ESPN Projects Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Will Be Cal's Starting QB in 2025

ESPN seems to share Cal fans' optimism about the immediate impact incoming freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele will have on Cal's program.

ESPN took on the task of predicting the 2025 starting quarterback for every Power Four conference team, and that is not as easy as it might seem because of all the quarterback movement in the transfer portal.

Cal lost starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who transferred to Indiana, and his backup, Chandler Rogers, who is in the transfer portal, leaving CJ Harris, who started the LA Bowl, and freshman EJ Caminong as the only returning scholarship quarterbacks.

But when Sagapolutele transferred to Cal just a few weeks after signing with Oregon, Cal folks figured Sagapolutele would be the Golden Bears' starting quarterback as a true freshman. Even though Cal is likely to add another quarterback from the transfer portal before the 2025 season begins, ESPN agrees that Sagaulotele will be the Bears' starting quarterback in 2025 despite having no college experience.

The quarterback competition will get interesting if the Golden Bears bring in an experienced quarterback from the transfer portal.

Here's what ESPN said about the Bears' projected starting quarterback for 2025.

California Golden Bears

2025 starter: freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

Why he'll start: The Bears are expected to add a veteran transfer to their QB room this offseason, but for now, Sagapolutele has to like his chances of battling for the starting job. The prized recruit flipped to Oregon on signing day but quickly regretted his decision upon enrolling and transferred to Cal. He wants to be a Day 1 starter and knew his chances of beating out Dante Moore weren't good. He's one of the highest-profile recruits of the Justin Wilcox era and certainly intends to push for the starting job.

Competition: Cal lost Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers to the portal this offseason, so there's not much in the way of proven experience left in the program. CJ Harris and EJ Caminong got opportunities to play in the Bears' 24-13 loss to UNLV in the Art of Sport LA Bowl.

Sagapolutele came to Cal with the understanding that he would have a good chance to be a starter immediately. You can see why. Most recruiting sites rated him a four-start prospect, but On3 rated him as a five-star recruit after he threw 46 touchdown passes with three interceptions as a high school senior in Hawaii.

He arrived on the Cal campus shortly after signing with Cal, so it's possible he will be with the Bears team for spring ball, although that has not been confirmed.

ESPN projects that former Cal quarterback Mendoza will be the starting quarterback at Indiana and has this comment about Mendoza:

Indiana Hoosiers

2025 starter: Fernando Mendoza, redshirt junior, Cal transfer

Why he'll start: Mendoza was one of the biggest prizes in the quarterback transfer market and a natural successor to Kirtis Rourke, the Ohio transfer who earned second-team All-Big Ten honors and led Indiana to its first 10-0 start and a CFP appearance. A Miami native, Mendoza helped Cal to consecutive bowl appearances and showed significant improvement this past season, when he eclipsed 3,000 passing yards and improved his completion percentage from 63% in 2023 to 68.7%. Mendoza connected on at least 64.7% of his passes in all but two games for the Bears. He also has two years of experience and could lead IU's offense through 2026.

Competition: Indiana added a second transfer quarterback in Grant Wilson, who started 14 games at Old Dominion and had his 2024 season cut short by injury. Mendoza also joins his younger brother, Alberto, a second-year quarterback for the Hoosiers.

Including Sagapolutele, seven of the 17 ACC football schools are expected to have an incoming transfer as their starting quarterback in 2025.

Here are ESPN's projected 2025 starting quarterbacks for the other ACC teams, the most noteworthy being the expected starting quarterbacks at Miami and Louisville. Cal will not face Miami next season, but it will face Louisville:

Miami: Carson Beck, transfer from Georgia.

Louisville: Miller Moss, transfer from USC

Stanford: Elijah Brown, redshirt freshman

Virginia: Chandler Morris, transfer from North Texas

Boston College: Grayson James, senior

Clemson: Cade Klubnik, senior

Duke: Darian Mensah, transfer from Tulane

Florida State: Thomas Castellanos, transfer from Boston College

Syracuse: Rickie Collins, transfer from LSU

Wake Forest: Robby Ashford, transfer from South Carolina

Georgia Tech: Haynes King, redshirt senior

North Carolina: Jacolby Criswell, redshirt senior (Update: Criswell reportedly plans to enter the transfer portal)

North Carolina State: CJ Bailey, sophomore

Pittsburgh: Eli Holstein, redshirt sophomore

SMU: Kevin Jennings, redshirt junior

Virginia Tech: Kyrone Jones, redshirt senior

In 2025, Cal will face Duke (Mensah), North Carolina (Criswell), SMU (Jennings) and Virginia (Morris) at home, and will take on Boston College (james), Virginia Tech (jones), Louisville (moss) and Stanford (Brown) on the road.