Cal Football: Kuony Deng Remains Confident There's a Place for Him in the NFL

He missed most of 2021 but says `I don’t think there’s anybody like me in the draft'

Kuony Deng’s 2021 season was over before halftime of Cal’s second game, way back on Sept. 11. The Bears’ senior outside linebacker suffered an ankle injury that required surgery and, although he held out hope he would return, that never happened.

Healthy again, Deng arrived today in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas, to begin training at the Michael Johnson Performance facility. He expects to spend a couple months there, “preparing to be the best version of myself athletically, mentally, spiritually.”

Because he had virtually no senior season, Deng hasn’t yet been invited to any post-collegiate all-star games. He hasn’t heard from the folks who run the NFL combine. He is not currently projected to be taken in the NFL draft.

But the 6-foot-6, 240-pounder, who played both inside and outside linebacker at Cal, has supreme confidence there is a place for him in the NFL.

“I don’t think there’s anybody like me in the draft,” Deng says toward the end of the video at the top of this story. “I think I can play all four linebacker positions in the 3-4 and all three in the 4-3. Really, really confident in what I bring to the table and I think people will be able to recognize that.”

Jake Presser, whose Milk and Honey sports agency represents Deng, believes his client will open eyes.

“He’s probably a little bit of a . . . not a forgotten man, but I think he’s really going to surprise people,” Presser said. “One way or another he’s going to be seen and someone is going to say, `I’ll have that kid in my building and we’ll develop him.’ “

Deng came to Cal before the 2019 season after stints at VMI in 2016 and Independence (KS) Community College in 2017-18. At Berkeley, playing alongside All-American Evan Weaver, Deng accumulated 119 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss in 2019 and was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention.

Cal’s season was limited by the pandemic to four games in 2020 and Deng was a spectator this past season.

Deng could have applied for an additional year of college eligibility, but said it wasn’t a difficult decision to move on in pursuit of his NFL dreams.

“I was (easy) for me,” he says in the video below. “As a young man, timing is always an important thing. I’ve had a great experience at three different schools. Being able to really finish it up at Cal was a great thing.

“For me, I think there’s always a timing with your path in terms of when it’s time to do the next thing. Just in my maturation as a young man, I think I really got what I was looking for at Berkeley and I knew it was time to go on to the next challenge.”

Watching his team stagger to a 1-5 start last season was tough, Deng said. He continued to provide leadership in his role as a team captain and enjoyed watching his young teammates improve. Cal went 4-2 over its final six games.

“It was really hard to watch. But for me it was really, really cool to see growth in guys on all three level of the defense, seeing young guys really progress. Really playing some good defense later down the stretch.” he said. “I don’t have any regrets. I’ve enjoyed my time.”

Presser, his agent, believes Deng’s athletic ability will translate to a place in the NFL. “He’s going to work. He’s smart, he’s physically gifted. Nothing’s going to stop him,” Presser said.

Deng is encouraged by the fact that many of his recent Cal teammates are playing in the pros. That includes offensive tackle Jake Curhan, who wasn’t drafted after his senior season in 2020 but has started for the Seattle Seahawks.

“I certainly know there’s going to be an opportunity. Obviously it’s really cool seeing your friends do it at the next level,” Deng said. "So it’s really cool to be able to get on the phone with a guy like Jake or a guy like Cam (Bynum), all these other guys. It just kind of shows you that there’s path you can walk in.

“Put in the work, find the right opportunity and it will work out.”

Cover photo of Kuony Deng by Kelley L. Cox, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo