Foothill TE Ray Hudson Commits to the Bears

Foothill High's Ray Hudson just committed to the Bears. The 6'4, 235 pounds tight end played quite a bit of receiver in high school and it shows in his game film. Hudson shows nice speed and hands for a player his size, and still appears to be growing into his body. He's got the frame to be an absolute mack truck in a year or so.

The three-star prospect fills a major recruiting need for the Bears who blanked last year in their tight end recruiting efforts before picking up Harrison Wilfley late in the recruiting season.

I like the pick up a lot. Hudson has gone under the radar a bit, and though he has just one other offer from San Diego State seems like he'll grow into a nice tight end for the Bears. He's got nice hands, moves really well for a player his size, reportedly has a fantastic work ethic, and does a nice job getting separation from his defenders with nice body control.

Just watch his game film below.



Welcome to Cal Ray!

More highlights after the jump.

U100 West MVP Honors



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A Little Recruiting Context

First off, let me preface this post by stating that I very rarely post about about recruiting. I actually used to write about it much more so, but it became so unmanageable time-wise, and quite frankly, there are other sites that do a much better job with it, with far more resources.

With that said, I've sense a little hand-wringing lately about the lack of news on the recruiting front. Even more, with the news of RB DJ Martin decommitting, or being dropped by Cal, some have found it necessary to get a bit restless.

I find this to be...a little much.

Granted, this worrying is probably only reflective of a very small, but vocal minority of Cal fans. I'd venture the vast majority of folks are quite content just living their lives in freaking June.

But, just so I can shed a little perspective here.

This time last year the Bears had just two recruits signed on, junior QB Zach Kline who had committed at the beginning of his junior year, and De La Salle linebacker Michael Barton.

The Bears went on to have a Top 25 recruiting class. This was after the whole Lupoi-fiasco, mind you. Of course, one could comment that Lupoi's presence was integral to building the class and his departure only negated what could have been Cal's best class ever, but that's a whole other discussion.

Right now, the Bears have five commits. Jared Goff is a 4 star QB, already considered one of the nation's best and one of the first prospects added to the Elite 11 discussion after dominating at regionals.

They also have a pair of DB recruits in Trey Cheek and Shon Atkins. Both are a bit of under the radar 3 star prospects, but are about as athletically gifted as they come and have been tearing it up in the camp circuits lately. 4 stars for either aren't out of the question.

They also picked up Chad Whitener, a 3 star MLB from the recruiting hotbed of Mansfield, Texas who notched a ridiculous 197 tackles last year.

And after all the worrying about special teams, the Bears coaching staff did exactly what fans have been crying out for for years in offering a kicking specialist in Matt Anderson. A former teammate of Zach Kline at San Ramon Valley High School, some recruiting sites have Anderson as high as the second best kicker in the nation, and he's outshined some of the nation's best in recent camps.

The point point is, relax. It's June. The Bears have built a nice foundation for a class by addressing specific needs.

Almost as important, the players who have jumped aboard the Cal Express seem to be very much on board and appear to be doing their part to recruit quite actively for the Bears. I have a lot of confidence we'll end up with a solid class. And if we don't, let's all agree to start worrying about it, in say, December? A good two months away from National Signing Day, yeah?

Sounds a bit healthier, no?

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Q&A with Coach Tedford

Well this is new. It appears that Coach Tedford has taken the time to answer a couple of questions that have come over via Twitter.


Nothing real revelations here, but there are some choice bits on Ohio State travel arrangements, talk about keeping spread punting (dah!) and Cal's use of the no huddle.

For what it's worth, I think the very closest version of what the Bears might try to do with their so-called no huddle is what Baylor's offense has been running for a couple of years. Their offense is very much an up-tempo, try to dictate the pace of the game while still using a variety of formations including a pro-style set. But that'd be my guess.

And, try and watch the video and count how many "No questions" or "No doubts" there are. Can you catch them all?

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New Game Times Revealed for 2012 Season

As expected in college football, Cal's game times are very much in the air at this point in the season. So those trying to catch the 3rd quarter of a game during a friend's ill-timed Saturday wedding will have to sweat it out a few more months to get a clearer picture of this season's game times.

But we do have a few more nuggets. The Cal Athletic Department just released some game times in addition to the Ohio State game time announced last week.

The Bears will open their schedule against Nevada at 12 PM and will debut on the brand spanking new Pac-12 Network on September 1st.

They'll again square off against Southern Utah in the 12 PM slot the following week on 9/8, before heading to Columbus to face the OSU Buckeyes at 9:00 AM Pacific Time. Who can forget throwing up their breakfast the last time the Bears had a 9 AM game (think Maryland). Wait, did the Bears face off against Minnesota at 9 AM? Not sure...

The only other game time announced is the Bears' much anticipated matchup against the Washington Huskies on Friday 11/2 at 6 PM. So be sure to call in sick or duck out early to get to Berkeley on time that day. It shall rocketh.

Otherwise, that game will be on ESPN 2 in HD glory.
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NFL Draft Recap (Day 3)

5th Round
Marvin Jones (166th Overall) - Cincinnati Bengals

You know this to me might have been the surprise of the draft among the Golden Bears selected. Oh wait, nevermind, the Jaguars selected a punter in the third round.

Then this has to be the second biggest surprise. Even heading into the combine, I was sure that that Jones was likely a 2nd or 3rd round selection, and that was before Jones posted a surprising and very good 40 yard dash time of 4.46. I thought at worst, Jones could do no worse than the fourth round.

Yet, NFL teams saw something I didn't see, and Jones fell to the Bengals who selected him in the fifth round. A whopping 21 receivers were selected before Jones. That is a bit stunning to me, really. I though Jones had done enough in his four years with the Bears to establish himself a solid route runner, with the ability to make tough catches, and be dependable enough to be at a productive 2nd or 3rd receiving option for some teams.

That's exactly what the Bengals will get with Jones though, regardless of where he was selected, and they're in the fortunate position of getting what's widely regarded as one of the biggest steals of the draft.

Jones will have to battle out a crop of young receivers (AJ Green, Jordan Shipley, Mohammed Sanu, Brandon Tate, Ryan Whalen (remember him?)) all battling it out for starting, and even roster spots. But I feel good about Jones, and think he'll quietly emerge and make a name for himself, much like he did with the Bears.

7th Round
DJ Campbell (216th Overall) - Carolina Panthers

Once you get to the seventh round, you know some players are really beginning to sweat it out, or at least entertaining the free agent offers that are likely already trickling through.

Fortunately for two Bears however, the dream of being selected in the NFL Draft was realized.

DJ Campbell was on Carolina Head Coach Ron Rivera's radar through his Cal connections, and liked enough what he saw in Campbell to take a shot on him in the later rounds.

Campbell was a highly recruited prospect who really didn't start to fully develop until his last few years with the Bears. He grew into a solid conference safety who didn't necessarily excel in any particular area, but was athletic and knowledgeable enough in his assignments to be a versatile defensive weapon for the Bears.

Campbell had 72 tackles last season, matching Chris Conte's total from the year prior, after having taken over his starting spot. He also notched 2 interceptions.

The Cal safety will likely fight for a backup DB spot, as either a nickleback or one of the two safety positions, and can be a solid special teams contributor. The guys is very athletic for his size and can develop into a reliable NFL reserve if given the patience to develop.

Trevor Guyton (219th Overall) - Minnesota Vikings

Just three picks after Campbell, Trevor Guyton was selected with the Vikings' final pick in the draft. While it wasn't quite the plummet that Jones saw, the Vikings also got a really nice steal in the later rounds given that some scouts had graded Guyton as having 3rd or 4th round potential. He was widely given a Top 100 grade by those at ESPN include the fairly knowledgeable Mike Mayock.

Guyton didn't quite impress at the combine, nor did he post the types of numbers that scouts might lazily notice, but it was apparent in many games last year that Guyton was the best defensive lineman for either team.

I think Guyton makes the team because of his versatility. He can play defensive end, or put his hands down as a tackle in the three technique (which is where I think he ends up). He just provides another body to put in the defensive linemen rotation.

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