Football notebook: QB among Cal's various position battles as camp closes

Cal's coaching staff is getting closer to having a working depth chart. At this point most of the positions seem to be settled as the Bears prepare to turn their attention toward North Texas and the Sept. 2 season opener.

The staff knows who its starting running back will be, and the starting offensive line seems to be mostly in place at this stage with veteran center Matthew Cindric leading a group that has featured T.J. Session, Sioape Vatikani, Brian Driscoll and Stanford transfer Barrett Miller in recent practices.

Defensively, Kaleb Elarms-Orr seems to have solidified his role as the second inside linebacker next to Jackson Sirmon while cornerbacks Nohl Williams and Lu-Magia Hearns appear to be locked in with the first group as well.

Some of the pass catchers still could see some movement with the first two groups, but Jack Endries seems locked in as the starting tight end.

That is all to say that a big portion of the work is done for the staff when it comes to figuring out the rotation for its opener.

However, quarterback remains the most important impending decision for the Cal coaches, and as camp came to a close Tuesday an official decision had not yet been made.

Through the entirety of camp, offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has been rotating his quarterbacks with different groups. Most recently, TCU transfer Sam Jackson V has been working exclusively with the presumed first unit potentially giving some more insight into the upcoming decision Spavital and head coach Justin Wilcox will have to make about the quarterback position entering the first game.

"The sooner the better," Spavital said this week when asked about determining a starter for the game against North Texas.

The thought of playing more than one quarterback in that game remains on the table, but at this stage is just part of the bigger discussion about the position overall. Ideally, it sounds like Spavital would prefer to enter the season with a starter named.

"I've never done that before, but you guys watch it everyday, too," he said about a two-quarterback system. "You see how close of a competition this gets at times. So, that might be the discussion we have over the next few days."

There are a number of factors that are going to play into the quarterback decision. If not for a number of turnovers during camp, Jackson could have likely already sealed up the starting role. Instead, he has had some problems taking care of the ball leaving the door open for both Ben Finley and Fernando Mendoza to remain in the picture.

Last week, Jackson threw four interceptions in one day but followed that up with multiple strong performances. His ability to wipe the slate clean, he feels, was in part to conversations he's had with Spavital about a key part of his game.

"That one practice that I had where my footwork started to get lazy, so we just went back to the film room and talked some things out — talked about it," Jackson said after Saturday's scrimmage. "Then, the next day we just got better. ... Spav is the kind of dude who likes to talk to you when you're by yourself.

"He doesn't like to get on you while you're around everybody else. So, once we get to the film room, we just talk about some things. And, it's kinda easy to tuck those things (turnovers) away, because I've been thinking about that since my freshman year of college. Max (Duggan) always told me that next-play mentality was the best thing for a quarterback."

If Jackson does end up as starting quarterback, there is certainly a chance turnovers could derail just how much he is able to stay on the field in the early part of the season.

He has often been the biggest culprit of some poor decision making at the quarterback position during practice, and it could be a major issue if that carries over into the games this year.

"It's tough to overcome a lot of detrimental turnovers," Spavital said Monday. "So, that's kinda gonna be the short leash for whoever's gonna go in the game. You gotta take care of the football, and if not we got other guys coming in if we decide to go that direction."

When the Bears do eventually release their official depth chart, that won't be the be-all and end-all for who gets on the field and who doesn't — especially in Week 1.

Cal has players on both sides of the ball returning from injury plus others still making progress at this point in the year who could see action against North Texas even if it may not seem like it now.

"With this transfer portal, there's gonna be a lot of guys that are gonna play," Spavital said. "We gotta get evaluations pretty quickly on how they react in a live setting, a national TV game, and things of that nature.

"So, it's really for a lot of different positions to play a lot of bodies, and plus it's gonna be pretty hot in Denton. So, we're gonna try and rotate a lot of guys."