Cal Football's Starting Outside Linebackers: Kendricks and Browner

Jeff Tedford announced that the starting outside linebackers for the California Golden Bears this season will will be Mychal Kendricks and Keith Browner.

The outside linebackers for the Bears are really thin, but the good news is, according to a Contra Costa Times article by Jonathan Okanes, the Bears are bringing in four freshman linebackers that according to Rivals.com are ranked second in the country in the linebacking class. 

The big news during the offseason though, which was also mentioned in the article by Okanes was Chris Little, who was a redshirt freshman, and local product, was dismissed from the team for violating team rules. 

Little was penciled in as one of the starters at outside linebacker, so that hurt the Bears depth right from the start. With the announcement of Kendricks and Browner it is time to take a look at what the two bring to the table for the Bears. 

Kendricks is a junior who's possesses good size and has also played in 26 games for the Bears, so he has experience playing the position. Here's a look at each season and then the totals: 

2008: 15 tackles and a sack. His best game came against Washington State when he had four tackles and his only sack of the year. 

2009: Kendricks did well in 2009 as he was amongst the leading tacklers for the Bears with 71, he also had six tackles for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and an interception.

His best game came against Eastern Washington when he had 15 tackles, one tackle for loss, and a fumble recovery. In the first two games of the season for Kendricks he led the team Bears in tackles, the 15 against Eastern Washington and 12 against Maryland.

For Kendricks, he may likely be used in blitzes and as an extra pass rusher because new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast will be more aggressive than previous defensive coordinator Bob Gregory, who left to become an assistant at Boise State. 

As for the other outside linebacker for the Bears that would be Browner. A senior, he has tremendous size at 6'6 250 lbs. and has primarily been used on special teams for his career. 

He started with the Bears in 2006, but did not play because of an injury and redshirted. 2007 is when he got his first game action. 2008 was used primarily on special teams, and in 2009 he was a backup. 

Browner is versatile as he has played the defensive end position as well as both linebacking positions. Here's a look at Browner's numbers for 2008 and 2009: 

2008: Eight tackles, one and a half tackles for loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery. 

2009: Five tackles and a half tackle for loss. 

So, Browner's numbers aren't necessarily eye-popping by any stretch of the imagination, but he has worked hard during the offseason to earn his spot. He seems to have a little more versatility than Kendricks, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see Browner used in pass rush situations over Kendricks. 

Even bigger news though came from incoming freshman Chris Martin the number one rated high school outside linebacker, but he ended up transferring to Florida. Here's link to the story. 

The incoming freshman for the Bears now include David Wilkerson, Cecil Whiteside, Chris McCain, and Nick Forbes. 

According to an Associated Press article found here Whiteside's eligibility is in question for the 2010 season. The questions surrounding his eligibility were answered and he will grayshirt the season. Okanes on August second reported on Whiteside's eligibility and what he will be doing, which can be read here.

Wilkerson should see some playing time if there are any injuries or either Browner or Kendricks needs a breather, but like Whiteside there were some concerns about Wilkerson's eligibility. According to a recent article by Okanes Wilkerson was held out of practice due to not being cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse, if Wilkerson is not eligible that makes the depth at outside linebacker even thinner.  

According to Rivals.com Wilkerson is a four star linebacker and ESPN has him as at a three star level. At 6'3 235 he offers plenty of size as an outside linebacker.

With the experience at inside linebacker for Forbes he probably won't see much time this year. 

Ryan Davis who redshirted last year after transferring from Cerritos College and could see some time at outside linebacker as he brings plenty of size at 6'4 250 lbs. and could be used as a pass rusher. 

At Cerritos college he had 39 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. 

There's another freshman that could be interesting who is a local product and that is Lucas King. Rivals.com has him as a safety while other sites have him as a linebacker. Either way he could add depth at linebacker. 

With Kendricks and Browner the Bears have some experience at the outside position, what will be interesting to see is who will step up if there's an injury or when either Kendricks or Browner needs a breather in a game.