Chase Garbers Scouting Report: 2022 NFL Draft Profile

 

Quarterback, Cal Golden Bears, #7

 

Chase Garbers Measurements

6’2” / 225 lbs.

40 Time: 4.78

 

Chase Garbers NFL Draft Player Profile

Chase Garbers is a former 4-star recruit out of Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California. When looking at his stats on MaxPreps, I was very impressed to say the least. His senior year alone he completed 254 passes for 3,895 yards and 47 touchdowns. Putting up these numbers helped him get a 4-star ranking according to 247sports. Although he was a highly ranked in high school, he did not get that many offers from power-five schools. After getting an offer from California Berkeley, the recruiting process was basically over. Garbers was part of the 2017 recruiting class, but committed to Cal in June of 2016.

When Garbers arrived at Cal, he made an instant impact. He became a starter his freshman season and was able to lead the Golden Bears to a 7-3 season before facing TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl. Although this was a good season for a true freshman quarterback, it was just the beginning. His sophomore season was very impressive considering he only played 9 games including the RedBox Bowl. In these 9 games he completed 131 passes for 1,772 yards and 14 passing TDs and 3 rushing TDs. In just the bowl game against Illinois, he threw for 272 yards and 4 passing TDs and addeed 1 rushing TD.

Unfortunately, in 2020 he only played in 4 games. However, in those 4 games he was about as efficient as he could be. Although he did throw 3 interceptions, he threw for a total of 771 yards and 6 touchdowns. In my opinion, this season should be forgotten about especially after looking at his production in the 2021 season. So far this season, Garbers has completed a total of 223 passes for 2,531 yards and 16 touchdowns. The only major downside that I saw from his passing game this season was the fact that he threw 8 interceptions. I also want to draw attention to his run game this season as well. This season he also ran for a total of 456 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Chase Garbers Strengths

Strong Arm

Garbers is one of the most impressive quarterbacks in this draft when throwing deep down the field. Although Cal lost, one of the most impressive games that I have seen from Garbers was against TCU. In this game Garbers started out hot completing his first 4 passes for 111 yards. Two of these throws consisted of Garbers launching the ball deep down the field for gains of 49 and 54 yards. If he is able to take this ability to the NFL, he will have a solid career. When you have a strong arm like Garbers does, the defense is forced to drop both of their safeties back. When safeties are dropped back it opens up the rest of the field for the receivers to make a play.

In order for Garbers to use his arm to its full potential he needs to have a wide receiver who can make plays in open space. Giving him a playmaker takes some pressure off of him to make a play by himself. A perfect example of a duo that does this in the NFL is Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. Rodgers has an amazing arm and can make a play on his own, but he can also pitch the ball to Adams to make a play on his own.

 

Quick Release

Garbers has a fantastic ability to get the ball to the receiver in the blink of an eye. Although I have been hyping up his ability to throw the ball deep down the field, his short passes are just as impressive. When Garber gets a chance to start at QB in the NFL the offensive scheme will likely be basic. So, having a quick release to throw short passes will help him quickly adjust to the NFL. Having a quick release and throwing with a lot of velocity will allow him to fit the ball through tight windows.

Keeping Plays Alive

When watching his film, I loved his ability to keep a play alive and move the chains. Garbers does a fantastic job of buying himself time by moving outside of the pocket and letting his receivers do their thing. If the defense is collapsing on him, he does a great job of keeping his composure to make a play. Another reason why I like his ability to keep plays alive is because he is not scared to put his body on the line. When he has to make a play on his own, he will drop his shoulder if necessary to move the chains.

Having good field vision also comes into play with keeping the play alive. As I noted earlier, he is great at keeping his composure to buy time. With that being said, if he cannot find a target to throw to he doesn’t panic. When scrambling out of the pocket, Garbers’ eyes are constantly scanning the field.

Ball Placement

When I was watching Garbers’ film, I was impressed on how good he was at hitting receivers in stride. Many people who watch the NFL take this for granted and expect this to be natural for young QBs. This is actually harder to come across than you think. More often than not we see a quarterback come to the NFL and struggle with their accuracy out of the gate.

Chase Garbers Weaknesses

Forces Throws in Tight Windows

Garbers has a pretty good football IQ, but I do have questions about some throws that he makes. Throughout his career at Cal, Garbers threw 24 interceptions. A lot of the ones that I saw were from him forcing throws. If he wants to start in the NFL, he needs to cut down on these throws. Although interceptions don’t define your career, you don’t want to give the opposing defense any confidence against you. With all of this being said, Garbers will not likely be a starter in the near future, so he has time to perfect his craft.

Tight Spirals

As I noted earlier, Garbers is fantastic when throwing down the field. Although this is the case, he struggles to throw a tight spiral. This can make things complicated for the targeted receiver, especially when the ball is over their back shoulder. In order to run an elite offense in the NFL, the QB has to make the WR’s job easy and vice versa. Not being able to throw a tight spiral can really hinder an offense’s effectiveness.

Chase Garbers Draft Stock

Personally, I am not sure where exactly he will go in this draft, but I think he could be a late day 2 or early day 3 pick. As we await more players to announe whether they will declare or return to school, it is hard to decipher which quarterbacks will fill out the mid to late rounds. Our analyst Ken Noble has him as a day 3 pick as well.

Final Thoughts on Chase Garbers Scouting Report

Overall, Garbers has all of the arm talent to make it in the NFL. I do have concerns about some decisions that he makes. As of right now, I see Garbers as a project player who will likely be a rotational QB for an already established QB room. But, if he perfects his craft, I can see his arm talent being appealing enough to earn a starting spot in the future.

Player Comparison

His playstyle reminds me of the rookie out of Stanford Davis Mills, but his size and frame are identical to Aaron Rodgers.

Chase Garbers Scouting Report by Matthew Lewis.