Tag Archives: las vegas raiders

NFL, ufl

Garbers, Chase

CARDS: Sage Artistry 2022, Panini Contenders 2022
ACQUIRED: Ebay, 2025

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Chase Garbers played QB at Cal from 2018-’21.
  • In his Senior season, Chase completed 223 of 348 attempts for 2,531 yards, and 16 TDs, while rushing for 456 yards and 4 TDs on 104 carries.
  • All these numbers would represent career highs with the Golden Bears for him, as 2021 would be the first year he’d start all 11 contests.
  • Signed as an UDFA by the Las Vegas Raiders after the 2022 NFL Draft.
  • Spent 2022 and 2023 on and off the Raiders active and practice squad.
  • Released after training camp in 2023.
  • Signed with the UFL San Antonio Brahmas in January of 2024.
  • Beat out Quinten Dormady in camp to win the starting nod for SA.
  • Had his best game in week 2 against the Memphis Showboats, throwing for 287 yards and 3 TDs, completing 29 of 40 throws.
  • Injured during Week 3 and spent the next 5 weeks on IR.
  • Returned in Week 9 as the Brahmas stunned the previously unbeaten Birmingham Stallions 18-9.
  • Guided the team to a playoff win in St. Louis, completing 15 of 21 passes for 197 yards and 2 TDs.
  • Lost to the Birmingham Stallions in the UFL Championship Game.
  • In the offseason, the Brahmas decided to go in another direction at QB, releasing Garbers in early 2025.


STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

GARBERSVSDORMADY
140/96ATT/ CPD170/93
68.6PCT59.5
767YDS1,206
5.5YPA7.0
4.3TD%3.5
1.4INT%3.5
41LG52t
5SACK12
90.4RAT77.9

The Brahmas had two QBs with firmly different strengths and weaknesses. Due to Chase Garbers wrist injury during Week 3, we got to see them both extensively throughout the season.

Chase’s biggest assets were that he made pretty good pre-snap reads and rarely turned the ball over.  A lot of chatter was made about his ability to scramble from the pocket and make plays. He rarely did that this season, but when he did buy time when in the pocket… he really displayed a nice touch throwing the short pass on the move. Garbers averaged a puny 5 yards per completion and teams recognized this early on. They’d crowd the LOS as he failed consistently to push the ball further down the field, taking the easy checkdown or a screen to an RB. His 41 yard long was a dink 10 yards to Speedy Stevenson against Memphis who galloped the rest of the way. This would be his modus operandi as the season wore on. Get it to his playmakers on a quick pass and then let the receiver do the rest.

Dormady on the other hand was completely the opposite. He’s a gunslinger, and pushes the ball down the field for the big play… or the turnover. Explosive plays are where Dormady really beats Garbers hands down. Quinten is also fearless about utilizing his targets over the middle 10-15 yards down field. He holds onto the ball a bit longer and seems mostly comfortable in the pocket- which brings along its own set of disadvantages. His biggest drawbacks arose from pre-snap reads. – This was most evident in the Houston game when he went ice cold and had to be pulled due to turnovers and ineffectiveness. 

NOTES:

So yeah let’s talk about that Championship Game…

I don’t know what happened there, but it was a bad look for the league. On 3rd and short early on, Garbers looked to be running for a first down, and instead heard footsteps, slid obviously and intentionally short of the first down. Later he did something very similar again, all the while checking down, and throwing screens. Chase then would go to the sidelines and as the camera focused on him, he just didn’t seem focused on the game. It got so bad that Anthony McFarland got angry at him, and had to be separated from Garbers. 

It was rumored that Garbers had gotten ‘the call’ that he’d be signed after the Championship game concluded. Whether or not it was true, he was not signed after the game. He finished with 116 yards on 18 of 26 throws and a paltry 4.5 YPA as the team lost 25-0.

In August of 2024, at the team offseason appearance at Seaworld, celebrating the title and with special appearances by Caeveon Patton, GM Marc Lillibridge and Wade, I came armed with questions. (Personally I was in the camp that Garbers ‘mailed in’ the 2024 Championship game appearance.) Marc sensed this and defended Garbers by confirming that not only Garbers and Dormady had different playstyles, but that they also handled mistakes differently with Garbers being more… ‘California Low Key’. So Marc could certainly see how Garbers had this perception of mailing it in. He then told me to stay tuned as they had some big plans at the quarterback position.

In October, Dormady would be traded to Memphis for Jordan Ferguson and the team would announce the signing of former Viking and Texas A&M alum Kellen Mond at QB- essentially signaling the end of the Garbers epoch.

Originally I had ordered a Sage Next Level autographed card of Garbers from COMC but it got lost in the mail, and after waiting a month, I asked for my money back. I settled for this Artistry card since the remaining Next Level autographs were out of my price range. I used to really like Sage Artistry when it was a subset in its Draft sets, but this set now feels like a total copout. It’s just a Photoshop filter on top of a photo.

NFL

Garoppolo, Jimmy ‘Jimmy G’

CARDS: Score 2018, Donruss 2020, Panini Illusions 2019, Panini Legacy 2019
ACQUIRED: TTM 2021, C/o San Fransisco 49ers. TTM 2022, C/o Home
SENT: 3/31/21 RECEIVED: 1/24/24 (1029 days)
SENT: 8/8/22 RECEIVED: 7/7/23 (333 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Jimmy Garoppolo played QB for Eastern Illinois from 2010-’13.
  • Playing in 45 games, he set multiple records at the school.
  • In his Senior season he completed 375 of 568 passes for 5050 yards and 53 TDs.
  • Selected by the New England Patriots in the 2nd round of the 2014 NFL Draft as one of the many heir apparents to Tom Brady.
  • He sparingly saw action through 3 seasons, but put up solid numbers, completing 63 of 94 passes for 690 yards and 5 TDs.
  • Traded to the 49ers near the tail end of the trading period of the 2017 season.
  • Went 5-0 during that season, creating a heavy amount of hype going into 2018.
  • Jimmy G got only 3 games under his belt before his season ended due to an ACL tear.
  • In 2019, he had an impressive season for the ‘9ers, leading the team to Super Bowl LIV.
  • Threw for 3979 yards and 27 TDs completing 329 of 476 passes.
  • A troublesome high ankle sprain tainted his encore in 2020, as he played in only 6 contests.
  • The ‘9ers began to restock their QB room trading up for Trey Lance and selecting little known QB Brock Purdy.
  • Returned to near form in 2021, completing 301 of 441 passes for 3,810 yards and 20 TDs.
  • In 2022, the ‘9ers named Trey Lance as starter right out of the gate.
  • Garoppolo didn’t have to wait long to get back into the starting lineup as Trey Lance was injured in the first game of the season.
  • He was able to rally the team into playoff contention but Jimmy too got injured and his season ended during Week 13.
  • Jimmy signed in 2023 with Las Vegas- reuniting him with his offensive coordinator of the Patriots and now head coach of the Raiders- Josh McDaniels.
  • The Raiders were a dumpster fire under McDaniels and Raider management.
  • McDaniels’ and Jimmy’s tenure in LV lasted just one season.
  • Currently Jimmy G is a backup QB for the Los Angeles Rams.

ACCOLADES:

  • 2013 Walter Payton Award Winner

NOTES:

I saw that Jimmy G. was signing through the ‘9ers organization and sent out to him back in 2021. In the meantime I saw a lot of people get his autograph back that sent to him after me. So in 2022, I sent to his home address. After about a year I saw the two come back from his home address.

I didn’t think I’d ever get the other two back from his time with the ‘9ers, but apparently I was at the bottom of the refilled mail bag!

NFL, University of Texas

Johnson, Derrick ‘DJ’ (4)

CARDS: Panini UT 2016 Honors, Score 2018, UT Upper Deck 2011 HACK, Upper Deck 2008, Panini Select 2014, Donruss 2018, SP 2008,
ACQUIRED: In Person, 2024

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Well I had run into DJ at the food court when I was getting Bo Jackson at Barton Creek a few years ago, and got pants down without any cards. I hadn’t done a hard target search of cards for him that I liked up to that point, and then the idea came to me to just expand and turn the Upper Deck UT 2011 set into a ‘living set’. Afterwards I found a few cards that I liked, and waited for the next in person signing. Eventually the wait paid off, and my friend Mark G came through with a stack of extras when the event came up.

A local Cadillac dealer held an in person event in late August. It was a very nice little event. Both Mark and Jeff and his family came out. The regulars were in force, but it wasn’t too awkward or overwhelming. DJ came in early and just started signing. He also answered a lot of questions.

On being a Raider? He smiled and said it was a cash grab, and that they were seeing if there was still anything left in the tank. He also talked about LaDanian Tomlinson being the most difficult player for him to tackle, and that he just had this clever combination of size, speed and power- and he loved to talk smack to DJ since they were both from Waco. I shared my connection to DJ and he was surprised that he knew the street that my Grandparents lived on and I visited. All in all it was a very good event. Everyone left with everything they wanted signed.

I got 14 cards. So why aren’t there 14 cards pictured here? Simple: I gave half of them away. Why? Because I like sharing in the joy I have for this hobby. I run a very small, tight knit, autograph group. It’s unique and different than the other groups on Facebook and to those who participate and make it unique- I want to pay it forward.