The wait is almost over. With open practices coming to an end and Cal moving out of camp mode, the season opener with UC Davis is a little more than a week and a half away.
So, with all these notes, all this coverage and all this talk of an improved roster and a sharpened edge from a returning coaching staff, what was actually learned? What or who actually improved?
This piece will poke and prod at that last bit, examining exactly who may have helped themselves the most over the course of fall camp.
Here are some of the folks who balled out and boosted their stock.
1. Quarterback Jack Plummer
As camp rolled on it became abundantly clear that Plummer is going to be the Bears’ starter in the 2022 (and possibly 2023) season. But it’s worth noting that his arrival from Purdue in the spring was met with a considerable amount of trepidation.
Plummer passed for 3,405 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions over 17 games with the Boilermakers in his time there. The raw stats show a player whose passing efficiency is at a similar clip to Chase Garbers, with about half of Garbers’ total passing yards (6,580) in just over half the career passing attempts (958 for Garbers to 492 for Plummer).
Despite this production and similar statistical track, Plummer held only a decent-to-solid lead on the starting job coming out of spring ball. Since the start of camp, there’s been virtually no discussion about who the leader in the clubhouse is. Plummer has looked significantly sharper than the field and carries himself like someone with way more than ‘just’ 492 career passing attempts.
Indeed, rumors of him being hesitant to stretch the field seem overblown as well in practice, and he takes his shots as they come.
It’s all just practice, but Plummer looks significantly better than whatever the coaching staff and Cal fans alike thought he was, and he took every opportunity he could to prove that this camp.
