Cal QB Situation: Sam Jackson vs. Ben Finley – Apples and Oranges
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The addition of North Carolina State quarterback Ben Finley to the Cal roster creates confusion about what the Bears’ starting quarterback will be asked to do next season.
Let’s assume for a moment that Cal does not bring in another transfer quarterback who would be superior to Sam Jackson V and Finley, leaving those two as the options to be Cal’s starting quarterback in 2023. (I know Cal supporters are still hoping an established, elite quarterback will transfer to Berkeley, and there are a lot of available quarterbacks still in the transfer portal. It may depend on whether Cal coaches see Jackson and/or Finley as projects for the future, since both have three years of eligibility remaining.)
Let’s focus on the Jackson-Finley issue for now, which presents a quandary: Jackson, who was the Bears’ No. 1 quarterback coming out of spring, is the complete opposite of Finley in terms of quarterbacking style.
Jackson, who transferred from TCU in January, is a 5-foot-11 quarterback whose exceptional speed makes him a running threat. The run-pass option becomes an important part of the game plan with Jackson, and much of his passing comes when he is on the move, allowing him to find receivers on the edge or run if nothing is available. His dual-threat capabilities seem to appeal to new offensive coordinator Jake Spavital.
Cal needed to acquire at least one quarterback through the transfer portal after spring workouts because Fernando Mendoza was the only other scholarship quarterback on the roster, and he had no college football experience.
So the Bears are bringing in Finley, who has some college experience, including two starts in 2022, but he is 6-foot-2 and is a classic drop-back passer. He had zero yards gained on any of his 12 official rushing attempts in 2022 and finished with minus-75 rushing yards that season.
Finley presumably transferred to Cal because he was told he would compete for the starting job. The fact that he started the final two games at NC State, including a bowl game, suggests he might be capable of being a Pac-12 starter.
So why did the Bears get two quarterbacks with contrasting styles, and how will Spavital develop an offensive scheme to accommodate one of them – or both of them.
Part of the answer comes from Spavital’s comments on April 14, the day before Cal’s final spring session.
He noted then that he had installed only about half of Cal’s offense by the end of spring ball, waiting to complete the installation until he saw the personnel he would be working with after all the transfer movement was complete.
“We’re probably going to look a lot different going into fall camp,” Spavital said. “That’s why I’m not putting a lot of the install in. Just put the base stuff in and let them have an understanding of that, and figure our identity [with] the players that we get throughout the summertime.”
Spavital made it clear the additional quarterbacks he was looking for in the transfer portal would not have to have the same traits as Jackson.
“To me it’s the best available you can get,” he said. “You’d love to have more like . . . I’m always trying to get mobile quarterbacks, or if he’s a non-mobile quarterback, he’s got to be like [former Cal quarterback] Davis Webb and have a really great arm. Got to have one or the other – got to be mobile or got to have elite arm talent. So I’m really looking for just anything and everything right now, and you just take the best available that you possibly can, and then you adapt to them.
“And then you’d like to see if they have any experience. That’s something that I’m always trying to look for. When you’re looking forward when you’re looking at quarterbacks is that they at least have been in games and played, so they get that initial ‘I’ve done it already.’ Right now Sam and Fernando have never . . . Sam has been in a couple games but not much, and Fernando’s never been in one. So there’s going to be those first-game nerves as well, so you’d like to get a guy who has some experience, and just take the best available from there.”
Jackson threw only six passes at TCU – one in 2021, five in 2022, completing all six – in the six games in which he played in two seasons, all in mop-up duty . But he did run for 64 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per carry in 2022, and picked up 15 yards on his six carries in 2021.
Finley played 33 snaps in 2020, played in parts of three games in 2021 and played in three games in 2022. He has thrown 152 passes, completing 83, in his three seasons. More significant is the fact that he started the Wolfpack’s final two games this past season and got significant playing time in the third with the game on the line.
Finley entered the game against Louisville in relief of starter Jack Chambers, and Finley went 16-for-31 for 201 yards, one touchdown and one interception. North Carolina State lost that game, but it earned Finley his first college start, which came the next week against No. 18 North Carolina. Finley went 29-for-49 for 233 yards, one touchdown and one interception to lead the overtime upset win over the Tar Heels in the regular-season finale. So Finley again started against Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, but he struggled, going 22-for-48 for 269 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 16-12 loss.
In those three games, he was sacked five times, and had a rushing total of minus-8 yards on six official rushing attempts.
So what will Spavital do? Will he create two separate games plans – one if Jackson is in the game and another if Finley is on the field? Or will he let the quarterback competition play out during the summer and preseason camp, then determine a starter and adapt the offense to fit that quarterback? Or has Spavital already decided in his own mind who the No. 1 quarterback will be and is in the process of developing an offensive scheme to accommodate that player? Or is he waiting for a better quarterback to arrive through the transfer portal to start planning the offense around that player?
A lot of questions remain at this point, and that includes whether Cal can attract another transfer quarterback who is better and more experienced than either Jackson or Finley. Those questions may arise again at the start of preseason camp with the most important position on the field being the focal point.
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Cover photo of Be Finley by Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports
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