QB Devon Modster Bounces Back With Commitment to Cal

Ehhhh he was terrrrrrible at UCLA as a frosh. Weird flex by Cal

touchdownbears43 said:

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Ehhhh he was terrrrrrible at UCLA as a frosh. Weird flex by Cal

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https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/devon-modster-1.html

MoragaBear said:

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touchdownbears43 said:

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Ehhhh he was terrrrrrible at UCLA as a frosh. Weird flex by Cal

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Are you thinking of someone else? Because he wasn't only not terrible but he was actually quite good, especially for a redshirt freshman.

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If he was "quite" good, he would not have been surpassed on the depth chart by a true freshman (which led to his transfer). He is a solid back-up but not a starting caliber guy. Given that Bowers is probably leaving, this "insurance" move by Wilcox is smart.

71Bear said:

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If he was "quite" good, he would not have been surpassed on the depth chart by a true freshman (which led to his transfer). He is a solid back-up but not a starting caliber guy. Given that Bowers is probably leaving, this "insurance" move by Wilcox is smart.

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I would normally agree. However:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/ucla/2018.html

Hard to say either guy beat him out on merit. I think this was a case of a coach having a different plan and one guy didn't fit it.

71Bear said:

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MoragaBear said:

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touchdownbears43 said:

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Ehhhh he was terrrrrrible at UCLA as a frosh. Weird flex by Cal

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Are you thinking of someone else? Because he wasn't only not terrible but he was actually quite good, especially for a redshirt freshman.

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If he was "quite" good, he would not have been surpassed on the depth chart by a true freshman (which led to his transfer). He is a solid back-up but not a starting caliber guy. Given that Bowers is probably leaving, this "insurance" move by Wilcox is smart.

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Just because you were passed up doesn't mean you aren't a starting caliber guy.

MoragaBear said:

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We all know how coaching politics works. The hotshot qb who Kelly brought in was his guy.

When he played as a rs frosh, his numbers were quite good against solid comp.

My money is on Modster winning the starting qb job.

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Since I never bet on sports, I can't put any money on my opinion. Having said that, Garbers is the man.....

71Bear said:

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MoragaBear said:

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We all know how coaching politics works. The hotshot qb who Kelly brought in was his guy.

When he played as a rs frosh, his numbers were quite good against solid comp.

My money is on Modster winning the starting qb job.

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Since I never bet on sports, I can't put any money on my opinion. Having said that, Garbers is the man.....

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The turnaround on this was so fast that I think the coaching staff is not very high on Garbers at this point

Fun to see senior highlights. My son is in few clicks as a DB for San Juan Hills High School.

71Bear said:

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MoragaBear said:

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We all know how coaching politics works. The hotshot qb who Kelly brought in was his guy.

When he played as a rs frosh, his numbers were quite good against solid comp.

My money is on Modster winning the starting qb job.

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Since I never bet on sports, I can't put any money on my opinion. Having said that, Garbers is the man.....

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A legitimate argument can be made that Garbers isn't starting caliber either. Bottom line: if Modster is better than Garbers than he starts. My hunch from the little I've seen is that he is better.

So I watched the every snap from the Cal-UCLA game in 2017, and I would rate Modster as about the same as Garbers (maybe a hair ahead). Modster had a bunch of safe short passes and only went deep twice (to Lasley who was a pretty good player and got a good amount of separation). Once Modster underthrew (similar to what Garbers had done several times, and once he hit him in stride).

Nonetheless, here's to competition in the spring and may the best man win.

golden sloth said:

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So I watched the every snap from the Cal-UCLA game in 2017, and I would rate Modster as about the same as Garbers (maybe a hair ahead). Modster had a bunch of safe short passes and only went deep twice (to Lasley who was a pretty good player and got a good amount of separation). Once Modster underthrew (similar to what Garbers had done several times, and once he hit him in stride).

Nonetheless, here's to competition in the spring and may the best man win.

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Boxscore:
https://calbears.com/boxscore.aspx?id=14710&path=football

He averaged over 10 yards per attempt in that game and completed 77.7% of his passes. Far and away his best performance, though he wasn't bad in UCLA's bowl game either.

Yogi Bear said:

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golden sloth said:

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So I watched the every snap from the Cal-UCLA game in 2017, and I would rate Modster as about the same as Garbers (maybe a hair ahead). Modster had a bunch of safe short passes and only went deep twice (to Lasley who was a pretty good player and got a good amount of separation). Once Modster underthrew (similar to what Garbers had done several times, and once he hit him in stride).

Nonetheless, here's to competition in the spring and may the best man win.

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Boxscore:
https://calbears.com/boxscore.aspx?id=14710&path=football

He averaged over 10 yards per attempt in that game and completed 77.7% of his passes. Far and away his best performance, though he wasn't bad in UCLA's bowl game either.

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I know that is what the stats say, but he had four big passing plays. (2) were deep passes where the receiver had to make an adjustment. (2) were short passes that the receiver was able to break for a lot of yac. Again, it was very conservative passing (though, that would be expected when you come in as a backup, for your first game snaps, in the 2nd half with a lead.

I'm happy we have him, I think it will be a good competition, or at the least provide solid depth.

Great to have another promising duel-threat QB on the roster to compete and add depth (we will have 4?). Hopefully someone distinguishes themselves and becomes great!

However:
1. We really need WRs
2. I hope this is not an excuse to keep Baldwin.

golden sloth said:

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So I watched the every snap from the Cal-UCLA game in 2017, and I would rate Modster as about the same as Garbers (maybe a hair ahead). Modster had a bunch of safe short passes and only went deep twice (to Lasley who was a pretty good player and got a good amount of separation). Once Modster underthrew (similar to what Garbers had done several times, and once he hit him in stride).

Nonetheless, here's to competition in the spring and may the best man win.

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Agree. I believe that Garbers will be better in 2019. But I welcome the competition. Beau has shown that he will give both Garbers and Modster a fair chance to prove themselves.
Contrary to other posters I believe Beau is a good coach and will make a decision based upon a player's results in game situations.

golden sloth said:

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Yogi Bear said:

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golden sloth said:

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So I watched the every snap from the Cal-UCLA game in 2017, and I would rate Modster as about the same as Garbers (maybe a hair ahead). Modster had a bunch of safe short passes and only went deep twice (to Lasley who was a pretty good player and got a good amount of separation). Once Modster underthrew (similar to what Garbers had done several times, and once he hit him in stride).

Nonetheless, here's to competition in the spring and may the best man win.

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Boxscore:
https://calbears.com/boxscore.aspx?id=14710&path=football

He averaged over 10 yards per attempt in that game and completed 77.7% of his passes. Far and away his best performance, though he wasn't bad in UCLA's bowl game either.

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I know that is what the stats say, but he had four big passing plays. (2) were deep passes where the receiver had to make an adjustment. (2) were short passes that the receiver was able to break for a lot of yac. Again, it was very conservative passing (though, that would be expected when you come in as a backup, for your first game snaps, in the 2nd half with a lead.

I'm happy we have him, I think it will be a good competition, or at the least provide solid depth.

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I took the time to watch the second half as well and you're right, he did have a lot of safe throws. What I liked the best was that he could get decent yardage passing on first down to put them in manageable 2nd/3rd down situations. I also liked that generally all of his balls were on target - no seriously bad balls like we got from McIlwain or on some of Garbers' deep throws. What I didn't like was his propensity for throwing completions short of the sticks on third down.

Kyler Murray in waiting he ain't. Alex Smith (in the pros) game manager type QB is probably what you would get.

As for Bowers, he averaged about 6 yards per pass attempt, which isn't good. Largely due to throwaways and misses and his own short throws.

Very nice get. Now let's see some WRs and RBs

MoragaBear said:

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touchdownbears43 said:

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Ehhhh he was terrrrrrible at UCLA as a frosh. Weird flex by Cal

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Are you thinking of someone else? Because he wasn't only not terrible but he was actually quite good, especially for a redshirt freshman.

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Has he even thrown an interception yet in college?

I really like this move. Aaron Rodgers is not walking through that door. Our best-case scenario is that we find someone who gives us a chance to improve next season at the QB position, ideally a juco transfer, and that's exactly what we got.

And I like the idea of us winning with a QB who was originally recruited by a rival P12 school. Sorta poetic justice there.

NYCGOBEARS said:

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hanky1 said:

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Good get. Hanky1 is excited.

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Hide the children.

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Per NYGO, Modster's another OC kid looking for a safe space

In reading the UCLA websites about the QB situation, Modster probably would have been the back-up to UCLA's grad transfer had Kelly not be so focused on the future that he played DTR once Speight went down. So what we have is Garbers vs UCLA's back-up QB. At a minimum this at least provides good competition for at least one of them to elevate their game. Just appreciate while this is a positive move, Cal didn't get anything close to a NFL bound grad transfer like Davis Webb (and with this offense, that was not going to happen).

Wearing Dave Barr's number. Good omen.

Barr (like Goff) wore #16. Modster is in # 18 in this photo.

Pat Barnes wore 18.

https://www.rcsportscards.com/cal-football-cards.html

Bob dole likes this

MiZery said:

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Bob dole likes this

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U C ... Berkeley ain't a sh@thole.

was let down with last year's 4-star dual threat transfer, so won't get my hopes up. I guess there's no chance with Kahlil Tate now.

Goobear said:

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You guys are underestimating Modster. We have known him since he was 8 years old. Always a star in his age group. He is a 4 Star. I guess I don't get that when former walk ons who play, fans say they suck because they had no or low stars. Then we get someone who is a 4 Star kid who did get pushed down by a new coach and now that doesn't count while frankly he has not been able to show much what he can do.

Remember Davis Webb...who beat him out at Texas Tech? Do not judge until we see on field performance....

Modster is very good, he knows what is expected. So does Chase and Brasch. This group looks miles better than this year QB group turned out to be sans Forrest.

Go Bears!

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Thanks Goo. Great insights. Totally agree.

Goobear said:

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You guys are underestimating Modster. We have known him since he was 8 years old. Always a star in his age group. He is a 4 Star. I guess I don't get that when former walk ons who play, fans say they suck because they had no or low stars. Then we get someone who is a 4 Star kid who did get pushed down by a new coach and now that doesn't count while frankly he has not been able to show much what he can do.

Remember Davis Webb...who beat him out at Texas Tech? Do not judge until we see on field performance....

Modster is very good, he knows what is expected. So does Chase and Brasch. This group looks miles better than this year QB group turned out to be sans Forrest.

Go Bears!

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As you well know Goo, he raised Tesoro up to the Mission Viejo level while there. Yes, he is a good one, and Cal fans will see. The bonus is that he brings head to head competition to the position where we have Chase benefitting from his year's experience and will be entering his second (junior, although a RS soph) year, and Modster will be of the same experience level, different background. All good for Cal.

Great, now we need to recruit some WR's with speed and hands and we'll be all set.

I wonder if BB will let the kid run? Few more designed runs in the toolbox and Cal wins at least 1-2 more games this year