WR Keenan Allen might be a dark horse Heisman candidate, but he won't have much success this season if a No. 2 receiver doesn't emerge. Here's a look at three players -- one on offense, one on defense and one on special teams -- that the Cal Golden Bears need big years from in 2012. 

Offense: No. 2 WR

If Cal’s going to be successful on offense, a strong No. 2 option is going to have to emerge at WR. QB Zach Maynard likes to throw the ball to Keenan Allen. A lot. Allen caught 98 passes in 2011, the second-highest single-season total in school history. If there’s no No. 2 WR for opponents to worry about, then opposing defenses will double-team Allen. Last year, Allen had current Cincinnati Bengals WR Marvin Jones to complement him. This year, true freshman Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper are looking like the early candidates to fill the No. 2 role.

Defense: OLB Brennan Scarlett

Two of the Bears' biggest losses from last season were LBs D.J. Holt and Pac-12 defensive player of the year Mychal Kendricks. But thanks to Cal’s depth at LB, those losses might not sting as much as they could have. The Bears have a lot of young talent like Scarlett, who’s only a sophomore. Scarlett sat out most of 2011 and all of spring practice with a knee injury, but by all accounts, that issue is now behind him. The sophomore has shot up the depth chart since the beginning of camp and looks to be one of the Bears' starting OLBs, along with classmate Chris McCain. If Scarlett can stay healthy, the Bears' linebacking corps could be one of the surprise units in the Pac-12.

Special teams: K Vincenzo D’Amato

As a true freshman in 2009, D’Amato was the Bears' starting K. But D’Amato didn’t show much consistency going 7 of 12 on FGAs and in 2010, he was benched for Giorgio Tavecchio. Of D’Amato’s five misses in 2009, four came from between 40-49 yards. The junior has the leg strength to be a weapon for the Bears it’s just a matter of his accuracy. Jeff Tedford and the Cal coaching staff will sleep a lot easier once they see D’Amato can continually be consistent in game action.   

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