Is There a Chance QB Jayden Daniels Will Wind Up at Cal?

It takes only one sentence of speculation to start the ball rolling on possible destinations of football transfers. So when it was reported Thursday that Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels had entered the transfer portal, speculation as to where he might wind up included Cal.

Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports suggested 15 possible landing spots for Daniels, but seven of them were in the “longshot” category. The eight schools in the more likely destination category included Arizona State (if he should withdraw from the transfer portal), LSU, Missouri, Penn State, UCLA, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and, yes, Cal.

Lassan provided a sentence or two about each possible landing spot and said this about Cal:

The Golden Bears already added one transfer (Jack Plummer) this offseason, but Daniels would be an upgrade over the quarterbacks battling for the starting job. Also, Daniels is a native of California, so this would mark a return close to home.

Daniels is from San Bernardino, Calif., and Cal was one of the four schools Daniels visited during his recruitment before choosing the Sun Devils.

CBSSports.com, in its report of Daniels’ entry into the transfer portal, added this:

Daniels is expected to consider several Power Five suitors, including some within the Pac-12.

A number of Pac-12 schools, such as USC, UCLA, Utah and Stanford, are already set with starting quarterbacks, and Daniels is unlikely to go to a school where he probably would not be a starter.

The final bit of speculation regarding Daniels as it relates to Cal comes from Mike Farrell of Rivals.com. At the end of his column on where Daniels might end up, Farrell writes this:

While the Group of Five level is in play and probably more attractive when it comes to a certain starting role, Daniels will likely end up in the Power Five and likely at a Pac-12 program. Cal might be the fit here.

Yes, that one six-word sentence – Cal might be the fit here – can mushroom into reports like the one we are presenting right here.

Jack Plummer, who is already attending classes at Cal, is expected to enter spring ball, which begins April 6, as the top candidate to be the Golden Bears’ starting quarterback in 2022. He was replaced as Purdue's starting quarterback midway through the 2021 season and transferred to Cal after the season.

Plummer started the final three games of the 2020 season and the first four games of the 2021 season.

Meanwhile, Daniels has been Arizona State’s starting quarterback since the opening game of his true freshman season in 2019, and has been the Sun Devils’ regular starting quarterback each of the past three seasons. He was named the preseason second-team all-Pac-12 quarterback in both 2020 and 2021, but never received all-conference recognition at the end of a season.

As a true freshman in 2019, Daniels threw 17 touchdown passes with just two interceptions, leading to projections of greatness. Arizona State played only four games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he had five touchdown passes and one interception.

But after the promising seasons in 2019 and 2020, Daniels took a step back in 2021 when he threw the same number of interceptions (10) as touchdown passes (10).

Daniels provides the mobility that most offensive coordinators cherish. He rushed for 1,288 yards in his three college seasons. Chase Garbers, who was Cal’s quarterback the past four season before declaring for the 2022 NFL draft, provided that kind of running threat as well.

Daniels had said in December that he would return to ASU for the 2022 season, but since then the ASU coaching staff has undergone a host of changes in the wake of an NCAA investigation regarding allegations of improper contact during the COVID-19 dead period. Head coach Herm Edwards has not lost his job yet.

So Daniels apparently has decided to leave ASU, although nearly all the elite quarterbacks who transferred this year have already found a new school. So the speculation begins.

Cover photo of Jayden Daniels is by Stepehn R. Sylvanie, USA TODAY Sports

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport