Before the turn of the new year, Cal football bids farewell to another Bear.
Kuony Deng declared for the 2022 NFL draft Monday morning via Twitter. He is now the third Bear to have declared this December for the upcoming draft.
The star outside linebacker from Virginia, who was a transfer from Independence Community College, was sidelined for most of Cal’s 2021 season due to an apparent leg injury. In the previous season, Deng was the Bears’ captain and leading tackler with 31 total tackles in just four games. In 2019, he registered 119 total tackles and started all 13 games he played in.
According to Pro Football Network writer Oliver Hodgkinson’s 2021 NFL Mock Draft, Deng was projected to be a late fourth-round pick. At 6’6” and 240 pounds, Deng is gifted in his physicality, athleticism and mobility on the field. A former basketball player at the Virginia Military Institute, only time will tell where the former four-star football prospect will land in next year’s NFL draft.
