2012 NFL Draft: A Cal Fan Breaks Down Cal Prospects

Fooch's Note: Thanks to tigerking for putting together a rundown of Cal prospects. We'll have plenty more coverage on many of these prospects, but I thought a sort of get to know you courtesy of a Cal fan would be a good start. This follows Odekerk's rundown of Arkansas and Arkansas State prospects. I'll post something on the front page later, but to follow on that, if you're interested in posting a similar FanPost on prospects of your favorite school, shoot me an email at ninersnation@gmail.com
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Following Odekerk's breakdown of Arkansas prospects, I decided to do one for Cal because I'm a student here at Berkeley and pretty familiar with our team. I'm going to talk about our prospects and also how they might fit in with the 49ers next year.

California Golden Bears

Marvin Jones, WR / PR

Although perhaps not a household name, Marvin Jones caught 62 passes for 846 yards last year despite being the second receiving option and inconsistent quarterback play. He measured just a hair under 6'2" and 200 pounds, but he knows how to use every inch of his frame and uses his body extremely well, especially while blocking. Jones has excellent hands and attacks the football at the highest point; he snags almost everything thrown his way and has made more than his fair share of circus catches. He has fantastic body control along the sidelines, and his size and leaping ability make him a quality red zone target. In college, he was capable of making the big catch downfield and also catching short slants and screens and making big plays out of them. However, the speed is a concern; despite having good size and leaping ability, he will probably not be able to bully NFL safeties as easily as he did those in the Pac-12. Marvin Jones also returned punts in college, but probably lacks the speed to be more than a mediocre NFL return man.

NFL teams will like him for his body and hands, his route running skills, his great blocking, and his three years of solid production despite poor quarterback play, but how much they like him will depend on his speed. If Marvin runs a good 40, he will probably end up being a 2nd-round pick, and definitely deserves strong consideration for the 49ers 2nd or 3rd round pick depending on his time.

UPDATE: Marvin Jones ran a 4.46 40, and as expected, put up massive numbers on the bench press, tying for first among WRs with 22 reps despite weighing less than 200 lbs. I think he'll be a 2nd round pick, and I hope the 49ers snatch him up if he's available at 62.

Mitchell Schwartz, LT

A very solid left tackle that was overshadowed by Pac-12 greats like Matt Kalil and Jonathan Martin. Schwartz started as a redshirt freshmen and has not missed a start since, amassing a whopping 51 starts. He has been a rock at left tackle the last couple years, anchoring a pretty pedestrian unit. He received less credit this year because he had a lefty, mobile quarterback behind him, but was just as good the previous year when he manned the blind side for Kevin Riley, who was not mobile at all. Schwartz weighed in at 6'5", 317 at the Senior Bowl, but has short arms, which will hurt him on draft day. People talked about Quinton Coples' performance in the Senior Bowl, but most of his pressure came against the backup North tackles. Schwartz started on the right side and did a great job blocking Quinton Coples, Courtney Upshaw, and Melvin Ingram on the first few drives. Schwartz has been a very good pass protector but he does not get a ton of push in the run game. His lack of versatility hurts him; he probably cannot play on the right side unless he adds some weight. Because of his consistency, experience, and durability, he is probably a round 2-4 prospect, but I doubt he ends up with the 49ers because the front office thinks, as do I, that they have three quality tackles.

Mychal Kendricks, LB

The Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year is another smart, high-motor player that really helped anchor the Cal defense this past year. He played OLB in 2010 and showed promise as a pass-rusher, then switched to ILB in 2011 and had a great year. He is an aggressive linebacker that flies from sideline to sideline making plays. His experience as an OLB make him an excellent blitzer as well. He seldom misses tackles and has some of the best instincts of any college linebacker I have seen; he always seems to be around the ball. Kendricks has strong character and leadership skills and plays with a lot of heart; he also has very good speed, but he is slightly undersized (6'0" 240). Despite his good tackling form, he could have trouble with some of the bigger backs in the NFL. But even though he is not the biggest or the strongest guy, he has a nose for the football that should enable him to develop into a full-time starter as either a 3-4 ILB or a 4-3 weakside linebacker. He will probably be drafted early on Day 3, and if the 49ers lose Larry Grant during free agency, I would love for them to consider Kendricks as a possible replacement.

UPDATE: Wow, Kendricks ran a 4.47 at the Combine, the fastest for a LB since 2000, and also topped the field in the vertical and broad jumps. Kendricks now has a pretty decent shot of getting drafted on Friday.

Trevor Guyton, DE/DT

Guyton started at defensive end in Cal's base 3-4 scheme and was solid all year but unspectacular. His size (6'3" 280) make him ideal for a NFL 3-4 DE or a 4-3 DT. Guyton has good strength and holds the point of attack well; he is a good one-gap stuffer but has not shown he can be effective as a two-gap stopper (Cal mainly has its DL in one gap). Guyton is not a very good pass rusher. He needs to develop and polish a repertoire of pass-rushing moves to stay on the field on 3rd down on an NFL squad, but he has the skills to start in base packages his rookie year with the possibility of developing into a great all around DE/DT. Guyton is a hard worker and has a very high motor, and the potential is definitely there. He will probably go early on Day 3, and could be on the 49ers radar as defensive line depth for now and possibly future starter.

Sean Cattouse, S

Cattouse has been a solid safety throughout his career at Cal. Unfortunately, he will probably be remembered as the guy that got sent flying by Andrew Luck's left arm during the 2010 Big Game (you probably know the clip; if not, look it up, linking it would be against my morals). Cattouse has good size (6'2" 218) for a safety and pretty good speed, but has not been a playmaker for the Cal defense. He has only five career interceptions, two of which came against cupcake Presbyterian, despite playing behind some great pass-rushers like Tyson Alualu, Cameron Jordan, and Mychal Kendricks. Additionally, he has poor instincts and is usually slow to react to both run and pass plays and gets caught out of position too much. With some quality coaching, Cattouse can develop into a capable backup. Cattouse will get drafted sometime on Day 3, partially because this is a very weak safety class, but I think the 49ers front office realizes this and either plans to address the safety position elsewhere or not at all.

D.J. Holt, ILB

He had a strong senior year alongside Mychal Kendricks in the middle. He shares some of Kendricks' great instincts and tackling form, but lacks his partner's speed and athleticism. Because of this, Holt is not nearly as versatile, and is strictly a 3-4 ILB in the NFL. He could be a capable backup and a good player on special teams with starting potential down the line. However, Holt was also put in a very good position to succeed, playing alongside Kendricks and behind a defensive line that did not have elite individual talent but played very well as a unit. If Larry Grant leaves in free agency, I can see the 49ers grabbing Holt in the late rounds as a backup to Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman.

Anthony Miller, TE

At 6'3", 255 lbs., Miller was pretty reliable target for QB Kevin Riley in 2009 and 2010, but QB Zach Maynard seldom looked his way in 2011. Miller caught 24 balls for 263 yards last year and was used more often as a blocker. Miller has good hands and is a decent blocker but is by no means a vertical threat. He has an injury history, but he was pretty healthy last year and has a chance to make an NFL roster as a 3rd TE.

Michael Calvin, WR

Calvin did not catch a ton of passes because he was third on the depth chart behind Marvin Jones and Keenan Allen (a likely top-10 pick next year). However, he played well in limited action, and has good size (6'2" 215) and hands and is a pretty good route runner. In recent years, the 49ers have made a habit of bringing in some local players to training camp, and Calvin could be one of those. While he is a longshot to make an NFL team, there have been other good prospects that have flown under the radar because they were overshadowed in college.

Bryan Anger, P

Without a doubt, Anger is one of the best punters in the nation, and will probably get drafted before the 7th round. Bryan Anger was named First-Team All-Pac-10/12 three years in a row. Anger was one of the brightest spots for Cal football this year. He has a booming leg and is fantastic at pinning opponents deep in their own territory with his high, backspinning punts. Anger bailed Cal out of several bad spots this year, and will probably do the same for his NFL team. Anger had 72 punts of over 50 yards and 90 punts inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Anger also somewhat resembles Andy Lee in appearance. While Anger has been unbelievable at home, his one criticism is that at times, he has performed like an ordinary punter on the road. Bryan Anger is virtually guaranteed to be starting on an NFL team this fall.