Fall Camp Practice Thoughts (through 8/14)

Back at it. I've been MIA for a little bit while celebrating an anniversary with my better half. But I'm refreshed and happy to pour over some quality Cal football camp news.

Not too much has happened over the past few days, but there have been some interesting developments as the depth chart begins to see a little bit more clarity at certain positions.

It looks like new bear LB Khairi Fortt won't be playing in the season opener against Nevada as reported by Dan Greenspan. Not a real surprise here as Fortt has been rehabilitating his knee and is still in the process of getting back to basic conditioning. Tedford has reiterated that they know Fortt has the talent to play at the next level, so trying to rush him in when he has three years to play two would be far from judicious.

Speaking of linebackers, it looks like things are beginning to shake out a bit, especially on the outside. The Bear Insider reported that sophomore Brennan Scarlett was the frontrunner to start the predator OLB spot opposite Chris McCain.

Tedford: ""He's moving really well. He's pass rushing really well off the edge, he's dropping back [into zone coverage], he's covering. "

"[Linebackers Scarlett and McCain] are long-armed guys who can run and [are] athletic, so we're in good shape there."

This is really exciting to hear. I've been very big about Scarlett, ever since the four-star recruit made a late decision to commit to the Bears two years ago. You honestly don't see his blend of speed, size and athletic ability very often. He moves freakishly well for his size and can be an instant playmaker for the Bears. I'm very happy to hear he's progressing into making that push for a starting role. The idea of McCain and Scarlett on the outside with Cecil Whiteside and Dan Camporeale providing depth sounds very solid.

It may be just lipservice, but depth at tight end appears to be developing as well. After Tedford went off on Richard Rodgers' ability, Rodgers went down with an undisclosed injury the next day, only to have Spencer Hagan get dinged up as well. Hagan should be back by Wednesday, but color me a little nervous that Tedford is still mum about the extent of Rodgers' injury. He keeps telling me that everything will be ok, but mmmm, I'm still scurred.

Fear not though, because the coach is liking what he's seeing with transfer Harrison Wilfley and freshman Maximo Espitia impressing Tedford.

"Maximo is really a very good athlete," Tedford said. "He really fits in that position really well. He's very smart. I'm really pleased at the way he has absorbed the offense, so that's been great. Same with Harrison. He's absorbed it really well, mentally. He's a very tough kid. He's taken a lot of reps. He's a guy who's going to be in the rotation this year."

That's actually very encouraging to hear given these were two players I expected absolutely zero from this year. Not to say I didn't think they could develop into contributing for the team, but I wasn't even close to thinking they'd contribute this early.

Wilfley is a big bodied tight-end who's returning from a two year missionary stint, with prototypical TE size. Espitia is a gifted athlete who's more in the H-back mold who will be able to expected to do a lot in terms of blocking, running, and catching the ball out of the backfield, etc. Tedford wanted to bring him along slowly given the sheer amount of information he had to digest, but so far it appears he's exceeded expectations.

That's a decently deep group of tight ends, with Rodgers, Wark and Wilfley going three deep, and Hagan and Espitia filling out the spots at the H-Back spot. The only caveat being that this group is still incredibly unproven, with only Hagan having any real significant game experience. Tedford maintains they'll be using tight ends more this year, and with the lack of experience at the WR spot opposite Keenan Allen, it'd be understatement to say that much is expected of this group this year.

And in regards to WRs, Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper appear to have the leg up out of the freshmen to be in the rotation this year. It's still early on, so I'd expect at least one more freshman to play their way into the rotation, but it's looking good for Harper and Treggs right now. I had a good feeling about Treggs, but I'm not surprised about Harper. He may not be the most physically gifted WR of the Fab 5 that entered in, but he's near the top of the pack in terms of polish and route running which is going to likely be the deciding factor as to who plays sooner than later.