Cal Football

RB Carter Vargas Commits to Cal

Bears beat out LSU, Oregon and more for talented RB
By Jim McGill
January 7, 2026
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13 Comments
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Photo by X / Carter Vargas

The Bears made another big addition on the offensive side of the ball with a commitment from UC Davis running back Carter Vargas.

The 6-0/210 Vargas had 67 rushes for 445 yards (6.6 ypc) running behind veteran running back Jordan Fisher, who led the team in rushing with 1,121 yards and 8 TDs.

Vargas gives the Bears a dynamic complement to Washington transfer Adam Mohammed‍ along with today’s other RB transfer, Ashton Emery with his agility, speed and powerful running style.

Vargas becomes the 8th commit of the 2026 portal recruiting class along with Mohammed and Emery as well as WR Ian Strong‍, TE Dorian Thompson-Robinson‍, OL Jacob Arop‍, edge Solomon Williams‍ and safety Kingston Lopa‍.

13 Comments
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Cal football portal recruiting Carter Vargas Dorian Thompson-Robinson Solomon Williams Kingston Lopa Adam Mohammed Ian Strong Jacob Arop Football Football Recruiting
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RB Carter Vargas Commits to Cal

2,149 Views | 13 Replies | Last: 17 min ago by pnaidu
BearForceOne
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10:49p, 1/7/26
Welcome to Cal, Carter! Looking forward to cheering you on at Memorial Stadium! Go Bears…!
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pnaidu
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11:19p, 1/7/26
Massive win. Looking at the film, he runs like every yard is the most important yard he's ever ran. Excited to see him a part of the running game that can take some pressure off JKS.
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TonyTiger
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1:40a, 1/8/26
Tosh Being Tosh. What's that 6 in 24 hours. He use to do that back in the day but it was 4 not 6 recruits.
Wow - He's beating out LSU, Oregon and............


"Is Anythng Real Anymore?"

Don King
or is it Dan
maybe Rick?
Peter?
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ducktilldeath
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2:56a, 1/8/26
He visited Oregon as well.
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Vandalus
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12:58p
Excited about our new RBs!! Vargas looks legit, super twitchy an capable of the home run. In Tosh We Trust.
~Spectemur agendo~
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Jcasa
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1:27p
Vargas looks like a good not great pickup. He'll get a chance to show his style and athleticism. Problem is that Cal has lost more talent to the portal than it has picked up especially on defense.
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golden sloth
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In reply to Jcasa • 1:38p
Jcasa said:
Vargas looks like a good not great pickup. He'll get a chance to show his style and athleticism. Problem is that Cal has lost more talent to the portal than it has picked up especially on defense.

Well, the timeline of the portal leads to all teams losing a bunch of talent early and entering a talent deficit as everyone enters the portal. Then as the players commit to the various schools the talent deficit equalizes. It's still early, so there is plenty of time to add talent.
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pnaidu
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In reply to Jcasa • 2:40p
Jcasa said:
Vargas looks like a good not great pickup. He'll get a chance to show his style and athleticism. Problem is that Cal has lost more talent to the portal than it has picked up especially on defense.

Measuring how much talent has come and gone before the portal is over doesn't make sense. After all the additions and subtractions are completed, then you can judge. The nature of the portal is that everyone enters and then players decide where to go after measuring options so just wait haha
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Zerk
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In reply to pnaidu • 3:32p
Yup - technically we have "only" lost 6 while adding 8. Still a lot of time, though.

Anyways, I'll admit I did not pay much attention to the Transfer Portal pre-Tosh.

Question: With 29 Cal players in the Transfer Portal, 6 having committed to other schools, is it assumed that the majority of the 29 will end up at other schools or will a good chunk of them stay at Cal?
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StillNoStanfurdium
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In reply to Jcasa • 3:32p
Jcasa said:
Vargas looks like a good not great pickup. He'll get a chance to show his style and athleticism. Problem is that Cal has lost more talent to the portal than it has picked up especially on defense.

To even imply that we might have lost more to the portal than we gained on offense is silly.

I'll grant you that we have ground to make up on the OL, but we are seeing our ceiling dramatically rise with who we've brought in at WR and RB.
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HairOfTheBear
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In reply to Jcasa • 7:35p
Jcasa said:
Vargas looks like a good not great pickup. He'll get a chance to show his style and athleticism. Problem is that Cal has lost more talent to the portal than it has picked up especially on defense.

If you made a list of guys in the portal and noted those that signed elsewhere and then next to it list each player we have signed so far and match it to the corresponding positions, you would see that we have upgraded a every position so far. If that trend continues the loses aint gonna matter and if guys like Cade come back, we'll be fine.

No need for hand wringing yet
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TonyTiger
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In reply to StillNoStanfurdium • 7:49p
StillNoStanfurdium said:
Jcasa said:
Vargas looks like a good not great pickup. He'll get a chance to show his style and athleticism. Problem is that Cal has lost more talent to the portal than it has picked up especially on defense.

To even imply that we might have lost more to the portal than we gained on offense is silly.

I'll grant you that we have ground to make up on the OL, but we are seeing our ceiling dramatically rise with who we've brought in at WR and RB.

Shees. he obviously hasn't watched Mohammad's tape vs Oregon. in it 10 guys don't just miss the tackle they cant even touch him and he s 6'0" 230lbs. That's a an elusive bruiser. Sound like anyone two decades ago?
"Marshawn Lynch wearing the same number.

Watch the Oregon tape its insane.
Lol, Tosh obviously was impressed with the guy kicking his guys butts.
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pnaidu
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In reply to Zerk • 9:22p
Zerk said:
Yup - technically we have "only" lost 6 while adding 8. Still a lot of time, though.

Anyways, I'll admit I did not pay much attention to the Transfer Portal pre-Tosh.

Question: With 29 Cal players in the Transfer Portal, 6 having committed to other schools, is it assumed that the majority of the 29 will end up at other schools or will a good chunk of them stay at Cal?

If they enter the portal, from what we've seen in recent years, almost all if not all will go to a different school. And of the players that are in the portal that haven't committed, the only one that really would start is Cade.
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