Cal fills out QB room with intriguing Ohio transfer CJ Harris

A day after visiting Cal, Ohio quarterback transfer CJ Harris announced his commitment to the Bears on Wednesday.

Harris was part of the 2020 recruiting class and saw his most action for the Bobcats in 2022, when he 577 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception while rushing for 168 yards and 3 scores.

Last season, the 6-foot-3 dual-threat QB passed for 248 yards, 2 TDs and 3 INTs and rushed for 55 yards in two games.

Per his own announcement upon entering the transfer portal, Harris says he has three years of eligibility remaining (the 2020 Covid season did not count against his eligibility clock, he did not play in any games in 2021 and only got into the two games last season).

Harris' best games at Ohio came late in that 2022 season, when he passed for 196 yards and a TD and rushed for 65 yards and 3 scores in a win over Bowling Green, and then in the Arizona Bowl when he passed for 184 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs and rushed for 52 yards in a win over Wyoming.

The addition of Harris gives Cal nice quarterback depth as he joins a group that includes incumbent redshirt sophomore starter Fernando Mendoza, who passed for 1,708 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last year; veteran North Texas transfer Chandler Rogers, who set career-highs last season with 3,382 passing yards, 29 TDs and 5 INTs while adding 109 rushes for 180 yards and 4 TDs; and incoming three-star freshman EJ Caminong.

Rogers and Mendoza started their battle for the starting job in the spring while Harris and Caminong will enter the mix this summer. With Rogers in his last year of eligibility, Harris may have his best opportunity trying to beat out Mendoza and Caminong over this next year while positioning for 2025.

Harris is the ninth transfer addition for the Bears in this spring window (because OLB Deamontae Diggs has already since decommitted a week after picking the Bears).

– ILB Liam Johnson (Princeton | March 22)

– OL Braden Miller (Michigan State | April 21)

– TE Corey Dyches (Maryland | April 25)

– DL TJ Bollers (Wisconsin | April 25)

– DB Jasiah Wagoner (Oklahoma | April 27)

– DB Ryan Yaites (LSU | April 29)

– WR Kyion Grayes (Ohio State | May 5)

– DL Serigne Tounkara (Missouri | May 7)

-- QB CJ Harris (Ohio | May 8)