Cal contacts Alabama QB transfer Blake Barnett; Ross Bowers takes first-team snaps

If Cal does not have Davis Webb available for the Oregon game due to his hand injury, the Bears will have to figure out which one of Chase Forrest or Ross Bowers will be replacing him. Early indications appear to be leaning toward Bowers, who worked with the first team.

Some notes from our buddy Trace Travers at Cal Rivals from the Tuesday open practice.

With that being said, there didn't appear to be separation between the two of them today. It wasn't a long practice by design, and above all else, there was a lot of timing being worked with routes. Forrest has the better footwork at this point, having studied behind Jared over the previous two years. Bowers has the better arm though, and looks to be a bit more consistent about stepping into his throws. A lot of what they did today is going to go on film, where the coaching staff can evaluate the two better. Sonny did say during the press conference that the best time for them to develop even more would be during practices for a bowl game.

Bowers hasn’t taken a single FBS snap yet. Forrest hasn’t taken a significant non-garbage time FBS snap.

For those wondering about the future, Cal may look for another transfer to get them through one year. Could former Alabama quarterback Blake Barnett be another potential stop-gap if the Bears don’t feel confident in potential replacements for Davis Webb? Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports.com has Cal listed among the suitors.

A source close to Barnett tells 247Sports that he enrolled Thursday at Palomar Junior College in California, where he will attend school through the spring semester, which ends May 27. From there, Barnett, a class of 2015 five-star recruit per the 247Sports Composite, will return to the FBS ranks of college football to play most of the 2017 season.

Now, to be clear, Barnett has contacted a host of other programs, including Texas A&M, Michigan State, Miami, Florida, Oregon, UCLA and Washington, so the Bears will have a host of competition to try and get him. He’d be eligible to play next September 30th with regards to transfer rules, so he would have to miss the first month of next season, but he’d still have at least three years of eligibility left.