Cal Football: Keenan Allen Central To Golden Bear Offense

Today we've been posting a series of videos Dan Rubenstein and SB Nation produced from Pac-12 Media Days. Next video of the day comes courtesy of an interview Rubenstein did with Keenan Allen of Cal (Previous posts: Jim Mora, UCLA).

Keenan Allen is the best college football player perhaps no one outside of the West Coast has ever heard of. Allen was 11th in receptions per game and 11th in receiving yards per game in the entire nation, and just trailed Robert Woods as the most productive Pac-12 wide receiver out there. It's likely that he should continue to excel in that role this season.

Allen's pro credentials are looking pretty strong, and it's clear he can only get better as he becomes a more fluid receiver. A safety recruit coming out of college, Cal flipped him from Alabama thanks in part to the chance to playing offense. Although Allen still isn't quite the crispest route runner, the talent is all there, and the natural catching ability is superb, as he provides some of the best adjustment ability to nailing down tough throws as pass catches.

Unfortunately, despite Allen's brilliance (along with his partner Marvin Jones) as a sophomore, Cal could never really get the offense running right for much of the season. The run game was too inconsistent, the offensive line was iffy all year, and his brother Zach Maynard was always in development last season. It's clear if the Bears are going to get better, many more improvements must be made around Allen. Otherwise Cal will have trouble improving that much in 2012.