Cal Sports Report

Chase Garbers Impressive in His NFL Debut for the Raiders

Former Cal quarterback gets compliments in Las Vegas' preseason victory. He completes two passes to ex-Golden Bears WR Jordan Veasy

Jake Curtis

Former Cal quarterback Chase Garbers is still a long way from earning a spot on the Las Vegas Raiders' regular-season roster, but he got off to a good start in the Raiders' 27-11 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday in the first preseason game of the NFL season.

In the midst of the Raiders' second-half touchdown drive directed by Garbers, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said, with some emotion, "Chase Garbers is getting it done." And his top target on Thursday was Jordan Veasy, who was a teammate of Garbers at Cal in 2017 when Garbers was redshirting the season as a freshman and Veasy was in his final college season.

Garbers, who was signed by the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in May after being a four-year starter for the Golden Bears, is fourth on the Raiders' depth chart at quarterback, and he was the third Raiders quarterback to get on the field Thursday, even though starter Derek Carr did not play at all.

Jarret Stidham, the leader to win the job as Carr's backup, started Thursday's game for the Raiders and was efficient, going 8-for-15 for 96 yard with no touchdowns and no interception. He was sacked three times but led the Raiders to two field goals and a touchdown.

Nick Mullens, who has made 17 NFL starts, was the next Raiders quarterback to see action and he went 8-for-11 for 72 yards with no TDs and no picks. He was sacked once and directed one touchdown drive.

Garbers finally got his shot with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and he was outstanding.

His first pass attempt was a 19-yard completion to Veasy, but that play was wiped out by an illegal-formation penalty.   His next pass was knocked down at the line of scrimmage.

Then things took off for Garbers. He completed a 6-yard pass to Veasy, a 10-yard pass to Veasy, and a 3-yard pass to running back Austin Walter.  Then, on a fourth-down play, Garbers completed at 16-yard pass to tight end Jesper Horsted for a first down.

That was when Collinsworth offered his quote: "Case Garbers is getting it done."

The drive ended with a touchdown run by Walter, and here is what Garbers' numbers looked like after his first drive as a pro quarterback: 4-for-5 for 35 yards while leading a 42-yard touchdown drive.

Garbers pitches to Walter for touchdown run:

Garbers' next two possession were less impressive, although he didn't get much of a chance to show what he could do.

His only pass attempt on his second possession was an incompletion intended for Veasy, and he was sacked on the only pass play called on his third and final drive.

Garbers' final numbers: 4-for-6, 35 yards, 0 TDs, 0 interceptions, 1 touchdown drive.

Granted Garbers did not face many of the Jaguars' first-team defenders, but it was still an impressive showing.

Veasy is also a long shot to make the Raiders' 53-man roster, but he improved his chances on Thursday, being targeted five times and making two receptions for 16 yards (not including the one negated by a penalty).

Garbers and Veasy will have more chances than most players to show their stuff, because the Raiders and the Jaguars are the only teams who will play four preseason games.  All the other teams play just three.

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Cover photo of Chase Garbers by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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