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Spring Practice Day 13 -- Musgrave Talks about Chase Garbers

March 17, 2021
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Just three days ahead of Cal football’s Spring Game, which will be aired on Pac-12 Networks at 2:00pm this Saturday, the Bears took the Memorial Stadium turf again to compete and get valuable reps on this cloudy Wednesday morning.

A name that hasn’t been mentioned enough this spring is Cal’s No. 1 signal-caller, Chase Garbers. Musgrave spoke about the progressions he has been making this new year.

“He’s definitely more comfortable in the system,” said Coach Musgrave. “He’s getting more time on task. He’s gotten a ton of turns thus far in these 13 practices.” In today’s practice, “We had nearly 90 plays in 11 on 11 football, so he’s getting the lion’s share of those reps. All of the quarterbacks are getting invaluable turns at our concepts. The more they see, the better they can become. We’re really pleased with this spring thus far.

“I’m thinking back to some amazing games he had,” said Musgrave on Garbers’ 2020 campaign.  “I know he threw for well over 300 yards against the Beavers, played well against Stanford, we beat Oregon.

“We didn’t have the production that we wanted, but we’re pleased with the way Chase played. Pleased with his progressions and accuracy. He’s feeling more comfortable. We’re not asking anybody to do crazy stuff out there, and Chase, he’s smart. Today he was making really risky throws in small windows, but at the same time if it wasn’t there, he was content to protect the football, and it’s tough to achieve that balance. Really pleased with his spring, and also he did a lot of good things last fall that we’re looking to build from that small sample.

“The more turns he gets at the concepts the more comfortable he is. The more he can throw it early with anticipation. Not waiting to see if the receiver is gonna break this way or that or where the pockets in the defense might be, but he’s anticipating much better, which is just natural for all QBs.” The former 49ers’ quarterback added, “That’s not isolated to Chase, it’s all quarterbacks. We just need turns to feel comfortable and then start throwing those balls on time and early where they can arrive when the separation still exists from the defense.

Asked directly if Chase is firmly the No. 1 going into 2021, Musgrave kept things simple.

“This is Chase’s squad. We’re riding Chase, and we’re gonna have a great year. Our defense is always gonna be good. We’re gonna pick it up on offense so we can get to the defense’s level. And then we’ll be cooking with gas.”

Aside from Garbers, Musgrave talked extensively about the tight-end unit and what those guys can bring to the table.

Collin (Moore) had a big catch today on a deep crossing route from Zach Johnson that might’ve gone 40, 50, 60,” said Musgrave. “He made a good move on a safety out on the open field. Used a stiff arm. He’s creating some explosive plays in the pass game, very reliable in the run game.

Twitter / Cal Football
Terry catching a pass at practice

Jermaine Terry had a strong day again. He’s blocking people. He’s catching the ball. He’s got dynamic ability. We’re really excited about his future.

“Nick Alftin is another guy that’s making a lot of plays. He shows up everyday making a crucial block or catching a ball down the field. He’s so big and has got such a big wingspan and catch radius. Quarterbacks love throwing to him. Just get it near him, a square mile, and he’ll come down with it.

“He’s (Keleki Latu) gonna bring a lot to the table. I talk to Keleki all the time. Cannot wait for him to get here in June. He’s got a new position coach in Geep Chryst. They’ve connected and we can’t wait for him to get here. There’s another guy with a huge wingspan, radius. Just get it near him and he’ll be able to pluck it. He can move, and he’ll retain that movement and be a force to reckoned with.

With both fullbacks from last year not on the spring roster, Musgrave confirmed that it’ll probably be a tight-end’s job to fill that role this season.

“Probably gonna be a tight-end doing fullback jobs at this stage. We’ve got some other options that may evolve this summer. Right now it’s tight ends filling fullback jobs.”

“We’ve had Nick Afltin doing some of those. We’ve had Elijah (Mojarro) filling fullback jobs. Gavin Reinwald, Jake (Muller) has been doing a little bit. Some good candidates and it’s really been working out well. Very pleased with the results.”

Finally, we couldn’t let Musgrave go without asking him about the strides that freshman Tommy Christakos has made since fall.

“I think a level of comfort (is what has improved). He showed up last June. We didn’t have any summer lifting or player run practices or any fall camp. In the fall, he really came on late. Those last couple weeks, whether it be the Oregon week, the Washington State week, Tommy started showing up in practice, making big plays, a lot of eyebrow-raising plays. So he’s picked up right where he left off this spring, every single day doing something out of this world. He’s another ascending young wideout.”

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Discussion from...

Spring Practice Day 13 -- Musgrave Talks about Chase Garbers

11,467 Views | 23 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by UrsineMaximus
concernedparent
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Anyone who thought it was going to be anyone but Chase is delusional. Unless the second coming of Jared Goff is sitting on that bench, you aren't unseating a 5th year senior who has proven game experience as an above average Pac 12 QB. Query whether you can be a contender with Chase as your best offensive player, but nonetheless, he has unquestionably earned the role.
Bobodeluxe
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More shade on Zach Kline, the Bear Insider's choice.
Deutsch
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Chase is 5th year junior, no?
OceanBeachBear
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I don't have any problem with Chase being the starter, I know we all likely overvalue backup QBs, but I just hope the staff hadn't penciled him in as starter before spring ball. On a risk-averse staff with a ball control philosophy, I sometimes fear more high-ceiling youngsters are held off the field by experienced but limited upperclassmen, especially with the influx of talent in recent classes.
UrsineMaximus
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I'm not delusional. Garbers would not start on any other PAC 12 team this year save AZ and perhaps Wazzu (only because their QB got into trouble). To date, nothing supports that Garbers is an above average PAC 12 QB. QB room just isn't all that talented so he remains the starter. The next 2 recruits may elevate that but both are pretty raw with high ceilings.

It would not surprise me if Garbers was replaced within the first 1/3 of the season.

Should the OL remain mediocre and Garbers is running for his life, Cal's offense may once again be at the bottom of the conference. Fortunately for Cal fans it appears that the RBs, TEs and WRs are improved and have depth. That aids any QB regardless of who is designated the starter prior to camp even starting.
MaxBear
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Deutsch said:

Chase is 5th year junior, no?
In 2021 he'll be a 5th year senior. He has an extra year of eligibility after that due to Covid.
concernedparent
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UrsineMaximus said:

I'm not delusional. Garbers would not start on any other PAC 12 team this year save AZ and perhaps Wazzu (only because their QB got into trouble). To date, nothing supports that Garbers is an above average PAC 12 QB. QB room just isn't all that talented so he remains the starter. The next 2 recruits may elevate that but both are pretty raw with high ceilings.

It would not surprise me if Garbers was replaced within the first 1/3 of the season.

Should the OL remain mediocre and Garbers is running for his life, Cal's offense may once again be at the bottom of the conference. Fortunately for Cal fans it appears that the RBs, TEs and WRs are improved and have depth. That aids any QB regardless of who is designated the starter prior to camp even starting.
Feel free to go down the list of Pac 12 QBs and list 9 QB's clearly better than Garbers. I'll save you some time. Kedon Slovis, DTR, Jayden Daniels. Everyone else is around the same level or worse.
calumnus
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concernedparent said:

UrsineMaximus said:

I'm not delusional. Garbers would not start on any other PAC 12 team this year save AZ and perhaps Wazzu (only because their QB got into trouble). To date, nothing supports that Garbers is an above average PAC 12 QB. QB room just isn't all that talented so he remains the starter. The next 2 recruits may elevate that but both are pretty raw with high ceilings.

It would not surprise me if Garbers was replaced within the first 1/3 of the season.

Should the OL remain mediocre and Garbers is running for his life, Cal's offense may once again be at the bottom of the conference. Fortunately for Cal fans it appears that the RBs, TEs and WRs are improved and have depth. That aids any QB regardless of who is designated the starter prior to camp even starting.
Feel free to go down the list of Pac 12 QBs and list 9 QB's clearly better than Garbers. I'll save you some time. Kedon Slovis, DTR, Jayden Daniels. Everyone else is around the same level or worse.


Garbers' Pac-12 Passing Rating Ranking :
2018 #12
2019: #6
2020: #11

He is a good runner, which the above doesn't reflect.
HearstMining
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concernedparent said:

UrsineMaximus said:

I'm not delusional. Garbers would not start on any other PAC 12 team this year save AZ and perhaps Wazzu (only because their QB got into trouble). To date, nothing supports that Garbers is an above average PAC 12 QB. QB room just isn't all that talented so he remains the starter. The next 2 recruits may elevate that but both are pretty raw with high ceilings.

It would not surprise me if Garbers was replaced within the first 1/3 of the season.

Should the OL remain mediocre and Garbers is running for his life, Cal's offense may once again be at the bottom of the conference. Fortunately for Cal fans it appears that the RBs, TEs and WRs are improved and have depth. That aids any QB regardless of who is designated the starter prior to camp even starting.
Feel free to go down the list of Pac 12 QBs and list 9 QB's clearly better than Garbers. I'll save you some time. Kedon Slovis, DTR, Jayden Daniels. Everyone else is around the same level or worse.
I'd say that, based on your own statement here, Garbers is at best, average. That's OK, I can still route (root?) for the guy, but let's assess him accurately. I hope Musgrave's fully installed offense will play to his strengths because that's the only way Cal will exceed 2019's 7-5 result.
UrsineMaximus
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HearstMining said:

concernedparent said:

UrsineMaximus said:

I'm not delusional. Garbers would not start on any other PAC 12 team this year save AZ and perhaps Wazzu (only because their QB got into trouble). To date, nothing supports that Garbers is an above average PAC 12 QB. QB room just isn't all that talented so he remains the starter. The next 2 recruits may elevate that but both are pretty raw with high ceilings.

It would not surprise me if Garbers was replaced within the first 1/3 of the season.

Should the OL remain mediocre and Garbers is running for his life, Cal's offense may once again be at the bottom of the conference. Fortunately for Cal fans it appears that the RBs, TEs and WRs are improved and have depth. That aids any QB regardless of who is designated the starter prior to camp even starting.
Feel free to go down the list of Pac 12 QBs and list 9 QB's clearly better than Garbers. I'll save you some time. Kedon Slovis, DTR, Jayden Daniels. Everyone else is around the same level or worse.
I'd say that, based on your own statement here, Garbers is at best, average. That's OK, I can still route (root?) for the guy, but let's assess him accurately. I hope Musgrave's fully installed offense will play to his strengths because that's the only way Cal will exceed 2019's 7-5 result.
This!!

I would like to think that Musgrave is smart enough to ensure his offense is productive and much improved this year. He's now laid his bed. Hopefully he also knows when to cut bait if Garbers is still displaying the same tendencies: throwing late or not throwing at all or flat out missing (game against OSU to a wide open WR in the end zone comes to mind among others).

I get it, Garbers gives us the best chance to win and we know exactly what we are getting with him. Cal needs to recruit and develop talent at QB, perhaps these next 2 cycles will achieve that.
Rushinbear
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UrsineMaximus said:

HearstMining said:

concernedparent said:

UrsineMaximus said:

I'm not delusional. Garbers would not start on any other PAC 12 team this year save AZ and perhaps Wazzu (only because their QB got into trouble). To date, nothing supports that Garbers is an above average PAC 12 QB. QB room just isn't all that talented so he remains the starter. The next 2 recruits may elevate that but both are pretty raw with high ceilings.

It would not surprise me if Garbers was replaced within the first 1/3 of the season.

Should the OL remain mediocre and Garbers is running for his life, Cal's offense may once again be at the bottom of the conference. Fortunately for Cal fans it appears that the RBs, TEs and WRs are improved and have depth. That aids any QB regardless of who is designated the starter prior to camp even starting.
Feel free to go down the list of Pac 12 QBs and list 9 QB's clearly better than Garbers. I'll save you some time. Kedon Slovis, DTR, Jayden Daniels. Everyone else is around the same level or worse.
I'd say that, based on your own statement here, Garbers is at best, average. That's OK, I can still route (root?) for the guy, but let's assess him accurately. I hope Musgrave's fully installed offense will play to his strengths because that's the only way Cal will exceed 2019's 7-5 result.
This!!

I would like to think that Musgrave is smart enough to ensure his offense is productive and much improved this year. He's now laid his bed. Hopefully he also knows when to cut bait if Garbers is still displaying the same tendencies: throwing late or not throwing at all or flat out missing (game against OSU to a wide open WR in the end zone comes to mind among others).

I get it, Garbers gives us the best chance to win and we know exactly what we are getting with him. Cal needs to recruit and develop talent at QB, perhaps these next 2 cycles will achieve that.
Last year was herky-jerky for Garbers - OL young and changing, RBs unsettled, WRs the same. Only 4 games, the first of which was like The Price Is Right ("C'mon Down!"). Everyone knows this is his do or die year. Let's give him this chance to make it happen. I hope he does.
MaxBear
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Let's not forget Berkeley had tighter restrictions in 2020 than any other Pac-12 school, with the exception of maybe Stanford. Combining that with the injuries at offensive line, which Musgrave calls "the engine" of an offense, and you have a very difficult situation for Garbers in 2020.

Cal was at an unfair disadvantage last season.
Big C
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What leads me to believe that Garbers will have a pretty good year is the way he improved in Baldwin's offense, after he got some time to pick it up. I expect he will do the same in Musgrave's offense. There is also the running dimension he provides.

Obviously, I'd like him to be an above-average Pac 12 QB, but if he ends up only being "average", just remember: We haven't had a winning record in conference for awhile, so it would seem that some of the position groups have been BELOW average. In other words, it hasn't been Garbers who has been holding us back the past couple of seasons.

Garbers could easily be at the helm of a nine-win team, though he might not be good enough to LEAD a team to ten wins. But who knows?

UrsineMaximus
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Now Brasch is transferring. So this is concerning as well. Even if he wasn't going to start this year and with this being Garbers' last year, Brasch had to think he had a shot next year. Apparently not. Brasch and Casey leaving....probably a story there somewhere.
heartofthebear
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It seems to me that this is the deepest our OL has been in some time. With good depth at RB, TE and WR, it is on Garbers and Musgrave to show that plays can be made "on schedule" as they claim. Garbers has been a good improvisor and scrambler but the Musgrave offense requires more precision, it seems.

I don't know that the Musgrave offense is a good match for what Garbers has been until now. But it should be a better preparation for the NFL than the Baldwin offense. If Garbers can't put it together this year, he would be wise to come back again.

It must have been hard for him to change systems right when he was hitting his stride under Baldwin in 2019. Personally I like Garbers raw talent, which I think is under-rated, but what is his ceiling? It may be kind of low. Hopefully he breaks out yet again this season like he did in 2019 under Baldwin.

I mean, I'm glad we replaced Baldwin, but I don't know that the timing was good for Garbers. We really should have replaced Baldwin a year earlier. Of all the coaching changes and disruptions of the last year, Garbers is probably the player with the hardest path. In the end, Musgrave may prove out, but I'm not sure Garbers will be the QB to do it.

I had a good feeling about Casey, but now he is gone, and Brasch seems to have fallen. So I think we are looking at Johnson as the guy that may really bring the Musgrave system some credibility. I hope it is Garbers though. Certainly Garbers is smart enough to metabolize the complexities of an NFL level system. Potentially Garbers and the offensive depth + the Musgrave offense could be explosive. But I thought we would see more of that in 2020 and I was disappointed. I mean Remigio, our top receiver from 2019 virtually disappeared for a good portion of the season in favor of Polk, who is also now gone. It was kind of a head scratcher of a year in so many ways. Chalk it up to covid and hope for better days ahead. But, to be honest, I'm a little worried that it wasn't just covid.

Edit: Didn't see the prior post until now. So Brasch is transferring too. I don't blame him. He wasn't getting reps. What was the reason? He has seniority over Casey and Johnson. One can only hope that Garbers, Johnson and Rowell will be enough with Millner coming in in the fall.
calumnus
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heartofthebear said:

It seems to me that this is the deepest our OL has been in some time. With good depth at RB, TE and WR, it is on Garbers and Musgrave to show that plays can be made "on schedule" as they claim. Garbers has been a good improvisor and scrambler but the Musgrave offense requires more precision, it seems.

I don't know that the Musgrave offense is a good match for what Garbers has been until now. But it should be a better preparation for the NFL than the Baldwin offense. If Garbers can't put it together this year, he would be wise to come back again.

It must have been hard for him to change systems right when he was hitting his stride under Baldwin in 2019. Personally I like Garbers raw talent, which I think is under-rated, but what is his ceiling? It may be kind of low. Hopefully he breaks out yet again this season like he did in 2019 under Baldwin.

I mean, I'm glad we replaced Baldwin, but I don't know that the timing was good for Garbers. We really should have replaced Baldwin a year earlier. Of all the coaching changes and disruptions of the last year, Garbers is probably the player with the hardest path. In the end, Musgrave may prove out, but I'm not sure Garbers will be the QB to do it.

I had a good feeling about Casey, but now he is gone, and Brasch seems to have fallen. So I think we are looking at Johnson as the guy that may really bring the Musgrave system some credibility. I hope it is Garbers though. Certainly Garbers is smart enough to metabolize the complexities of an NFL level system. Potentially Garbers and the offensive depth + the Musgrave offense could be explosive. But I thought we would see more of that in 2020 and I was disappointed. I mean Remigio, our top receiver from 2019 virtually disappeared for a good portion of the season in favor of Polk, who is also now gone. It was kind of a head scratcher of a year in so many ways. Chalk it up to covid and hope for better days ahead. But, to be honest, I'm a little worried that it wasn't just covid.

Edit: Didn't see the prior post until now. So Brasch is transferring too. I don't blame him. He wasn't getting reps. What was the reason? He has seniority over Casey and Johnson. One can only hope that Garbers, Johnson and Rowell will be enough with Millner coming in in the fall.


Modster transferred out too.

We need Musgrave and the offense to succeed. That will transcend any individual QB.
Rushinbear
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UrsineMaximus said:

Now Brasch is transferring. So this is concerning as well. Even if he wasn't going to start this year and with this being Garbers' last year, Brasch had to think he had a shot next year. Apparently not. Brasch and Casey leaving....probably a story there somewhere.

Thought Brasch would come out ahead. Size, arm, legs. Oh, well. Wish him well.
Bobodeluxe
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"Cal was at an unfair disadvantage last season."

Nominated for most used phrase in the history of Cal football.
heartofthebear
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calumnus said:

heartofthebear said:

It seems to me that this is the deepest our OL has been in some time. With good depth at RB, TE and WR, it is on Garbers and Musgrave to show that plays can be made "on schedule" as they claim. Garbers has been a good improvisor and scrambler but the Musgrave offense requires more precision, it seems.

I don't know that the Musgrave offense is a good match for what Garbers has been until now. But it should be a better preparation for the NFL than the Baldwin offense. If Garbers can't put it together this year, he would be wise to come back again.

It must have been hard for him to change systems right when he was hitting his stride under Baldwin in 2019. Personally I like Garbers raw talent, which I think is under-rated, but what is his ceiling? It may be kind of low. Hopefully he breaks out yet again this season like he did in 2019 under Baldwin.

I mean, I'm glad we replaced Baldwin, but I don't know that the timing was good for Garbers. We really should have replaced Baldwin a year earlier. Of all the coaching changes and disruptions of the last year, Garbers is probably the player with the hardest path. In the end, Musgrave may prove out, but I'm not sure Garbers will be the QB to do it.

I had a good feeling about Casey, but now he is gone, and Brasch seems to have fallen. So I think we are looking at Johnson as the guy that may really bring the Musgrave system some credibility. I hope it is Garbers though. Certainly Garbers is smart enough to metabolize the complexities of an NFL level system. Potentially Garbers and the offensive depth + the Musgrave offense could be explosive. But I thought we would see more of that in 2020 and I was disappointed. I mean Remigio, our top receiver from 2019 virtually disappeared for a good portion of the season in favor of Polk, who is also now gone. It was kind of a head scratcher of a year in so many ways. Chalk it up to covid and hope for better days ahead. But, to be honest, I'm a little worried that it wasn't just covid.

Edit: Didn't see the prior post until now. So Brasch is transferring too. I don't blame him. He wasn't getting reps. What was the reason? He has seniority over Casey and Johnson. One can only hope that Garbers, Johnson and Rowell will be enough with Millner coming in in the fall.


Modster transferred out too.

We need Musgrave and the offense to succeed. That will transcend any individual QB.
There was really no future for Modster here. Brasch and Casey had a future at Cal.
WalterSobchak
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The thing you have to remember is that because of COVID Cal had less than a full week worth of practices to install a more complex, new offense. The moment COVID shut us down in March I knew it wouldn't be good, but I didn't know at that time we wouldn't get a Fall camp either. After that happened there was absolutely no way we were ever going to be ready. Just look at the difference in tackling alone between the Ucla game and the rest of the "season." And that was from an established unit who knew their schemes inside out. We basically had a patchwork offense consisting of whatever they could assemble on-the-fly during game prep. The coaches are never going to say this publicly because they're "no excuses" types but it was an impossible task. Honestly the fact that we played close games after Week 1 and beat the eventual champs is pretty promising given the circumstances. This is not to say the Musgrave offense is guaranteed to work. It's just that we haven't seen it yet. 2021 is year 1.
heartofthebear
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WalterSobchak said:

The thing you have to remember is that because of COVID Cal had less than a full week worth of practices to install a more complex, new offense. The moment COVID shut us down in March I knew it wouldn't be good, but I didn't know at that time we wouldn't get a Fall camp either. After that happened there was absolutely no way we were ever going to be ready. Just look at the difference in tackling alone between the Ucla game and the rest of the "season." And that was from an established unit who knew their schemes inside out. We basically had a patchwork offense consisting of whatever they could assemble on-the-fly during game prep. The coaches are never going to say this publicly because they're "no excuses" types but it was an impossible task. Honestly the fact that we played close games after Week 1 and beat the eventual champs is pretty promising given the circumstances. This is not to say the Musgrave offense is guaranteed to work. It's just that we haven't seen it yet. 2021 is year 1.
Yeah, I pretty much agree. And it is reassuring. It is just concerning when all of the players that choose to transfer out are at offensive skill positions of the passing game at a time when a former QB and NFL level offensive coach introduces a new offense. It is probably just a coincidence though.
Dduster
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Fix the OLine and stop with prattle as to the QB. If the Oline is the historical bad to mediocre with the traditional parade of excuses, We're going nowhere. Wilcox needs to have started fixing this mess but doesn't look to be taking Things seriously. Musgrave's offense will melt like Baldwin's without an OLine. We haven't had an Oline since Tedford
UrsineMaximus
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Dduster said:

Fix the OLine and stop with prattle as to the QB. If the Oline is the historical bad to mediocre with the traditional parade of excuses, We're going nowhere. Wilcox needs to have started fixing this mess but doesn't look to be taking Things seriously. Musgrave's offense will melt like Baldwin's without an OLine. We haven't had an Oline since Tedford
100% agree, it all starts and stops with the OL on any offense.
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