Will Chase Garbers Make the Raiders’ Regular-Season Roster?

Odds are stacked against former Cal quarterback, who needs a great training camp, starting with Thursday’s preseason game against Jacksonville

Chase Garbers signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent, and he will have to do something special in training camp and preseason games to earn a sport on the Raiders’ regular-season roster.

The simple fact is, the odds are stacked against him based on the quarterbacks the Raiders have on their roster. And Garbers’ bid starts with Thursday’s preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, assuming he even gets into the game. Signing with a practice squad may end up being Garbers’ best option.

Derek Carr is the Raiders’ unquestioned starter, with Garbers competing with Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens for the backup spots. Garbers’ best chance to make the 53-man roster would be if the Raiders keep three quarterbacks instead of just two, but even then he would be a long shot to make the team.

Stidham and Mullens probably will not rank among the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL this year, but they have clear advantages over Garbers.

Here’s why.

Stidham – He is entering his third year in the league and has played in eight regular-season games, including five last season for the Patriots. His numbers were not great (50% completion, 2 TDs, 2 interceptions), but his experience on 53-man rosters the past two years counts. However, the biggest factor in Stidham’s favor is that the Raiders made a trade to acquire Stidham in the offseason. Las Vegas did not give up much – the Raiders sent a sixth-round draft choice to New England in exchange for Stidham and a sixth-round pick – but teams don’t trade for a player unless they figure there is a pretty good chance he will make the 53-man roster.

Mullens – The Raiders signed Mullens as an unrestricted free agent in April. He has been in the league four years and has made 17 NFL starts. His 5-12 record in those starts is not particularly impressive but it shows a team can win games with him at quarterback. His only start last year was with the Browns in a game against Las Vegas, and the Raiders probably liked what they saw. In that game Mullens completed 20 of 30 passes for 147 yards, one touchdowns and no interceptions, and although Las Vegas won the game 16-14 on a 48-yard field goal on the final play of the game, Mullens directed an 80-yard, eight-minute, fourth-quarter touchdown drive that put Cleveland ahead 14-13 with 3:45 left.

Garbers – Undrafted free agents seldom make regular-season rosters, especially at the quarterback position. He will have to hope the Raiders keep three quarterback and would need to do something spectacular in preseason games. Even then he might not be enough.

Here’s what Jairo Alvarado of Raiders Maven said about Garbers when sizing up the quarterback position:

Garbers joined the Raiders this year as an undrafted free agent from the University of California.

He has the least chance of making the roster from the bunch but can spend some time developing in the practice squad.

New Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels did praise Garbers’ work ethic, as evidenced by this quote from him in a May 30 story from the Silver and Black Pride site:

“I mean, the young kid that just came here after the draft, Chase, is working his butt off. It’s just a lot of stuff. In College football, there’s a lot of this stuff that we ask them to do that they don’t necessarily do a lot of. So, he’s poured himself into it. He’s grinding away every day, makes some mistakes, tries to learn from them.”

If Garbers gets into Thursday’s game, he needs to make an impression. If he just gets into the game it would suggest the Raiders are giving him a chance to make the 53-man roster.

Not making the roster this time would not prevent Garbers from being an NFL quarterback in the future. Hall of Fame quarterbacks Johnny Unitas and Kurt Warner were cut from their first teams as rookies.

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Cover photo of Chase Garber by Lucas Peltier, USA TODAY Sports

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