The Cal Football Fan

Recruiting updates

Cal recently signed OL Brian Schwenke out of Oceanside High School. He is a 6′3″ 265 lbs lineman who has played both ways in high school, but will probably focus on offense in college. Besides for being rated a 3-star recruit by Scout.com, Schwenke is also academically focused with a near 4.0 GPA. He chose Cal largely because of Cal’s academic reputation.

Allan Bridgford, a Cal commit, was named to the Elite 11 and is currently participating in the QB camp. He was named the most accurate passer on day 1 of the camp.

Stadium saga over?

The stadium saga is possibly over with Judge Barbara Miller’s ruling today. In her ruling, she declared UC Berkeley the prevailing party in the stadium lawsuit, and will lift the injunction on building in a week. If the plaintiffs decide not to file an appeal, the lawsuit will be over and Cal will be free to build. If the plaintiffs do file an appeal, they would have to reapply for an injunction which may or may not be granted. Full news is available here.

Judgment day

Judge Barbara Miller of Alameda County has exhausted her 90 days to make her ruling — the decision’s deadline is today.  If UC wins, the injunction preventing the construction of the new facilities needed desperately by Cal Athletics should be lifted.  If UC loses, the student-athlete high performance center and stadium renovation projects will be again delayed.

There are reports from the “front lines:” protesters camping out, news vans swarming, and UC lining up equipment trucks to finish removing the tree-sitters and begin construction immediately after the ruling. As a side note, Cal has had the authority to remove the tree-sitters for some time but has waited until yesterday to begin the removal process.

Updates will follow throughout the day.

9:30am: Confirmed sightings so far: cherry picker (a big crane).   Possible sightings: excavators (!)

9:45am: If you’re interested, you can access the court documents here (case number RG06301644).

3:25pm: No word from the judge yet — most speculation is pointing to a 5pm (court closing time) decision.  Meanwhile, the UC crews are reportedly cutting down the support lines between the trees, as the protesters scream threats and obscenities.  Here is a short YouTube clip of the scene.

5:15pm: “There are no judgments.”  No word yet.  Apparently, Cal may have a press conference at 7pm.  The suspense is killer.

Speaking of Blinn College…

Scout.com reports that Jarred Price, a 5′10″ 215 lbs weakside LB has signed with Cal out of Blinn College.  Price currently plays DE for Blinn, but projects to be a LB at the Division I level.  He becomes the second Blinn player to sign with Cal in the past week.

It seems as if Price might be in the hunt to replace Zach Follett after Follett graduates after this season.  Price will probably play the same blitzing linebacker position that Follett currently occupies.  He has two years to play two seasons after using a redshirt season at Blinn.

Late 2007-08 Recruit

Scout.com reports that defensive back Bryant Nnabuife out of Blinn College in Texas has signed with the Golden Bears. Nnabuife is a 6′2″ 200 lbs player who also runs a 4.38 40. He has played both safety and cornerback in the past and could project to play either position for the Bears. Nnabuife himself prefers to play CB, but is open to playing anything. Eligibility-wise, Nnabuife has 4 years to play 3.

If you will recall, Cal signed Alex Cook out of Blinn College a few years ago. Other than Cook, Blinn has stood out as a JC team as they have placed over a dozen players at Division I colleges as transfers.

First Cal recruit of 2008

Quarterback Allan Bridgford out of Mission Viejo, CA has committed to Cal. He is the first recruit of the new football year. Bridgford is listed as 6′3″ 215 lbs, and is also a good student with a 3.5 GPA. Scout.com lists Bridgford as a 3-star recruit, while Rivals.com lists Bridgford as a 4-star recruit.

This is a good start for Cal, and more importantly, Bridgford already seems committed to helping the team. He reportedly will help call other recruits to convince them to join him at Cal. As Bridgford is a highly rated quarterback, many players will probably want to join with him to form a great class. Bridgford also adds to line of Cal quarterbacks that were highly recruited including Nate Longshore, Kevin Riley, компютриand Brock Mansion.

NFL Draft wrap-up

This weekend, the Bears had six players taken in the NFL draft. Here is a tabulated summary of the action:

WR DeSean Jackson	Round 2	18th pick (49th overall)	Philadelphia Eagles
TE Craig Stevens	Round 3	22nd pick (85th overall)	Tennessee Titans
S Thomas DeCoud	Round 3	35th pick (98th overall)	Atlanta Falcons
WR Lavelle Hawkins	Round 4	27th pick (126th overall)	Tennessee Titans
OG Mike Gibson	Round 6	18th pick (184th overall)	Philadelphia Eagles
RB Justin Forsett	Round 7	26th pick (233th overall)	Seattle Seahawks
WR Robert Jordan	Undrafted	Signed Free-Agent	San Francisco 49ers

With respect to the number of players taken in the draft by school, Cal was exceeded by only USC (10), Virginia Tech (8), and LSU (7) — all teams who were in the BCS this past post-season. Arkansas and Michigan also had six players drafted. Overall, a great showing in the draft — it will be great to see more Bears representing Cal in the NFL.

Regarding free agent signings: WR Robert Jordan was picked up immediately after the draft by the local 49ers. OL Brian De La Puente was signed by the 49ers as well.

CONFIRMED 5/1: K Tom Schneider, who completed his degree, will play one more season at Division II North Alabama to prove himself to the NFL.

Media Links

• DeSean Jackson: Conference Call, Locker Room Visit, Pat’s Steaks Visit, Press Conference
• Craig Stevens: Conference Call, Quotes
• Thomas DeCoud: Interview, Press release
• Lavelle Hawkins: Conference Call, Quotes, ESPN draft coverage (Cris Carter negative, Mel Kiper positive)
• Mike Gibson: Conference Call
• Justin Forsett: Press release

Stevens, DeCoud picked in 3rd round

TE Craig Stevens was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the 22nd pick of the 3rd round (85th). Later in the round, S Thomas DeCoud was selected 35th (98th overall) by the Atlanta Falcons.

Congratulations to these two seniors, as they were picked at the higher end of draft predictions.

EDIT: WR Lavelle Hawkins will join Stevens at Tennessee — he was selected in the 4th round (126th overall) by the Titans, the first receiver among the Titans’ picks.

EDIT: RB Justin Forsett has been picked in the 7th round (233rd overall) by the Seattle Seahawks.

DeSean Jackson drafted by the Eagles at #49

DeSean Jackson has been drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles as the 18th pick of the second round, pick number 49 overall and the 7th wide receiver to be drafted. In a rather strange draft, no wide receivers were selected in the first round, which seemed to be dominated by defensive players and linemen.

EDIT: The Eagles have also selected OT Mike Gibson in the 6th round (184th overall).

In Alumni news, the Green Bay Packers selected with the 56th pick of the draft QB Brian Brohm from Louisville, so Aaron Rodgers will have some competition for the starting QB job.

EDIT: The Packers also selected QB Matt Flynn (LSU) in the 7th round, so Rodgers will certainly be pushed to succeed with the addition of these rookies.

NFL draft today: projections

Today at noon, the NFL draft begins. Cal has an unprecedented number (7) of potential draftees: S Thomas DeCoud, RB Justin Forsett, OL Mike Gibson, WR Lavelle Hawkins, WR DeSean Jackson, WR Robert Jordan and TE Craig Stevens.

OL Brian De La Puente and P Andrew Larson have a good chance in free agency as well.

My projections:

1st round: Jackson
2nd-3rd round: Hawkins
3rd-5th round: DeCoud, Stevens
6th-7th round: Gibson, Forsett
7th round/FA: Jordan, Larson, De La Puente

Good luck to our guys — updates will come as the draft goes on. Meanwhile, here’s a draft video from the NFL about Jackson.