QB Competition Highlights Cal Preseason Camp Starting Wednesday

There will be 43 newcomers to the Bears football roster, including 23 transfers, as practice gets underway

Cal quarterback Chandler Rogers / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Cal begins its 15-day football preseason training camp on Wednesday with a lot of new faces.

The Bears return 14 starters from last season, but there will be 43 new scholarship players on the roster -- 20 incoming freshmen and 23 transfers. That is nearly half of the Bears' total number of scholarship players.

One of those transfers is sixth-year senior Chandler Rogers, who played at North Texas last year and will be the focus of the preseason camp. He and third-year sophomore Fernando Mendoza will be engaged in the most important competition of the preseason to determine who will be the Bears' starting quarterback for the August 31 opener against UC Davis.

Mendoza started the final eight games last season as a redshirt freshman and comes into camp as the No, 1 quarterback. But Rogers was North Texas' starting quarterback for most of last season and had better passing statistics than Mendoza, albeit against lesser competition.

There are other questions to be settled in preseason camp, such as the pecking order of running backs after starter Jaydn Ott and the starters at the two inside defensive lineman spots.

Mike Bloesch, who begins his first season as the Bears' offensive coordinator after working as the offensive line coach last season, said in the spring he hopes to get playing time for as many as four running backs in a given game, and Cal has a number of running backs who could receive playing time.

The presumed weakness on defense is the two defensive tackle spots. The depth chart at those spots seemed to be in flux when spring practice ended, and talent and bulk at those two spots is critical to Cal's success.

However, the main issue will be the quarterback battle. Mendoza will enter camp as the No. 1 quarterback since he is the returning starter, but he and Rogers are expected to receive the same number of snaps with the first-team offense during camp.

The ACC is calling itself the conference of quarterbacks, with a number of returning starters or talented transfers at that position. If Cal is to make any headway in its first season in the ACC it will need quality quarterback play. That's why the competition between Mendoza and Rogers is so important.

Training camp ends on August 17, and preparation for the opener starts after that.

All training camp practices will be held at Memorial Stadium and are open to the public.

Cal preseason football training camp schedule /

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