Thanks for the informative article. Any observations on EJ Caminong - his progress in learning the offense this past season, skills development, etc? Obviously, his perfomance in the bowl game wasn't the best and since he was buried in the depth chart, I realize there isn't as much info out there on him but the staff was pretty enthused when he committed.
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Cal Football
2024 vs 2024 Program Overview - The Quarterbacks
This is the ninth in a series of articles that will cover every aspect of the program including the coaching staff. A review of 2024, the roster comings and goings and the projection of the unit going into the Spring.
The single most important position on the football field is the signal caller. Head coaches are fired routinely simply because they couldn’t solve for the QB position. In college football, it’s nearly impossible to be successful without at least solid QB play and elite QB play will lift an even average roster to a winning season.
2024 Recap:
Football is a team sport with eleven players on the field and there is tremendous interdependence that occurs on every snap. A QB is often the most sensitive to the play around him. Do they have a solid running game that brings linebackers and safeties nearer the line of scrimmage? Can they get time to throw the ball? Do their receivers create ample separation, etc
Cal’s offense didn’t do a lot to support the QB positionin 2024, yet Fernando Mendoza played at a very solid level, posting the 2nd highest QB rating of the Wilcox era despite playing behind the worst pass protecting OL in the country. Fernando was tough and fearless, throwing
QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele
accurate passes milliseconds before gettingt hit. He was consistently accurate and generally made good reads and nailed the easy throws. He showed off better than expected running ability and was well liked as a leader on the team. That said, he was far from perfect. He contributed to the sacks by holding the ball too long, he struggled to consistently hit deep throws and the first half of the season he had issues moving the ball in the 4th quarter of close games. Chandler Rogers provided a nice change of pace in the red zone and CJ Harris showed that he was serviceable when called upon, leveraging his very good legs and solid touch despite a well below average arm. True Freshman EJ Caminoing struggled coming off the bench in the Bears bowl game loss
2025 Departures:
Fernando Mendoza: Transfer to indiana
Cj Harris: Transfer Portal
Chandler Rogers: Out of eligibility
2025 Returners: (heights and weights are from Fall of 2024)
Ej Caminoing: RS Freshman; 6’2, 205; 6 of 19, 57 yards
2025 Additions (Transfer Portal)
Devin Brown : RS Junior: 6’3, 212 (Ohio State)
2025 Additions (High School and JC)
Dominic Ingrassia: Sophomore; 6’4, 205
Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele: 6’3, 220
Projections
It’s almost a brand new room and along with the cornerbacks on defense, is the most impacted by departures. Fernando Mendoza leaving is a blow for the team on the field. He was young, improving and posted very solid numbers behind a porous offensive line. There’s a reason he was the #3 rated QB in the portal. That said, his last few weeks in Berkeley showed that he was struggling with some things that made a change feel inevitable and at least for the programs psyche, a net positive.
Cal brought in three potentially high ceilinged players to the room and there’s little doubt the QB position is now far deeper with a far higher ceiling than it has been at any time in Wilcox’s tenure.
QB Dominic Ingrassia
JC transfer Dominic Ingrassia is actually the most experienced of the newcomers in terms of post High School snaps. He’s got good size, albeit a thin build and has a really nice release, decent arm strength and he shows good poise in the pocket. He’s also a big time winner, having state titles in both HS and at the JC ranks as a true Freshman. He’s going to be in the mix to start
The clear favorite to start is former 5 star recruit and recent National Champion as the backup at Ohio State the past three years, Devin Brown. Brown’s big, strong and came into Ohio State with a reputation as a strong armed, athletic signal caller. The book on him has changed into less of a dynamic run threat and more of a high character leader with some nice upside. He’s got good, not elite arm talent, he’s a more natural mover than Mendoza and the ball looks good coming out of his hands. He struggled in Columbus with his consistency and accuracy and is relatively unproven at this point in his career. How he does once he feels its his job to lose is the single biggest question for the Bears this Spring.
JKS is a special talent. Big, and strong with an NFL release and elite arm talent. He flicks the ball and it’s on a line for 40+ yards. He’s not a runner, but he can move and shows off a Caleb Williams like ability to throw while moving and making plays when the protection breaks down. He’s a humble young
QB EJ Caminong
man that isn’t expecting to start but will certainly do what he can to be a factor. Having command of a college offense and adjusting to the speed of things are the two developmental areas for a player who has a chance to an elite college QB. Overall, the floor got lower and the ceiling got higher in this room.
Previous articles in this series:
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