While kicker Greg Thomas’ hometown of Petaluma is less than 40 miles from Berkeley, his journey to the Cal football program had its fair share of twists and turns — two uneventful years at Arizona State followed by a year of transition at City College of San Francisco. But when it was all said and done, Thomas earned the starting role at Cal for two seasons, making double-digit kicks each year and proving to be a serviceable kicker at the Division I level.

A canceled Pro Day means that the best evaluation of Thomas is his back-to-back years as the kicker for a team that often struggled to score points — not necessarily the best combination for an NFL longshot. After beating out Gabe Siemieniec in fall camp, the 5’9” Thomas pieced together a 12 for 17 performance with a long of 46 yards in 2018, his most notable performance on the road against Washington State.

While his senior numbers don’t reveal an improvement from a numbers standpoint, the Bears often struggled with the field goal unit as a collective, suffering two blocked kicks, at least two of which weren’t entirely Thomas’ fault. He hit 11 of his 17 kicks as a senior, but started off the year hot, accentuated by a three for three performance in Cal’s win over North Texas.

Perhaps the biggest moment of his career? A 17-yard kick to secure the Bears a memorable upset over Washington — at roughly 1 a.m., no less. And despite a trying middle of the season, Thomas nailed his career long of 49 yards against Stanford, a distance he’s likely hit from in practice before.

Thomas’ path to a professional career lies in potential tryouts with NFL squads. While the numbers don’t jump off the page, if he can hit from 50, he has a chance.