Cal QB Chase Garbers Is Entering 2022 NFL Draft

Bears' four-year starter had the option of returning in 2022, but wants to turn pro now

Chase Garbers, who has been Cal's starting quarterback the past four seasons, announced on social media on Tuesday that he is giving up his final year of college eligibility and entering the 2022 NFL draft. 

THANK YOU CAL💙💛 #GoBears pic.twitter.com/PZ8sAYZWpG

— Chase Garbers (@ChaseGarbers) December 14, 2021

Garbers has already graduated from Cal, but because the pandemic-shortened 2020 season did not count against a player's college eligibility he had the option of returning to Cal for one more season. He discussed those options recently.

It leaves Cal without much in the way of experienced quarterbacks at the moment. Grad transfer Ryan Glover started the one game this season in which Garbers was unavailable due to COVID restrictions. Glovers was ineffective and it is not clear whether he will return next year. 

Kai Millner was a highly rated quarterback prospect when he signed with Cal, but he did not play this past season as a freshman. Zach Johnson came out of spring ball as the No. 2 quarterback, but he was passed over in favor of Glover in the Arizona game.

Cal had a commitment from highly rated 2022 prospect Justyn Martin, but he eventually decommitted from Cal and committed to UCLA.

There are four transfer possibilities:

---Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez. A multiyear starter at Nebraska, Martinez entered the transfer portal and has an expressed an interest in transferring to Cal or  Kansas State.

---USC quarterback Kedon Slovis. He recently entered the transfer portal, and there have been reports that Cal has contacted Slovis about his possible interest in coming to Berkeley, although he apparently has a lot of suitors.

---Clemson quarterback Taisun Phommachanh. He also recently entered the transfer portal, and there have been reports Cal is a school he might consider.

---Purdue quarterback Jack Plummer. He also entered the transfer portal recently and Cal reportedly has contacted him.

Martinez and Plummer are from the state of California, Slovis is from Arizona and Phommachanh is from Connecticut..

Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is out of the picture after he announced Tuesday that he is transferring to Washington.

It is not at all clear that Garbers will be drafted by an NFL team.  In fact, nearly every NFL mock draft posted by a respected site has him going undrafted.  However, he could change that with impressive showings at the NFL combine and in workouts for NFL scouts.

ESPN ranks its top 13 NFL quarterback prospects, and Garbers is not listed. Two Pac-12 quarterbacks are in that group -- Stanford's Tanner McKee at No. 8 and Arizona State's Jayden Daniels at No. 11. (Daniels has already announced he is returning to ASU for 2022, and McKee is expected to do the same.)

CBS Sports lists six quarterbacks among its top 100 prospects and Garbers is not listed.

Pro Football Focus' ranking of the top 100 NFL prospects lists only one Pac-12 quarterback, Stanford’s Tanner McKee at No. 82.

Pro Football Network ranks the top 10 quarterbacks, and Garbers is not among them.

Walter Football ranks the top 23 quarterback prospects, and Garbers is fourth among the four Pac-12 quarterbacks on that list: Arizona State's Jayden Daniels is No. 10, USC's Kedon Slovis, who recently entered the transfer portal, is No. 12, UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson is No. 18, and Garbers is 19th.

However, the upcoming draft is not considered to be strong at the quarterback position. That may enable Garbers to move up the prospect ladder.

In his 35 games at Cal, Garbers threw for 6,576 yards and 50 touchdowns with 24 interceptions. He also leaves Cal as the school's alltime leader in career rushing yards by a quarterback.

In 2021, Garbers completed 64.3% of his passes with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also ran for 456 yards. The Bears finished 5-7, going 5-6 in Garbers' starts.

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Cover photo of Chase Garbers by John Hefti, USA TODAY Sports

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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