Johnny Ragin leaving Cal, aiming for Oregon

That makes three.

By Avinash Kunnath@avinashkunnath Dec 20, 2013, 4:50pm PST

The losses continue. Freshman linebacker Johnny Ragin III is on his way out of Berkeley. He will be looking to the north for a new home.

BearTerritory has learned that California freshman outside linebacker Johnny Ragin III has sought and been granted permission to speak with other schools in order to transfer.

A Cal rep confirmed that Ragin is "no longer with the program."

A source told BearTerritory that Ragin is aiming to transfer to Oregon, which offered the three-star outside linebacker late in the recruiting process, before he re-committed to the Bears.

I wouldn't be surprised if Ragin will try and follow a path similar to that of Freddie Tagaloa and Zach Kline, where he will try and spend one year at a JC before aiming to enroll at a new school. Since Ragin is originally from Oregon, the Ducks would definitely be an ideal home for him.

It remains to be seen how big of a loss he is (we didn't see him play all that much this season), but it seems that Ragin wants a new opportunity at a school that is more likely to compete in the near future. Cal's linebacker depth could be at a critical level next season: With Khairi Fortt testing the NFL waters and possibly declaring early, that could leave us with Jalen Jefferson, Hardy Nickerson, Michael Barton, Nathan Broussard and Chad Whitener as our current healthy options at the position. Who knows with Nick Forbes at this point.

This would make three transfers for Cal football this offseason so far. Sonny Dykes seemed to expect plenty of attrition after the Big Game ended, so I wouldn't consider this to be the end of the exodus. Be prepared.