Spring Transfer Portal Update

How bad, exactly, is the offensive roster situation?

Back in February when the winter transfer portal carousel was calming down, I put together a summary of comings and goings, with the naïve hope that Cal’s spring activity would be much more muted.

So much for that.

When we looked at the portal back in February, for the most part Cal had positionally replaced what they had lost to graduation/portal departures. This time around . . . not so much.

Let’s get this over with.

Roster Arrivals/Departures

Quarterback

Arrivals/Departures

• None

Running Back

Arrivals:

• Brandon High, UTSA

• Kendrick Raphael, NC State

• LJ Johnson, SMU

Departures:

• Jaydn Ott, Oklahoma

• Jaivian Thomas, UCLA

• Byron Cardwell

• Kadarius Calloway, New Mexico St.

• Justin Williams-Thomas, Marshall

Wide Receiver

Arrivals:

• Mark Hamper, Wisconsin

• Quaron Adams, South Dakota

Departures:

• Jonathan Brady, Indiana

• Mavin Anderson, Texas State

• Mason Starling, SJSU

• Tobias Merriweather

Tight End

Arrivals:

• None

Departures:

• Jack Endries, Texas

Offensive Line

Arrivals:

• Daveion Harley, Jacksonville State

Departures:

• Trent Ramsey

Defensive Line

Note: I am classifying interior linemen and outside linebackers as defensive linemen

Arrivals:

• TJ Bush, Liberty

• Zae Smith, Houston Christian

Departures:

• None

Linebacker

Arrivals:

• Harrison Taggart, BYU

Departures:

• Myles Williams, Nevada

• Hunter Barth, Stanford

Defensive Back

Arrivals:

• Quimari Shemwell, Utah

• Jordan Sanford, Texas Tech

• Brent Austin, USF

Departures:

• Ryan Yaites, TCU

Specialists

Arrivals:

• PK Abram Murray, Miami (FL)

• PK Chase Meyer, Penn State

Departures:

• PK Kyle Cunanan . . . sorta. I mean, he came to Cal in the winter portal, so did we ever actually have him? Nebraska

Notes/Analysis

The spring portal has been just like the entirety of the Justin Wilcox era: filled with good news on defense, and bad news on offense.

On the defensive side of the ball, Cal has added six players as compared to three departures. Hunter Barth, Ryan Yaites, and Myles Williams combined for 516 snaps, and all three were in back-up rotational roles, so their departures aren’t inconsequential. But none were likely to be starters in the fall. Meanwhile, the six players Cal has brought in on defense includes:

• An edge rusher who earned Conference USA 2nd team honors as a sophomore (Bush).

• A middle linebacker who was one of the key contributors to BYU’s unexpected Big-12 title run (Taggart).

• An established corner with solid AAC credentials (Austin).

Basically, Cal traded three back-ups for three starters, plus three other players who could be contributors at some point. Shemwell is particularly intriguing, because he has a solid recruiting profile and four years of eligibility remaining after redshirting at Utah last year. The spring portal has been a clear win on defense.

And on offense . . . well, I don’t need to tell you. Cal lost major expected contributors at tight end and wide receiver, and also the entire running back room.

And in their place, Cal has secured one intriguing wide receiver who tore it up as a redshirt freshman at Idaho, and three rotational running backs who have never been featured starters.

Quite simply, it’s a massive roster downgrade both in terms of raw numbers (10 skill position players out, 4 in) and talent. And it’s not entirely clear how Cal is going to supplement the roster this late in the cycle.

As an example, if you go to 247 sports and sort their rankings of the best WRs currently uncommitted in the portal, you’ll find a list topped by . . . Tobias Merriweather. In other words, roster upgrades aren’t really out there. Meanwhile, 247 only lists 4 available tight ends, topped by a transfer from Rice coming off of a 12 catch season.

If you were a Cal fan inclined to try to find a ray of hope, you might have tried to convince yourself that Cal’s offensive roster churn was a natural consequence of Bryan Harsin wanting to bring players who fit his system or something. But I don’t think it makes any sense that Harsin would wait to run off a bunch of players in the spring when viable replacements just aren’t available. Right now, presuming I’m counting correctly, Cal’s roster has:

• 4 scholarship running backs

• 3 scholarship tight ends

• 9 scholarship wide receivers (including one true freshman and two redshirt freshmen) ed. note - amended because Nick forgot South Dakota transfer Quaron Adams

If I’m being brutally honest, this isn’t an offensive roster that is ready to compete in the ACC. None of these positions have enough depth, and it would only take a couple of injuries to enter crisis territory. It’s apparently possible that Cal will enter the season with a tight end rotation that has five combined catches to their name, none at the FBS level.

In short, Cal’s coaches desperately need to add non-QB skill position players, if only just to have bodies available to play the positions. Are there any ACC-level athletes left in the transfer portal? That is entirely unclear.

Bryan Harsin . . . good luck, we’re all counting on you.