Mailbag 3.20.09

Yeah I know, I haven’t done this in a while. But I kinda need questions to provide any answers. Here’s what I gots so far.

Will Belotti taking over AD at Oregon affect the balance of power for Pac-10 football?
-Wyatt, from Nebraska.

A Nebraskan asking about Pac-10 football? Color me surprised.

To answer your question Wyatt, I don’t how much of a “balance of power” will really shift. At this point, it’s still USC at the top, and everyone fighting for upper-tier status. I don’t think Chip Kelly’s appointment as the head coach really signifies that Oregon will now move into USC’s company, nor does it mean that they will be relegated to crunching elbows with the likes of Washington State any time soon.

I think Oregon will continue in the model that Bellotti has set, that is, typically being one of the top 3-4 teams in the conference year in and year out, while seriously challenging for a conference title every 3 or 4 years or so.

To be fair, I think it may be a few years before we can really honestly begin to answer this question.


With the graduating seniors gone, can you rate, by position groups, whether each group will be stronger or weaker in 2009?
-Abe from Georgia

Abe, it’s hard to say for two reasons. One, I haven’t had a chance to see enough of the younger players play extensively to really know what we have one hand. For example, OLB Mychal Kendricks is supposed to be incredibly talented, and even Worrell Williams has said that he might be the best linebacker to come out of Cal. This coming from a NFL prospect. But will Kendricks be ready to play at the Williams level by the fall? Who knows.

Secondly, a number of the units feature nearly all their returning starters, so it’s a bit of a coin toss to see if they’ll be better, the same, or worse.

But, I try not to disappoint, so if pressed, here are my very tentative and initial thoughts in terms of productivity.

Offense:
QB: Better
HB: Better
FB: Worse
OL: Same
WR: Better
TE: Same

Defense:
DL: Better
LB: Worse
CB: Same
Safety: Better

Okay, I take it back, I have no clue.

Who was the most successful cal alum in the NFL?
-Noah from az

Hmm…good question. Depends on how you define successful. Personal numbers? Super Bowl Rings? You’ve got some legends like Chuck Muncie who had a probowl NFL career before it ended at the hands of cocaine. You’ve also got some young studs in Aaron Rodgers (if he can sustain numbers and win close games), Marshawn Lynch (if he can stay out of Roger Goodell’s office), Desean Jackson (if he doesn’t go TO anytime soon) who have the chance to have some pretty storied careers. Not to mention some current Cal players like Nnamdi Asomugha and Ryan Longwell who are great characters but might also the best players at their position. Scott Fujita, Andrew Carter, Deltha O’Neal, Tully Banta-Cain have also done some impressive things.

At the end of the day, I think it’d be egregious not to say Tony Gonzalez though. As it stands now, Gonzalez will go down as arguably the greatest player to play his position. Gonzalez owns the NFL records for career receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns for a tight end, and has 10 Pro Bowl Selections in his career.

Plus, the man has literally saved lives.