Cal Football: Preseason Honor from Lindy's to Cornerback Camryn Bynum
Cal senior cornerback Camryn Bynum was named to the All-Pac-12 first-team defense chosen by Lindy’s Sports.
Bynum is one of eight Cal representatives among 75 players named to the first, second and third teams, including offense, defense, all-purpose, placekicker and punter.
Bynum was chosen as an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection by the league’s coaches last fall. Earlier this offseason, Athlon Sports named him to its all-conference second team.
As a junior, Bynum was third on the Bears with 63 tackles. He had a team-leading nine pass breakups along with one interception.
He was one of four defensive backs honored on the Lindys first team, along with Stanford's Paulson Adebo, Washington's Elijah Molden and Oregon's Jevon Holland.
*** Bynum talks about personnel and coaching changes that will impact the Cal defensive secondary in 2020:
Two Cal players were named to Lindy’s second team: running back Christopher Brown Jr. (914 rushing yards, 8 TDs) and linebacker Cameron Goode (57 tackles). Goode’s 14 tackles for loss tied for second-most in the Pac-12 and his 9.5 sacks were third.
The Bears landed five spots on the third team: quarterback Chase Garbers, center Michael Saffell, tackle Jake Curhan, linebacker Kuony Deng and defensive lineman Tevin Paul.
Deng’s place on the third team seems inadequate. As a junior last season he was third in the Pac-12 with 119 tackles. Pac-12 Networks analyst Yogi Roth told Cal Sports Report this week he considers Deng a possible candidate for Defensive Player of the Year in the conference.
The magazine named Oregon offensive lineman Penei Sewell the Pac-12’s Most Valuable Player. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis was chosen as Offensive Player of the Year, Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeau was Defensive Player of the Year and Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell was picked as Newcomer of the Year.
Cal players won none of these 12 special honors handed out by Lindy's:
Most accurate passer: Slovis
Strongest arm: Grant Gunnell, Arizona
Best scrambler: Jayden Daniels, Arizona State
Coolest in the clutch: Slovis
Best hands: Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC
Most dangerous deep threat: Simi Fehoko, Stanford
Best pass blocker: Walker Little, Stanford
Best run blocker: Sewell, Oregon
Best pass rusher: Hamilcar Rashed Jr., Oregon State
Best cover corner: Paulson Adebo, Stanford
Special teams demon: Britain Covey, Utah
USC tops all schools with 13 selections to the Lindy’s All-Pac-12 teams, including seven first-team selections. Oregon had 10 players named to the team, Stanford matched Cal with eight selections while Arizona State and Washington each landed seven spots.