Cal’s tight end room looks different this season, but it still has plenty of size, skill and depth.
The Bears had some turnover at the position, losing Landon Morris and Ben Marshall to the transfer portal. But they also added a major piece in Dorian Thomas, who arrived from New Mexico with a reputation as one of the best tight ends available in the portal. Cal has long been a place where tight ends matter - Tony Gonzalez played for the Bears from 1994-96 and went on to become one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history - and this year’s group has a chance to keep that standard going.
Thomas comes in at 6-foot-4 and was ranked No. 6 among tight ends in the 2026 transfer portal and No. 107 overall. He began his college career at Arizona in 2023 and redshirted before transferring to New Mexico as a redshirt sophomore, where he earned the Lobos’ most improved player award and first-team All-Mountain West honors. He chose Cal over UCLA and Florida, and he’s already bought into what the Bears think they can be on offense.
“Super explosive, like a 50-a-game type of offense,” Thomas said.
His production backs up the hype. Last season, Thomas finished with 56 catches, 560 receiving yards and four touchdowns, numbers that made him the third-most productive tight end in the country in receptions and eighth in receiving yards.
Cal tight ends coach Steve Haunga likes what he sees so far.
“I would say right now Dorian has really good route-running skills,” said Cal tight ends coach Steve Haunga. “We’re trying to develop his run game, which he is going to be really good at.”
Mason Mini gives the Bears another proven option. Last season, he led Cal’s returning receivers with 35 catches for 387 yards and four touchdowns.
The junior played in 11 games and started nine, and he also delivered one of the more unusual highlights of the year: a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Raphael against Virginia. That made him the first non-quarterback to throw a touchdown for Cal since 2017.
Mini’s path to Berkeley came through Idaho, where he appeared in 15 games as a redshirt sophomore before transferring. In a recent piece for Bear Insider, he said the move meant more than football.
“Choosing Cal was about a whole lot more than football for me,” Mini recently wrote for Bear Insider. “The first thing was coming home.
Being able to have my family and friends cheering for me every home game is a feeling I don’t ever take lightly. I grew up right next door to Cal and now wear Cal on my jersey.
It is truly amazing.”
Rico Walker adds another experienced body to the mix. Entering his senior season as a transfer, he spent last year at Purdue, where he played in 10 games and started one.
Before that, he was at Auburn in his sophomore year, appearing in five games, and began his college career at Maryland, where he played in eight games. Last season, Walker caught nine passes for 100 yards and had a season-long 30-yard reception against Ohio State.
He has two years of eligibility left and came out of high school as a four-star recruit and the No. 128 player in ESPN’s rankings.
Cal also brings back John Tofi Jr., a sophomore from San Francisco who played in three games last season and made his first collegiate start against SMU. The 6-foot-5 defender was a three-star recruit according to 247 Sports and was ranked among the top 200 athletes in the nation in 2025. Tofi works on defense, using his agility and positioning to make tackles that help the Bears.
With so many new faces, Cal has real flexibility at the position. Haunga could lean into 12 personnel with two tight ends, and at times even move to 13 personnel with three tight ends on the field.
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