year or two away from stardom, but he has a chance to be something special based on his performances in the spring and preseason camp. Damien Moore will be the Bears’ starting running back, but Ott will get significant playing time this season and his potential as a runner and pass receiver should be revealed this fall.

Inside linebacker Femi Oladejo -- He started only one game last season as a true freshman, but he has clearly won a starting spot this fall at a position loaded with talent. He has the body and attitude suited to the position, which is one geared to make a lot of tackles in Cal’s defensive system.

Tight ends Jermaine Terry II/Keleki Latu -- One of these two sophomore tight ends will emerge into a big-time player this season, partly because offensive coordinator Bill Musgraves loves using tight ends in his game plan and the top three tight ends from last season are gone. The slender Latu has added some weight after catching four passes, including one for touchdown, as a true freshman, while the powerful Terry dropped about 20 pounds from last season, when he caught just one pass as a freshman.

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Cover photo of Daniel Scott (32) is by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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