See, Caden Pinnick

We’ll take you back…

Going to be an interesting off-season with the QBs. Two really good young options, Cleeland will take the 1 reps heading into Spring Ball but Eason will get a shot. If he competes, they’ll leave it open going into fall camp. If Cleeland ascends, he’ll be the starter coming out of Spring. Cleeland’s advantage is that he was #3 and was prepped differently than the #4. Slim edge, we shall see. I won’t be surprised if Eason wins it, he’s built for it. Hell they both are. The only thing we’re lacking is experience, sort of like we were in late-August 2025. In Plough/Shelton we trust!

Yeah, if there's one position I want a guy with experience, it's QB. Pretty sure I've heard in the NFL, that the guys who have tended to succeed quickly recently are the ones who started a ton of games in college. This is probably just early round picks since late rounders generally don't start as often. There are exceptions to this, of course. But handing over the reins of the offense to a guy who barely played in high school doesn't fill me with excitement.

MaxPreps High School Stats

..........Seasons... Comp .. TDs.... Yards....QB Rting/SrYr
Pinnick ...(2)....... 305........52.......4,625.........125 ..... Portal
Rasor.......(3)........434........79.......5,440.........121 ..... Portal
Wrighster (2).......148........18.......2,426..........125 ..... Portal
Cleeland..(1)..........92........19.......1,029..........115
Guess .....(4)........458........61.......6,133..........132
Brant*......(1)........155........26.......2,156......... 117
Eason......(3)...........82.........4........1,005............61

* New signee

New source upgraded Ckeelands stats.

Perhaps those stat lines are the reason we have offers out to several portal Running Backs Remember, we are not privy to what “the plan” is. Granted, Plough will continue to develop Cleeland and Eason regardless; we’ll learn a lot about what the staff truly thinks of those guys by who we offer or who shows up from the portal. That includes any of the three ‘25 Aggie QBs in the portal today. Two things that jump off whatever those stats are from are the low QB ratings and low TD numbers for both Cleeland and Eason but who knows what kind of offenses they played in, what the coaching and level of competition was, etc.

Agreed. I don't get the guys w just one season (Cleeland, Brant), did they transfer or change positions? Xzavior Guess is still in the mix, and don't forget JM came as a one-year JC recruit. Eason was injured his senior year, but only 4 career TD passes in 3 years?

Interesting how our top QBs had a HS QB Rating in the 120s.

Added Wrighster.

Plough will adjust his offense to take advantage of our strengths. For example, when we had Lan, we saw a lot of wildcat plays. With Caden, we didn’t see much of that. But his theme is Shredville. Rack up points quickly. I don’t see this changing.
The QB room will be interesting to follow in the spring. I just don’t know how Davis can navigate the waters with limited resources to keep talented players in the program. Where can we get the $2M + annually to compete with the Montanas and Dakotas? We need annual cash flow to sustain the program, and now, big dollars for the renovations.

I’d be shocked if Guess isn’t playing slot or corner, and definitely returning kicks next season. Even with the departure, I feel like his future is not at QB but I have nothing to base it on. Brant’s season numbers are good but I’d take it with a grain of salt. Eason is a big dude. Not sure what the injuries were that limited his numbers so that might be a concern as well.

We'll be a top choice for some JC guys, FCS and FBS transfers. Loaded RBs, roster, playoff caliber team. Rasor has to be re-thinking hard.

In his recruiting year Guess actually got in an argument with a guy on social media who suggested he was going to end up going the route of receiver. Guess was adamant that he's a QB and a QB only. I guess (no pun intended) we'll see if his tune changes if it means playtime versus no playtime.

"The FCS saw two standout freshmen quarterbacks declare for the portal in Caden Pinnick from UC Davis and Braden Atkinson from Mercer. One source pegs a proven starter at the FCS level at between $350,000-500,000, well short of the few million of starting SEC or Big Ten QBs. Western Carolina sophomore Taron Dickens, who finished second in the voting for the Walter Payton Award, is also in the portal."

https://www.inforum.com/sports/bison-media-zone/mens-sports/putting-dollars-to-the-transfer-portal-what-players-could-earn

Cal Quarterback Devin Brown is in the portal. A former 5-star recruit who also played at Ohio State, 6'3", 215. Has seen highly limited action in college. In HS threw for 8,000 yards, 85 TDs, and a 135 QB Rating his senior year, when he also ran for 430 yards in 14 games. This is probably his last real shot.

If I told you Caden Pinnick was going to be our starter next year, you wouldn't have known who I was talking about. Eason is one of the highest recruits to ever sign with Davis. He is a legacy. We are lucky that we have a QB coach in our HC and this is a huge impact on whoever is starting for Davis. This is why I'm not worried about the QB situation at all.

I'm more interested in the shoring up the defense.

Guess is quick, and a lefty.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDKxCAAzufT/?img_index=1&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

New Aggie Pride Podcast with Scott Gordon on Caden entering the transfer portal and the general landscape of the transfer portal and NIL. Good discussion on specifically the issues with the total lack of regulation and what it is doing to these athletes.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6B6zzawl9uQeapaVt1kHgn?si=8ffabaf14f6944ec

I disagree on your takes on both players. In fall 2024 camp, Pinnack was an eye-opener and after spring 2025, he was showing a ceiling that Harper couldn’t cone close to.

As for Axel, his recruiting page showed offers from us, Ball St, Portland and NAU - I wouldn’t consider as anything special.

Legacy should have nothing to do with a decision on the starter

Legacy should have nothing to do with a decision on the starter — DrMike

100% agree on this. Pick the best player. Name on the back of the jersey should be irrelevant.

It would have been very easy for Gbatu to change his mind about staying at Davis after the Pinnick announcement, but cool to see him reaffirm his decision to stay. Let's go Sam!

Legacy should have nothing to do with a decision on the starter

Agreed.

UNC Chapel Hill had that for students - had never heard of that before, and just seemed wrong to have different entrance standards. Probably due to money and donation considerations. The sad part of this Wild West transfer portal is that the kids are only thinking of themselves as athletes- but in most cases they are probably in academic programs that are not we would call “high level” and their focus is almost 100% on playing the coming Saturday. Maybe that has always been the reality for most college football players.

I think CFB could now be living through consequences of recruiting covid-era high school kids

Covid was a “get out of jail free” card to the extreme. Maybe it’s a generational thing too. Remember when getting a “C” in college was a decent if not good grade. I wound up my career at a University and a couple of times I had to haul in graduate students for cheating and I could not believe their attitude. “Everybody does it”, “this is going to prevent me from getting a perfect GPA”. So glad I retired before Covid.

Scott Gordon focuses on the losses in the QB room compared to last year. Harper, Pinnick, Rasor, Wrighster. But we still have three three star QBs returning and one coming in from high school. None of the guys going into the portal other than Pinnick have significant playing experience, so retaining them wouldn’t add to the experience in the room. Rasor was injured last year, so he is essentially a redshirt sophomore for the upcoming season. He has offers from Incarnate Word, Southern Utah, Mercyhurst

Great news to confirm in the new week!

Indeed. Real Davis guy right there. Hoping for some news of reinforcements coming in soon

We knew CP leaving was a good probability.

EDIT. My mistake, I confused Harper (played in 4 games, 1 start) with Rasor.

Question, if a player is serious about transferring, does it not make sense to announce ASAP and officially enter the portal right away? Vergas announced during the season in order to allow time to "market" himself and CP made it official on the first day (Jan2). I believe players can take time before deciding where to go but in order to make spring ball, my guess is that they would need to move quickly in order to enroll in a new school.

FYI, loved Gbatu's comment. I think that was a message to his team members who may be thinking about leaving.

I've had the same thought. Also, I wonder if the staff can void a scholarship as soon as they hear of the portal sniffing?

“ I've had the same thought. Also, I wonder if the staff can void a scholarship as soon as they hear of the portal sniffing?”
Once the player is in the portal, the institution can revoke their scholarship, i assume immediately, or not. Its at the discretion of the institution.

Rasor is likely transferring because he feels its unlikely that he’ll start. That is consistent with some of the knowledgeable posters on this board who indicate Cleeland is ahead of him. Rasor is looking for a place to play.

I doubt a school can void a scholarship mid term, and certainly not before the player enters the portal. I think the scholarships are contracts. If a player enters the pirtal they don’t need to hold a next year scholarship, but I don’t think they can void current term scholarship. Scholarships are either for a full year, or recently for a half year, i think the half year ones are intended as an option for super seniors.