NFL Mock Draft Not Kind to Cal Players, So Pro Day Important

Cal’s three NFL hopefuls will try to improve their draft status during Thursday’s Cal Pro Day because it seems that none is a shoo-in to get taken in next month's seven-round NFL Draft.

Cornerback Camryn Bynum, offensive lineman Jake Curhan and defensive lineman Zeandae Johnson are the three members of Cal’s 2020 team that have the best shot at being selected in the NFL Draft, which will be held April 29 through May 1 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Sports Illustrated seven-round mock draft posted recently projects that none of the three Cal players will being taken in the draft.

However, the CBS Sports seven-round mock draft has Bynum being selected with the 17th pick of the fourth round, by the Houston Texans. It adds this note: “The Texans need all the help they can get at cornerback.”

The Pro Football Network seven-round mock draft projects Bynum to be taken with the 12th pick of the sixth round by the New York Giants.

That is a large difference in the projections for Bynum, from not being drafted at all in one projection to be taken in the middle round by another. That’s why it is so important for Bynum and the others to do well in the 40-yard dash, shuttle runs, vertical jump and the many other drills they were perform on Cal’s Pro Day.

Bynum is the only Cal player projected to be taken in CBS Sports or Pro Football Network seven-round mock drafts, and the NFL.com four-round mock draft projects no Golden Bears to be selected in the first four rounds.

SI also ranks players by position group.

Though Curhan primarily played offensive tackle at Cal, he is projected to be a guard in the NFL. SI ranks him as the 15th-best guard prospect in the draft and suggests he could be a seventh-round pick.

Bynum is ranked No. 22 among cornerback, also with a seventh-round possibility. Being on the fringe of being drafted is why Pro Day is so pivotal.

Zeandae Johnson is ranked No. 13 among 3-4 defensive ends, which is the position he played at Cal, but he is not projected to be drafted and is listed as a preferred free-agent signing by SI.

It's difficult for a player to make a team's regular-season roster if he is not drafted, but it's not impossible. Three Cal players -- Patrick Laird, Jordan Kunaszyk and Patrick Mekari -- went undrafted in 2019, but all three made regular-season NFL rosters in 2019 as free agents.

One other noteworthy thing about the SI mock draft is that while Cal is not projected to have any players taken in the draft, Stanford is projected to have seven players selecteden in the 2021 NFL draft. That’s the most of any Pac-12 school, with USC second with six projected draft picks and Oregon with five.

Cover photo of Zeandae Johnson by Stan Szeto, USA TODAY Sports

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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