Cal Football: Three Golden Bear NFL Prospects Identify Their Role Models in the Pros

Three former Cal players who participated in the program’s Pro Day on Thursday shared who they admire and try to emulate in the NFL at their respective positions.

Jake Curhan, Zeandae Johnson and Camryn Bynum picked three elite, veteran players — two of them former Cal stars, and the other one from across the Bay.

Jake Curhan, who started 40 games at right tackle during his Cal career, didn’t have to stray far for someone whose game he likes.

“I think I have a lot of similarities, not just I the fact that he went to Cal, but Mitch Schwartz, I really like his game,” Curhan said.

Expanding on his admiration for Schwartz, Curhan said, “I think we’re kind of similar in the sense that, you know, his numbers might not jump off the page when it comes to speed, strength, anything like that.

“But here he is as one of the top right tackles in the NFL, and that’s off being smart and understanding angles and leverage and what the defensive line is going to do. So I really pay attention to what he does a lot.

Curhan has been asked to also work on playing right or left guard, positions he never tried during his four seasons at Cal.

Schwartz started all 51 games during his four seasons at Cal (2008-11), earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a senior. A second-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2012, Schwartz started all 134 games of his career with the Browns and Kansas City Chiefs until a back injury this past season halted his streak.

Schwartz was named first-team All-Pro in 2018 and helped the Chiefs win the Super Bowl following the 2019 season. He was released by Kansas City last week, but there is some speculation he could re-sign with the Chiefs.

Here’s Curhan running the 40-yard dash during Thursday’s Pro Day:

Johnson, who spent six seasons at Berkeley, also went with a former Cal man as his favorite NFL defensive end.

“I’m most definitely watching a lot of Cam Jordan. He’s a Cal guy, a guy that plays off the edge, plays with crazy tenacity, has a high motor,” Johnson said. “Just watching how he overpowers people . . . that’s a guy I’ve been molding my game after since I got here and I’ll continue to look at him and look up to him throughout this process.”

Jordan played four seasons (2007-10) at Cal, collecting 175 tackles, 34 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks in his career and landing on the first-team All-Pac-10 team as a senior.

Now 31, he has started 159 of 160 games in his 10-year NFL career, all with the New Orleans Saints. He has 94.5 career sacks, including a best of 15.5 in 2019, and is a six-time Pro Bowl selection.

Here’s video from Pro Day of Johnson completing 22 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press in front of NFL scouts:

Bynum departed from the trend of identifying an ex-Cal player.

“My main one is Richard Sherman, back when he was playing in Seattle,” Bynum said of the former Stanford star. "He’s a real great technician, not the craziest athletic guy. That’s why I respect his game like crazy because he’s not a super-burner like that. But his mental approach to the game and his technique is second to none, especially back in his prime.

“That’s a guy I watch to get a lot of techniques from him — we play a similar technique.”

Sherman, in fact, clocked a 4.56-second time at the NFL Combine after his senior season while Bynum posted a 4.49 time at Cal’s Pro Day.

And among the best current elite cornerbacks? Bynum will reveal his favorite at the end of this short video:

Sherman, who arrived at Stanford as a wide receiver before his junior season, was taken by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He went on to make five Pro Bowls and earn first-team All-Pro three times. Like Schwartz and Jordan, Sherman has won a Super Bowl.

In this video, Bynum completes the standing broad jump at Pro Day. Check out his look of satisfaction at the end:

Cover photo of Cam Bynum in the broad jump by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

Pro Day videos by Jim Plain, Cal football

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