Cal Football: Can Ashton Stredick Contribute Make-You-Miss Aspect to Running Game?
Cal’s run game this season will be powered by 235-pound senior Christopher Brooks.
Sophomore Damien Moore, who rushed for 121 yards in the 2020 Big Game, figures to be the second option. And versatile Marcel Dancy returns for his sixth collegiate season, one of the Bears’ eight super seniors.
Coach Justin Wilcox said after Saturday’s second fall camp scrimmage that he likes the growing depth the Bears have at the running back position.
“There’s just more guys we feel like we can put into the game and help us do something,” said Wilcox, whose team ranked 11th in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game (126.8) last season and scored just four touchdowns on the ground. “They’re all a little bit different. There’s just a number of guys who have different styles that can help us. So that’s a good thing.”
Brooks, who previously went by Christopher Brown Jr., barely played in the scrimmage. The coaching staff knows what he can do — more than 900 rushing yards in 2019 — and wants to keep him fresh and healthy.
Likewise, Moore and Dancy saw limited action Saturday.
Instead, two sophomores were highlighted in the run game.
Chris Street, a 5-foot-9, 219-pounder from Eastvale in Riverside County, got 12 rushes and 31 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown during the 100-play scrimmage.
Perhaps even more intriguing is Ashton Stredick, a second-year walk-on from Needville, Texas, a small town (pop. 3,000) about 42 miles southwest of Houston.
Stredick came to Cal last year with high school statistics that sound like something out of a video came. He rushed for 6,420 yards and 88 touchdowns in his three-year varsity career. He averaged 10 yards per carry, and 17 games of at least 200 yards, including a 505-yard effort in one game.
And yet Stredick was rated as just a two-star prospect by Rivals and attracted limited big-time college recruiting attention, even in football-mad Texas. Stredick reportedly got offers from Texas State, Southern Miss and Baylor and but planned to attend Princeton in the Ivy League until Cal expressed interest.
The issue was Stredick’s size. He’s listed at 5-foot-9 and played his high school senior season at 175 pounds.
“He’s not the biggest guy in the world but he’s not small, he’s just short,” Wilcox said. “So he’s got some power and strength and he just needs to continue to learn.”
Now listed at 195 pounds, Stredick boasts a coveted skill.
“You can see the quickness, the make-you-miss component that he can bring,” Wilcox said. “When we get him out in the (pass) routes or get him some space in the run game he can make a guy miss.”
Stredick carried the ball six times for 20 yards, including a 2-yard TD run, and caught two passes for 10 yards in the scrimmage. Hardly blockbuster numbers, but on at least a couple plays Stredick showed off his ability to make a quick move and elude a tackler.
“He made a jump from last week to this week,” Wilcox said. “He made some nice runs in there.”
Does he figure in the Bears’ plans for Saturdays this fall?
“We’ll see,” Wilcox said. “It’s all going to be earned. It’s a merit-based system that we run here. He’s got to earn those but he’s done a good job of making the most of his opportunities thus far.
“He’s still a young guy and he’s going to continue to get better. Still improving in pass protection.”
Cover photo of Ashton Stredick by Andrew Madsen, KLC fotos
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
