Cal QB Garbers announces he’ll enter NFL draft
Chase Garbers, Cal’s starting quarterback for each of the past four seasons, will not be the Bears’ starter in 2022. On Tuesday afternoon, Garbers announced on Twitter that he will enter the NFL draft.
Listed at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, Garbers has been part of the program for the past five seasons, redshirting as a freshman in 2017 and then becoming the starter in 2018. Because of the NCAA’s ruling that the pandemic-shortened 2020 season did not count against a player’s eligibility limits, Garbers could have played one more season at Cal.
Instead, he has opted to try to make a living playing football.
In his tweet, Garbers thanked a number of people in the Cal program, beginning with head coach Justin Wilcox, going through assistant coaches, teammates, staff members and fans.
He ended the tweet by saying “I am so thankful for my time at Cal and all the memories we created as a team. I’m excited about what the future holds and GO BEARS!”
This season, Garbers completed 223 of 347 passes (64.3%) for 2,531 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also had 104 carries for 456 yards and four touchdowns.
He became the school’s leader for quarterbacks in career rushing yards (1,174) and career rushing TDs (11).
Garbers’ signature moment with the Bears came in the 2019 Big Game at Stanford. His 16yard scramble to the end zone with 1:16 remaining lifted the Bears to a 24-20 victory, ending the Cardinal’s nine-game winning streak in the series.
Because of coronavirus protocols, Garbers missed Cal’s 10-3 loss at Arizona on Nov. 6. Ryan Glover went 11-for-29 for 94 yards in that game. Glover was the only QB besides Garbers to throw a pass this season.
Sophomore Zach Johnson and freshman Kai Millner were on the Bears’ roster this season. It’s certainly conceivable Cal could be looking for a QB in the transfer portal.