Assessing ESPN’s Ranking of Cal’s Sagapolutele as the No. 3 Freshman of 2025

ESPN’s Billy Tucker on Wednesday ranked the top 25 freshman football players of the 2025 season, and Cal’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was ranked No. 3 overall and was No. 1 among quarterbacks.

The only other quarterbacks on the list are BYU’s Bear Bachmeier at No. 6 overall and Michigan’s Bryce Underwood at No. 21.

Sagapolutele is one of just three players ranked among ESPN’s top 14 freshmen that played for a team that finished outside the top 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings. And he’s the only quarterback among ESPN’s top 25 freshmen who played on a team that was not in the CFP top 25.

It makes you wonder whether Sagapolutele was ranked too high, considering the Bears finished with just a 7-6 record, and that a quarterback’s worth is always judged based on the success of his team.

However, when you watch Sagapolutele play, you realize how talented he is and how much he affected Cal’s success. With no running game to speak of – Cal ranks 133rd of 134 FBS teams in rushing offense – Sagapolutele did well to propel Cal to a 7-6 record, Cal’s first winning season in six years.

More important to Cal is that he has announced that he will stay at Cal for his sophomore season.

Having said that, ESPN’s ranking of Sagapolutele as the third-best freshman is an accurate position for him. He conceivably could have been placed at No. 2 overall.

Here is what ESPN said about Sagapolutele:

3. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, QB, California Golden Bears

Cal's winding pursuit of the No. 204 prospect in the 2025 class -- he decommitted, signed with Oregon, then quickly returned -- paid immediate dividends. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound lefty authored brilliant moments for a Cal program that won its most games (seven) since 2019. Sagapolutele's 3,454 yards led all true freshmen and he threw 18 touchdowns to nine interceptions. That included 330 yards and four scores to beat No. 21 SMU in the Golden Bears' regular-season finale. He also had an overtime win over No. 15 Louisville and dramatic nail-biters against North Carolina and Boston College.

He wasn't perfect, throwing multiple interceptions in three separate losses, and Cal still fired Justin Wilcox last month after nine seasons. But new head coach Tosh Lupoi -- who arrives via the same Oregon program that nearly landed Sagapolutele -- already secured a major win by keeping his prized lefty freshman out of the transfer portal, retaining a cornerstone to build around at the game's most important position.

What ESPN did not say is that Sagapolutele got better as the season went along. Over the final four games, two of which were against ranked opponents, Sagapolutele threw seven touchdown passes with no interceptions. In only one of his final seven games did he throw any interceptions.

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