Eight Cal Football players make East-West Bowl 1,000

Golden Bear Report FootballCal tight end Mason Mini celebrates a touchdown against Oregon State on Aug. 30, 2025. (Craig Strobeck | Imagn Images) As Cal Football slants to one of the older teams in college football in this upcoming season, there are still eyes forward in terms of the long term professional prospects for the Bears. Every offseason, the East-West Bowl highlights the top 1,000 draft-eligible players in college football and Monday’s announcement featured eight Cal players in the fold across offense and defense. The Bears sport three returners among this list, in Wayne, Ruffins and Mini. The rest were apart of a Top 25 transfer portal class brought in by head coach Tosh Lupoi as Cal Football sets up for its week one showdown against UCLA.On offense, the bulk of the players listed will have ample opportunities to thrive with Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele in the backfield. Strong and Hendricks produced as receivers at their prior stops. Mini already has the chemistry with JKS and now has the complement of Thomas in the TE room after a standout season with New Mexico.Defensively, Wayne, Harris and Fletcher will all have chances to prove themselves. Wayne gets a clean slate to jump up the pass rusher rotations while Fletcher and Harris have showcased themselves to be starters in the secondary for the 2026 season. Cal had one player selected in last years NFL Draft. CB Hezekiah Masses went in the fifth round to the Las Vegas Raiders, joining former Golden Bears QB Fernando Mendoza. The 2027 East-West Bowl is set for Feb. 4 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Discuss This Article