There must be a reason that this seems so stealth. I haven’t seen anything on X, instagram, or FB from Rex or any of the coaches. Maybe something in the agreement that its not publicized?

The roster is official. At this level of college football, you don't go posting players on a roster unless it's a done deal. No need for social media, count it as done.

I feel really good about the current QB situation. Plough is not going to put any of those kids in a position to fail. Let them battle it out, let the dust settle, and trust the experience with the decision.

Loaded at Running Back
Loaded at Tight End
Strong Offensive Line
Veteran WR group

Regarding the young NG throwing around 225 like its child's play, WELCOME! Can't have enough of those big bodied guys in the middle. He's relatively short at 6'0" but leverage is a superpower and hopefully he bends his knees and plays down there.

Relatively unproven but talented, young Defensive Line group. There are some big, long bodies coming up through the ranks.
Porter is the old man in a young and inexperienced Linebacker room. Sievers played a ton last year, does that make him the "other" LB? Looks like there's solid, young depth in that group.
Loaded Secondary gets even better with the return of an all-American and Quarterback of the Blue Force.

Pre-season Top 5 roster on paper. Does the lack of QB depth drop us into the fringes of the Top 10?

Go Ags!

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If we count the $ linebacker who almost invariably plays on the line Davis returns three our of four D- linemen starters, plus the player who played behind Psyk and started the last game of the season. Lots of guys behind them.
I think Sievers, and Porter Connors are almost a lock to be the two inside linebackers.
The most unsettled group are the safeties and nickel, there are transfers with experience and players coming off injury, so seems to be a competitive situation.
As far as preseason rankings, the fact that Montana State, Montana, NAU and Idaho all return QBs will drive Davis down a little in preseason ranking. Those teams also had good recruiting classes.

Going on no info, except the UW reps....but feeling good about Cleeland. Great coaching around him, and some time behind Pinnick.

I think 2026 is going to be a good one.

Aggie sports talk meetup in Nashville...

Good points regarding the D-Line, thanks for correcting that. I consider that Sam/Stud whatever they call that on-ball Backer a DL position.

Not including the Idaho transfer and the Holy Cross transfer, who aside from Rex returns with any experience at Safety/Nickel? Corners should be elite.

I wonder if Porter will make spring ball. Guessing he's "probable" since he's on the roster. Seniors with a little experience last year in #13 and #44, with freshmen and a new JC guy behind that.

Kam Totton from folsom is a beast but I think he got hurt last year. I think long recovery for him too.

Guessing he's a Corner at 5'10" 180? Any idea what the injury was? I remember the name coming out of Folsom

more of a safety type. probably would play out of the box being a little smaller. maybe nickel too?

I think Marquis Bell played well for us, even with an arm injury. He was playing corner, but he has good size as a safety,
Albert Richardson got on the depth chart before being injured.
J J. Cravin who was a highly rated recruit in 2025 isnt on the roster.
Totton was on the depth chart at safety. Used to be one could tell the safeties from the corners by size but that correlation now seems weak.

No doubt, the Nickel position is now its own deal. That used to be a Safety or even an Outside LB in the old days, until teams started playing with 3 Corner-types

How many QBs see the field in the Spring game?

I assume w Fernando Mendoza's brilliant success at Cal and Indiana - Coach Plough came up on a lot of coaches, QB consultants, players, and parents radars. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a couple dozen inquiries, and was able to decipher the best fit.

Given the transfer portal realities, I hope we give whoever turns out to be #2 some PT.

At the lunch he said he was fielding a lot of inquirers from potential qb recruits.

In regards to the questions about Xzavior Guess he is officially listed as a WR now on the roster. He is a great athlete. It would be awesome if he developed into a TT like gadget player.

did Damon Wrighster end up transferring somewhere?

With the added dimension that he can pass.

I only see this:

JJ Cravin has quit playing football to pursue other ventures.

The Transfer Portal is a brutal place where careers go to die unless you have your landing spot already worked out. I think some kids look at it as this escape hatch full of desperate coaches, where in reality there are 10-15,000 holdovers from the previous seasons every year. It is mostly full of guys who were cut or encouraged to leave. Very little glamour and only a few happy endings. I hope Damon finds a home to finish his career if he still wants to play college football.

You will see at least two, but more likely four, QBs in the Spring Game unless #4 is too far behind. Who is the message board projected #4 heading into practices? SailorGabe is our resident QB guy, what do you have the likely rep order being? My guess is Cleeland 1, Eason/Kollock 2a/2b, ? #4

My advice to all the QBs in spring: avoid throwing at #11

Good point on Guess not only being a dynamic player, but one that can throw the football some as well. Look for him to have an early impact as a kick returner. Not sure about fielding punts, we shall see.

I'm not worried about the QB position at all. The talent in that group is the best we have ever had at Davis. And with Coach Plough leading them, zero worries.

I'm not sure who wins the job, but I'm excited to see the battle in the spring. Early money seems to be Cleeland, but if Eason or Kollock perform is wouldn't shock me.

Hayden John listed as the third best transfer safety in FCS. On Sports Illustrated FCS football Central.

“3. Hayden John (UC Davis)
John played over 550 snaps for the Vandals as a redshirt sophomore last season. He finished with 53 tackles, 1 INT, and 5 pass breakups in 11 games. He graded out as one of the best tackling safeties in the Big Sky, posting a 90.1 tackling grade via PFF. His familiarity with the Big Sky makes this an even more impactful addition for the Aggies, who need immediate starters in the secondary.”

Spring game is after only 8 practices. I think Plough doesn’t make a choice until fall camp.

Wide receiver pass plays were a feature in thr Carson Crawford era. There was one for 56 yards in 2018 in the historic win over Montana. No telling how good Xzavior can be.

Great point on the early spring game. You won't see four QBs that day if that's the case unless it's really a logjam. He won't name a starter until fall unless someone just obliterates the competition in 16 practices, and even then it is unlikely.

Guess will entertain.

The QB to WR conversions are always really interesting. Who better to understand timing and open space than a former QB. Plus QBs play as much catch as anyone on the team..

I agree, wouldn’t be surprised if the next is better than the last with this mature skill group

There are only three qbs on the public version of the spring roster. The spring game is really more of a practice with some situational stuff these days. Everyone gets reps

I would put those three guys under as much real world, game like friction as possible. It has to be cut to two before training camp because by that point, there are only so many reps to go around. They'll basically get four weeks in spring, two weeks in training camp, then you are on to game prep. Looking at it from that perspective, I see a premium being placed on every rep for those three kids.

Plough likes to have some reps with the QB live so they’ll have real pressure to process and get the ball out. Better for evaluation.

Hang in there, brothers, we are almost to the start of Spring Football practice! I am officially retiring from Equestrian talk, but I will chime in on stadiums, beer gardens, and uniforms as needed. I am cautiously optimistic heading into Spring. The QB position is the biggest question mark to me, but I fully trust Plough and Shelton more than anybody in the country to get that right. My next question is the Offensive Line, especially at Tackle. Feeling good about the D, especially the July training camp version of it. Won't be overly concerned about what it looks like at the end of spring ball.