Golden Bear Roster Rundown: No. 6, Devon Modster
This article is part of a series running down Cal's 2020 football roster.
Cal Career
Devon Modster, a transfer from UCLA by way of Palomar College, had a relatively rough 2019 after transferring in. Modster came in for the spring of 2019 to push Chase Garbers for the starting QB job, with Garbers coming out as the top QB for the 2019 opener. Modster, due to the nature of his transfer from UCLA (after three games of the 2018 season), was not eligible until game four of 2019, where he completed his first pass against Ole Miss (a sixteen-yard screen to Jeremiah Hawkins).
Modster ended up playing the second half of the Arizona State game due to Chase Garbers' collarbone injury, and struggled mightily, starting a four-game skid for the Bears hampered by multiple injuries on the offensive line and in the wide receiver group. Modster was hurt by drops, with Pro Football Focus tallying 12 drops in his 122 pass attempts. Chase Garbers, by comparison, had 10 drops from wideouts in 217 pass attempts.
Modster played the whole Oregon game, where both Mike Saffell and Valentino Daltoso went down, along with most of the Oregon State game, where multiple offensive line starters were out, and he got battered with sacks, with 17 in the five games where he saw extended action.
Modster did have his best game against Washington State, with four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) to help the Bears snap their four-game slide, coming back after sitting out the Utah game with an injury. He struggled in relief of Garbers against USC, and didn't play the rest of the year after Garbers came back for the final three games.
2019 stats: 62-122 (50.8% completion), 699 yards, 5 touchdowns, 5 interceptions.
Expectations in 2020
With Garbers having a stranglehold on the quarterback position, Modster will likely be his primary backup, unless the likes of Spencer Brasch or Jaden Casey can unseat him.
Modster has shown the ability to be more than a serviceable backup when given time to throw, something he had in the Washington State game as well as when he took down Cal while at UCLA in 2017. He did have a handful of bad throws, namely one against Arizona State that was intercepted in the red zone, but Cal's depth issues in 2019 hurt Modster while he was in.
With Cal as close to the 85 scholarship mark as they've been under Justin Wilcox, depth shouldn't be an issue for the Bears if Modster has to come in.
Recruiting Flashback
Modster, a Rivals250 four-star in the class of 2016, initially chose Arizona, before backing out of that commitment in order to commit to UCLA in January of 2016. While at UCLA, he was coached by current Cal TE coach Marques Tuiasosopo.
Modster entered the transfer portal three games into the 2018 season at UCLA, and ended up taking a visit to Berkeley as the Bears prepared for the Cheez-It Bowl against TCU. Modster committed to the Bears right before early signing day, joining a 25 person 2019 class for the Bears.