Saying “Go Bears!” With Evan Weaver Of Cal Football On Flight To NFL Combine
ONN – Saying “Go Bears!” With Evan Weaver Of Cal Football On Flight To NFL Combine
So I get on the United Airlines Flight to Indianapolis for the NFL Combine, and who do I happen to see? None other than Cal Football’s defensive star and future NFL star linebacker Evan Weaver.
So I did what any loyal Cal Alum does: put on my Cal hat and together we said “Go Bears!”
But here’s what you need to know about Evan Weaver (Courtesy, Cal Football):
• One of three former Cal football student-athletes invited to the 2020 NFL Combine along with Ashtyn Davis and Jaylinn Hawkins
• Played in the 2020 Senior Bowl for a North team that was a 34-17 winner over the SouthWeaver’s Cal Career Game Highs
Tackles: 22 (twice, last at Utah, 2019)
Tackles For Loss: 2.5 (at USC, 2018)
Tackle For Loss Yards: 19 (at USC, 2018)
Sacks: 2.0 (twice, last vs. Oregon State, 2019)
Sack Yards: 19 (at USC, 2018)
Forced Fumbles: 1 (three times, last at Utah, 2019)
Interceptions: 1 (twice, last at Washington State, 2018)
Interception Return Yards: 37 (vs. Washington, 2018)
Long Interception Return: 37TD (vs. Washington, 2018)
Interception Return TDs: 1 (vs. Washington, 2018)
Pass Breakups: 3 (at BYU, 2018)
Quarterback Hurries: 2 (at Ole Miss, 2019)
Receptions: 1 (at Oregon State, 2016)
Receiving Yards: 11 (at Oregon State, 2016)
Long Reception: 11 (at Oregon State, 2016)
Kick Returns: 3 (vs. Washington, 2016)
Kick Return Yards: 26 (vs. Washington, 2016)
Long Kick Return: 13 (vs. Washington, 2016)
All-Purpose Yards: 37 (vs. Washington, 2018)
Points: 6 (vs. Washington, 2018)Cal Career (2016-19)
• Played in 49 of 50 possible games with 31 starts including each of his final 26 possible contests during his last two seasons
• Posted career totals of 412 tackles, 23.0 tackles for loss (-88 yards), 8.5 sacks (-54 yards), two interceptions that he returned for 47 yards and one touchdown on a career-long 37-yard return against Washington as a 2018 junior, 11 pass breakups, 13 passes defended, three forced fumbles and six quarterback hurries
• Finished fourth on Cal’s all-time list in tackles
• Recorded a school-record and career-high 182 tackles as a senior, breaking Cal’s 34-year-old single-season record of 167 set by Hardy Nickerson in 1985 while he also had 159 stops as a junior that tie for third on the school’s career list
• Also registered career highs of 10.0 tackles for loss and five quarterback hurries as a senior
• Had a career-long streak of 12 straight contests with double-digit tackles that included the final seven games of his junior season and first five contests of his senior campaign
• Recorded career highs of 4.5 sacks (-28 yards), two interceptions that he returned for 47 yards and his lone career touchdown on a 37-yard return against Washington, and six pass breakups as a junior while playing in and starting all 13 games for the first time in his career and the first of back-to-back seasons
• Led or co-led Cal in tackles 24 times during his career including 12 times as a senior, on 11 occasions during his junior campaign, as well as once as a 2017 sophomore
• One of only three FBS player since 2000 to have three career games of 20+ tackles
• The only Pac-12 player since 2000 with multiple career games of 20+ tackles
• Added his lone career reception for 11 yards on a throw by punter Dylan Klumph on a fake punt attempt that was successful for a first down at Oregon State, as well as three kick returns for 26 yards all against Washington including a career-long 13-yarder, all as a 2016 freshman
• Spent his first season at Cal as a freshman as a defensive end before moving to the inside linebacker spot he finished his career in following a brief stint as an outside linebacker at the beginning of 2017 training campSenior (2019)
• Consensus First-Team All-American (AFCA, AP, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, ESPN, FWAA, Sporting News, USA Today, Walter Camp, Yardbarker)
• First Cal player to earn consensus First-Team All-American honors since in 2006 and any type of First-Team All-American honors since Alex Mack in 2008
• Second-Team All-American (Sports Illustrated)
• Second-Team Senior All-American (Senior CLASS Award)
• Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year (AP, Pac-12 Coaches)
• Finalist for the Butkus Award®, Lombardi, Lott IMPACT Trophy and Senior CLASS Award
• Semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award
• On the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy
• A nearly unanimous first-team midseason All-American (Associated Press, The Athletic, Athlon Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, USA Today), as well as the leading midseason candidate for Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors and a first-team All-Pac-12 selection by the Bay Area News Group
• Served as one of three team season captains along with Camryn Bynum and Jake Curhan
• Lead the nation at the FBS level in total tackles (school-record and career-high 182), total tackles per game (14.0), solo tackles (103) and solo tackles per game (7.9)
• Had 29 more total tackles (second, Dele Harding of Illinois, 132) and 20 more solo tackles (second, Nate Landman, Colorado, 83) than any other FBS player
• Finished fifth on the all-time NCAA’s FBS single-season tackle list and was 11 shy of the all-time single-season record of 193 set in 14 games by Lawrence Flugence of Texas
• Had his lone three career forced fumbles to rank tied for second in the Pac-12 and tied for 36th nationally with an average of 0.23 per game while adding a career-high 10.0 tackles for loss (-36 yards) to rank tied for 11th in the Pac-12, 2.5 sacks (-19 yards), three pass breakups, three passes defended and a career-high five quarterback hurries
• Combined with Kuony Deng (119 tackles) to form the nation’s leading FBS duo with 301 tackles that is the second-highest total ever by a Cal duo and came within six of Cal’s school record of 307 by Weaver (159) and Jordan Kunaszyk (148) in 2018
• One of seven players including five on the defensive side of the ball to start all 13 games
• The only FBS player with three 20+ tackle games in a season since 2000
• Had three of the nine 20+ tackle games by an FBS player while no one else has more than one
• Twice equaled Kunaszyk for the most tackles in a single game in the Cal’s recorded history when he had a career-high-tying 22 at Ole Miss and Utah, adding 0.5 tackles for loss (-2 yards), 0.5 sacks (-2 yards) and a career-high two quarterback hurries against the Rebels while he also had 1.0 tackle for loss (-2 yards) and a career-high-tying one forced fumble against the Utes
• His 22 tackles at Ole Miss were the most against an SEC opponent by any defender in at least 15 years according to ESPN Stats & Information
• Twice helped secure victories by making stops on the opponents’ final offensive play, stuffing Ole Miss’ John Rhys Plumlee on a QB sneak from the 1-yard line as time expired to preserve the first Pac-12 victory on the road at an SEC school since 2010 and then combined with Cameron Goode to stop Stanford’s Cameron Scarlett on fourth down and one from its’ own 34-yard line to lift Cal to its first Big Game victory since 2009
• Had 21 tackles, a season-high 2.0 tackles for loss (season-high -17 yards) and a career-high-tying 2.0 sacks (season-high -17 yards) against Oregon State
• Had 18 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss (-4 yards) and a career-high-tying one forced fumble at Washington
• Had 15 tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss (-2 yards) against Arizona State
• Recorded 14 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss (-2 yards) and one pass breakup against USC
• Had 13 tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss (-1 yard) against Stanford
• Opened the season with 12 tackles against UC Davis while adding a quarterback hurry
• Registered 11 tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss (-3 yards), one quarterback hurry and one pass breakup against North Texas
• Had 10 tackles and one quarterback hurry against a pass heavy Washington State team that had 58 passing plays and 16 rush attempts among its total of 74 plays
• Had nine tackles at UCLA and in the Redbox Bowl against Illinois
• Had six tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss (-1 yard) and one pass breakup at Oregon
• Earned National Defensive Player of the Week by multiple organizations (Chuck Bednarik Award, College Sports Madness, Nagurski Trophy, Walter Camp Award), as well as the Reese’s Senior Bowl Defensive Senior of the Week and the Lott IMPACT Trophy’s Player of the Week for his performance at Washington
• Earned the Lott IMPACT Trophy’s Player of the Week honor on three occasions, also taking the award for his performance against Oregon State and a share of the honor for his outing at Ole Miss
• Was also a final candidate for the Lott IMPACT Trophy’s Player of the Week following his performances against UC Davis and Arizona State
• Named Pac-12 Player of the Week twice for his performances against Washington and at Ole Miss
• A three-time Cal Defensive Player of the Week (at Washington, vs. North Texas, at Ole Miss)
• Earned preseason first-team All-American (Athlon Sports) and second-team All-American (AP, The Athletic, PFF, Sports Illustrated) honors with his first-team selection the first by a Cal player since Jahvid Best in 2009
• A preseason first-team All-Pac-12 selection of Athlon Sports, Lindy’s, Phil Steele, Power Football Focus and Street & Smith’s
• The nation’s leading returner tackler after recording 159 stops as a 2018 junior
• Ranked as the No. 3 linebacker in the nation and the No. 37 player overall by Athlon in their early list of the nation’s top 50 players released in February
• The nation’s second-ranked linebacker and No. 39 player overall in the 2020 NFL Draft class according to CBS Sports, while Mel Kiper Jr. has him as the No. 4 senior inside linebacker
• Saw limited action during the spring game and did not record any statistics other than participation
Stay tuned.
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