Hezekiah Masses went to the Las Vegas Raiders in the fifth round Saturday, becoming the 175th player selected in this year’s NFL draft and the 22nd cornerback taken. The pick gave Cal another defensive back off the board after a season in which Masses put up one of the most productive stat lines in the country.
Masses led the nation last season with 18 passes defended, including 13 passes broken up and five interceptions. He returned those interceptions for 91 yards and added 47 tackles for Cal, which was his only season with the Bears after transferring from Florida International.
That selection kept Cal’s draft streak alive. The Bears have had at least one defensive back chosen in seven consecutive NFL drafts, beginning in 2020 with safeties Ashtyn Davis and Jaylinn Hawkins in the third and fourth rounds. Safety Camryn Bynum went in the fourth round in 2021, Elijah Hicks in the seventh in 2022, Daniel Scott in the fifth in 2023 and Patrick McMorris in the seventh in 2024.
Last year, Cal had three defensive backs drafted: cornerback Nohl Williams, safety Craig Woodson and cornerback Marcus Harris. Over the previous six years, nine Cal defensive backs were drafted, and eight of them were on NFL opening day rosters last fall, a run that makes the Bears’ secondary one of the more reliable pipelines in the program’s recent history.
