Following its Independence Bowl loss against Texas Tech earlier this month, Cal is now fully moving into the offseason. As Bears head coach Justin Wilcox works on building up next year’s roster, beginning with last week’s Early Signing Day, we’ll be doing assessments of the position groups as we move through the offseason.

We’ll begin with a look at the quarterbacks, as Cal has retained starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza and made a big addition in North Texas transfer Chandler Rogers. As it stands now, the two will be the only scholarship quarterbacks through the spring before they’re joined by recruit EJ Caminong in the summer.

The Bears had some early-season struggles at the quarterback position that certainly hurt the team in the first few weeks of the season. It was not until Week 6 against Oregon State that Cal finally solidified its offense under a permanent starter, Mendoza, for the rest of the season.

The first five weeks saw the starting job flip week to week between Jackson and Finley — which came after weeks of uncertainty after uneven performances from all three quarterbacks throughout fall camp.

Finley put up a strong performance — 289 yards, one touchdown and one interception — after stepping in when Jackson suffered an injury early against North Texas — but struggled the following week in the home opener against Auburn, when he was replaced by Jackson later in the game. The struggles continued against Washington in the Pac-12 opener, when Finley threw a pick-six on the first play of the game and finished with 207 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions before eventually being replaced by Jackson towards the end of the game.

“We were looking for more consistency at that spot, and we actually had planned to get Fernando some reps in the (Arizona State) game and it didn’t happen,” Wilcox said ahead of Mendoza’s first start against Oregon State. “Ideally, you’d like to have a quarterback that kind of takes the lead and takes the job over — we’re not quite there yet.”