Cal Football: Does Cal Belong in the Conversation for Offensive Lineman U.?

Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz lead Bears' contingent in NFL, but does Cal compare with other colleges?

Cal has had a number of its offensive linemen go on to successful NFL careers. But how do the Bears' alumni compare to other schools' products at the offensive line position. In short, can Cal call itself Offensive Line U.?

Sports Illustrated took a look at a lot of data of NFL offensive linemen over the last 10 years, including draft position, number of starts and postseason honors, to determine which college deserves the moniker Offensive Line U.

Before we reveal SI's results determining the top 10 colleges in this category, we will give you the Cal alums who made an impact in the NFL as offensive linemen. Then you can compare the Bears' group to the one that ranks No. 1 on SI's list.

CAL ALUMS

Alex Mack (first-round draft pick, 21st overall, in 2009; 165 starts; 2013 and 2017 Sporting News All-Pro; one of two enters named to All-Decade team). We included Mack because of his influence during the decade. However, Sports Illustrated collected data only for players drafted in 2010 or later, so Mack was not part of the SI survey. Mike Gibson, a sixth-round pick in 2009, and Ryan O'Callghan, a fifth-round choice in 2006, also fall into this group.

Mitchell Schwartz (second-round draft pick 2012; 128 starts; first-team All-Pro 2018).

Brian Schwenke (fourth-round draft pick 2013; 30 starts)

Brian De La Puente (free agent 2008; 50 starts, all since 2010)

Patrick Mekari (free agent 2019; 5 starts)

Mike Tepper (free agent 2011; 4 starts)

Justin Cheadle (free agent 2013)

Stephen Moore (free agent)

Jordan Rigsbee (free agent)

Below, Mitchell Schwartz talks about his days at Cal before his Kansas City Chiefs played in this year's Super Bowl.

Here are the top 10 of Offensive Linemen U. 

1. Notre Dame, 69 points

2. Wisconsin, 68

3. Florida, 66

4. Alabama, 56

5. Ohio State, 54

6. USC, 51

7. Oklahoma, 49

8. Iowa 44

9. Texas A&M, 41

10. Stanford, 38

ALUMNI FOR TOP TWO

NOTRE DAME ALUMNI

Zack Martin (2014 first round, 94 starts, 4x All-Pro)

Quenton Nelson (2018 6th overall, 32 starts, 2x All-Pro)

Ronnie Stanley (2016 6th overall, 56 starts, All-Pro)

Mike McGlinchey (2018 9th overall, 28 starts)

Nick Martin (2016 second round, 46 starts)

Chris Watt (2014 third round, 8 starts)

Sam Young (2010 sixth round, 21 starts)

Trevor Robinson (2012 undrafted, 21 starts)

Eric Olsen (2010 sixth round, 4 starts)

Alex Bars (2019 undrafted)

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WISCONSIN ALUMNI

Travis Frederick (2013 first round, 96 starts, All-Pro)

Ryan Ramczyk (2017 first round, 47 starts, All-Pro)

Kevin Zeitler (2012 first round, 118 starts)

Gabe Carimi (2011 first round, 26 starts)

Rob Havenstein (2015 second round, 68 starts)

Rick Wagner (2013 fifth round, 87 starts)

Peter Konz (2012 second round, 28 starts)

Michael Deiter (2019 third round, 15 starts)

John Moffitt (2011 third round, 15 starts)

David Edwards (2019 fifth round, 10 starts)

Ryan Groy (2014 undrafted, 17 starts)

Bill Nagy (2011 seventh round, 4 starts)

Tyler Marz (2016 undrafted, 1 start)

Beau Benzschawel (2019 undrafted)

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How points were awarded

DRAFT POSITION

Top 10: 4 points

Round 1 (non-top 10): 3 points

Rounds 2-3: 2 points

Rounds 4-7: 1 point

Undrafted: 0 points

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NFL GAMES STARTED

80-plus: 5 points

48 to 79: 4 points

16 to 47: 3 points

5 to 15: 2 points

1 to 4: 1 point

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NFL AWARDS

Offensive Player of the Year: 4 points

First-Team All-Pro: 3 points

Offensive Rookie of the Year: 2 points

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Click here for the entire Sports Illustrated story.