From Two Mixons To None
A month ago, Cal was looking at the possiblity of having two Mixons roving their defensive secondary next year, but instead, neither Mixon will take the field for Cal. First, JC transfer Terry Mixon switched his committment to Washington State, one of the few defections Tedford suffered this recruiting season. Then today, Tim Mixon announced that he is dropping his appeal to the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility, which looked to be in trouble anyway, and instead decided to hire and agent and concentrate on getting ready to impress NFL scouts. I, for one, wish him the best of luck.
So where does this leave Cal’s cornerback situation? Syd’Quan Thompson is obviously returning, and he’ll be the experienced sophmore back there. On the other side of the field? Not so sure. Cal’s depth chart lists freshman Robert Peele as Daymeion Hughes’ backup. Personally, I have no idea how good he is, or if he’s ready for a starting gig in the pass-happy Pac-10, but that does seem to leave Cal with some awfully young cornerbacks. Another possiblity is to slide a safety over to the outside; if Bernard Hicks remains the starting safety, with Brandon Hampton the starting rover, you could move Thomas DeCoud over to cornerback, which would certainly give you more experience back there.
Still, I think everyone would have liked to see Mixon come back for one more year, especially considering how much secondary breakdowns led to big plays last year in Knoxville. No disrespect to Syd’Quan, who was thrust into a tough spot without much preparation, but the more experience we’ve got back there on September 1, the better. Good luck with the NFL, Timmy. We’ll miss you.
