Cal Sports Report

Chase Garbers Makes His Final Statement to Make Raiders' Roster

Former Cal quarterback plays most of Friday's game against the Patriots. Did he do enough to make Las Vegas' regular-season squad?

Jake Curtis

Former Cal quarterback Chase Garbers stated his case for the final time on Friday in his bid to make the Las Vegas Raiders' regular-season roster. Now he must wait until Tuesday to see whether he is a member of the Raiders' 53-man roster for the opener.

The Raiders took a long, hard look at Garbers on Friday, letting him play the final three quarters of their 23-6 preseason victory over the Patriots.

Garbers played decently, giving the Raiders a lot to think about.

He was the Raiders quarterback for 10 offensive possessions on Friday, including a kneel-down series on the 10th possession. He finished 12-for-22 for 141 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions and a 74.2 passer rating. He also ran eight times for 17 yards, including -3 yards on three kneel-downs. Garbers guided the team to two field goals.and a touchdown on the nine meaningful drives. 

In his four preseason games, Garbers was 24-for-40 for 248 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also showed an ability to scramble effectively, rushing for 44 rushing yards last week and 20 on Friday (subtracting the kneel-downs). However, he was sacked twice last week and twice on Friday.

"I'm impressed with this Garbers kid," Raiders TV analyst Matt Millen said in the fourth quarter Friday.

The biggest question regarding Garbers' chances is whether Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels will keep two quarterbacks or three on the regular-season roster.  Derek Carr is the starter and Jarrett Stidham is his backup.  Garbers was given a chance to make the team when the Raiders traded Nick Mullens to the Vikings this week, moving Garbers up from the team's No. 4 quarterback to its No. 3 quarterback. Garbers has to hope he has convinced McDaniels to keep a third quarterback.

The Raiders kept three quarterbacks last season, but that was with a different coaching staff.  

Garbers' 45-yard completion to Tyron Johnson in the first half, leading to a field goal.

NFL rosters must be reduced from 80 players to 53 by Tuesday, so a lot of players will be released, traded or placed on injured reserve in the next few days. The Raiders open the regular season on Sept. 11 against the Chargers.

The Raiders also have to think about what quarterback they want on their practice squad, a consideration that might work against Garbers. If Garbers is released, he is likely to sign with the Raiders' practice squad.

The main criticism of his performance on Friday was the same one he faced at Cal: He held onto the ball too long, one of the reasons he was sacked twice. But he also had two nicely thrown passes dropped, hurting his numbers a bit.

And the fact that he did not throw any interceptions in the preseason has to work in his favor.

Garbers was not taken in the 2022 NFL draft before signing with the Raiders as a free agent. And free-agent quarterbacks seldom make NFL regular-season rosters as rookies. But Garbers has a chance.

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Cover photo of Chase Garbers by Stephen R. Sylvanie, 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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