Cal QB Jaden Casey plans to transfer
The post-Chase Garbers competition loses one member.
The California Golden Bears will have an open competition at quarterback come the 2022 season. One promising name on that list was dual-threat Calabasas slinger Jaden Casey, who had one of the most promising arms in Cal quarterback recruiting history.
But only a week into spring practice, Casey has decided to transfer.
It’s hard to figure out why Casey decided to make the call this quickly. He is being coached in an entirely new system from the one he was recruited for—Beau Baldwin recruited him to Cal likely to execute a more spread-type attack, and now he’s working in Bill Musgrave’s pro-style system. You’d have to guess Casey is going to find a place that is better suited for his talents—he held offers from schools like Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oregon State, Purdue and Utah.
With Casey out, the Cal quarterback competition for 2022 now seems to be a battle between Spencer Brasch, Zach Johnson, and Kai Milner.
Brasch played a few games in relief of the injured Chase Garbers and Devon Modster in 2019 as a true freshmen. His one start was on the road against Pac-12 South Champion Utah. It’s tough to evaluate him off that one game, but now Brasch will certainly be in the mix as a redshirt junior.
Also likely to compete will be redshirt sophomore Zach Johnson. Johnson came in as the second quarterback along with Casey in the 2019 recruiting class, and now suddenly looks like he’s in a great place to win a starting position. Although not likely to wow in his high school tape.
Also in the mix will be incoming freshman Kai Millner. Millner is Musgrave’s first recruit and commit, one of the highest rated quarterback commits in Cal history, and definitely likely to be in the mix. Millner was Brasch’s former backup at Higley, but his ability to throw accurately and improvise outside the pocket make his upside as a passer all the more tantalizing.
Cal true freshman Justyn Martin also is a dark horse, but true freshman rarely start at the Power 5 level if their name isn’t Jared Goff.
Oh man GoBears49 isn't going to like this one, his prized possession of the QB battle is already out of the running. Who knows there could be a variety of factors, maybe he doesn't like the system or didn't pick it up like Brasch did or something like that. The reason I'm going with (and I hope this doesn't end up like a Zack Kline freezing cold take) is that Kai Millner is already THAT DUDE and is probably already in a boxing fight with Brasch for QB2. All the best for Casey.
Avi - why you gotta do Robby Rowell dirty. Walk-ons are people too! :s